The 2025-2026 School Year is here, and QPL has got you covered!
Learn about our Back-to-School programs, resources, book recommendations, and much more.
Back-to-School Guide
Queens Public Library is here for kids, parents, caregivers, and educators with our extensive Back-to-School Guide!
This year's Back-to-School Guide includes:
- Library Resources and Databases for Students
- Early Learning, School Aged, and Young Adult Booklists (which you can also find below)
- Articles about Developing Early Literacy Skills, Childhood Anxiety, Teen Phone Addiction, and More
- The 2025-2026 NYC Public School Calendar
- and much more!
You can download QPL’s 2025-2026 Back-to-School Guide in four languages:
Back-to-School Programs
Join us at the Library for fun giveaways and activities and get ready for the new school year!
Learn more about our Back-to-School programs.
Kickoff to Kindergarten & Toddler Learning Centers
You’re never too young to start your educational journey!
Our Fall 2025 season will be starting soon; visit our Kickoff to Kindergarten (K2K) and Toddler Learning Centers (TLCs) webpages for updates.
QPL’s Kickoff to Kindergarten (K2K) program enables young children (ages 3-4) to develop their early literacy skills—and begin a lifelong love of reading! Meanwhile, their parents and caregivers will receive guidance to become confident in their ability to support their child’s development. Classes are offered virtually and in-person, with translation support in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.
Designed to serve the needs of toddlers (ages 1-3) and their caregivers, QPL’s Toddler Learning Centers (TLCs) are hosted at approximately 30 QPL locations across the borough, twice a year (in the spring and fall). While your children play in a safe, nurturing environment and participate in guided activities, early learning professionals will offer you advice about speech development, nutrition, early literacy, gross motor development, and much more.
College Readiness
Hey QPL Teens! Queens Public Library is here to help you explore and access post-secondary pathways.
Through year-round workshops, the QPL College Readiness team helps students explore secondary pathways like colleges, trade schools, gap years, certification programs, military options, and more!
Students can also access individual and group coaching at our Teen Centers or online to develop a post-secondary plan and get college application help. Individual coaching is available by appointment virtually and at Central Library and Cambia Heights Library.
You can view upcoming College Readiness programs on the QPL Calendar, learn more on our College Readiness webpage, or contact the College Readiness team at college.readiness@queenslibrary.org.
Brainfuse HelpNow: Live Online Tutoring Available Every Day
Brainfuse HelpNow offers personalized academic and homework help, in both English and Spanish, for children in Grades K-12.
Find expert support in core subjects (math, reading, writing, science), a Language Lab for language learners, a 24/7 Writing Lab, SAT prep and practice tests, and much more.
Plus, live online tutoring is available every day from 2-11pm.
All you need to access Brainfuse HelpNow is your library card!
Lantern: Essential Information for Raising Kids
Because kids don't come with instructions.
Lantern is a national nonprofit dedicated to providing families with essential information for raising kids, from pregnancy through the preteen years.
When you sign up for Lantern through Queens Public Library, you will receive free text messages to help you in your parenting journey, with easy, practical tips and activities covering topics like tantrums, nutrition, brain-building activities, local events, and much more!
Lantern is for anyone who cares for and loves a child, prenatally through age 11: parents, parents-to-be, caregivers, legal guardians, grandparents, babysitters, aunties, uncles, neighbors, friends, teachers, and anyone involved in the development of a child.
Lantern's message content comes from trusted partners like PBS and Sesame Street. Messages are targeted to your child’s age and include information on development, language and early literacy, health and safety, behavioral tips, and more.
To learn more and sign up for Lantern, text QUEENS to 274 448 and follow the prompts, or click here.
Back-to-School Booklists
Browse below to discover our curated booklists for early readers, school-age children, teens, and adults, plus selected kids' books in Spanish, Chinese, and Bengali!
Early Learning
Olu's Teacher: A Story About Starting Preschool by Jamel C. Campbell and Lydia Mba (Illust.)
Ready for Kindergarten by Bethany V. Freitas and Maja Andersen (Illust.)
El Cucuy Is Scared, Too! by Donna Barba Higuera and Juliana Perdomo (Illust.)
Print | eBook
Binna's Dalgona by Sojung Kim-McCarthy
The Yellow Bus by Loren Long
New by Niña Mata
Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo
The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems
Print | Korean
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López (Illust.)
