CyberKid

The Birmingham Public Library recently launched its newest Web site -- www.bplcyberkid.org. CyberKid is designed especially for children from the ages of four to twelve to help them do their homework, to have fun, or just to explore the world. Children, parents, teachers, and friends can click on the topical bubbles to find all sorts of information from arts and sciences to history and language and even to sports and games.

Youth librarians from the library system have carefully selected the linked Web sites for their quality, appeal, and ease of use and continually monitor and update them for currency, popularity, and suitability for children. They have created a similar site for older children and teens -- www.bplcyberteen.org. 

Philip McEntee, who taught music in the Birmingham Public School System for more than twenty years, created the artwork for CyberKid. He has visited most of the libraries in Birmingham and in Jefferson and Shelby Counties as a storyteller and musician. These days he spends most of his time at home