Print | Audiobook (Read-Along)
School Aged
The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros
Print | eBook | Audiobook
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class: Poppy Song Bakes a Way by Karina Yan Glaser and Kat Fajardo (Illust.)
Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and Gabriela Epstein (Illust.)
Print | Audiobook
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Print | eBook
Amina Banana and the Formula for Friendship by Shifa Saltagi Safadi and Aaliya Jaleel (Illust.)
Barakah Beats by Maleeha Siddiqui
Print | eBook
Timid: A Graphic Novel by Jonathan Todd
Young Adult
Make College Your Superpower: It's Not Where You Go, It's What You Know by Anna Esaki-Smith
The High School Survival Guide: Your Roadmap to Studying, Socializing & Succeeding by Jessica Holsman
Print | eBook
Goodnight Homeroom: All the Advice I Wish I Got Before Going to High School by Samuel Kaplan, Keith Riegert, and Emily Fromm (Illust.)
Begin Again by Emma Lord
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian
Print | Audiobook
Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying by Barbara Oakley, Ph.D; Terrence Sejnowski, Ph.D; and Alistair McConville
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe
Print | eBook | Audiobook
SAT Power Vocab by The Princeton Review
Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu
Adult
A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Print | eBook
Making Plans That Stick: An Honest Look at the Mindsets That Keep Us Stuck by Josh Brazier
How to Read Now: Essays by Elaine Castillo
Print | eBook
Schooled: A Novel by Ted Fox
The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
Print | Audiobook
Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School by Kendra James
True Biz: A Novel by Sara Nović
Print | eBook | Audiobook
HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience by Ayesha Rascoe
Thriving in Graduate School: The Expert's Guide to Success and Wellness by Arielle F. Shanok and Nicole Benedicto Elden (Editors)
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
Print | Audiobook
Bengali
ক্ষুদে পরী ও মুচি (Kshude parī o muci) (The Elves and The Shoemaker) by Henriette Barkow
Milet Bilingual Visual Dictionary (English–Bengali)
বাড়ি (Bāṛi) (My First Bilingual Book: Home)
পেশা (Peśā) (My First Bilingual Book: Jobs)
বিপরীতার্থক শব্দ (Biparītārthaka śabda) (My First Bilingual Book: Opposites)
Chinese
親愛的動物園 : 動物翻翻書 (Qin ai de dong wu yuan : dong wu fan fan shu) (Dear Zoo) by Rod Campbell
和我一起玩 (He wo yi qi wan) (Play With Me) by Marie Hall Ets
飛一下, 休息一下, 再想一下..... (Fei yi xia, xiu xi yi xia, zai xiang yi xia.....) (Fly a Bit, Rest a Bit, Think Again......) by Tarō Gomi
我的大日子 (Wo de da ri zi) (My Day) by Pavla Hanáčková and Julie Cossette (Illus.)
我喜歡媽媽 (Wo xi huan ma ma) (I Like Mom) by Mindcongcong and Moon Yepula (Illus.)
我喜歡爸爸 (Wo xi huan ba ba) (I Like Dad) by Mindcongcong and Soon-Young Kim (Illus.)
Spanish
I Am, Yo Soy by Gabriela Orozco Belt and Mirelle Ortega (Illus.)
El mundo de acuerdo a Humphrey (The World According to Humphrey) by Betty G. Birney
Libro | Libro Electronico
¿Y qué? by Sonia Coudert and Grégoire Mabire (Illus.)
Un zorro en mi escuela by Lola Dupin, Olivier Dupin, and Ronan Badel (Illus.)
¡La Sra. Lía hace cada tontería! (Mrs. Lilly is Silly!) by Dan Gutman and Jim Paillot (Illus.)
¡El Cucuy también tiene miedo! (El Cucuy Is Scared, Too!) by Donna Barba Higuera and Juliana Perdomo (Illus.)
Diario Del Wimpy Kid: Descerebrados (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer) by Jeff Kinney
La hermanita de las niñeras: La foto escolar de Karen (Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen's School Picture) by Ann M. Martin and Katy Farina (Illus.)
Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh
El día en que descubres quién eres (The Day You Begin) by Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López (Illus.)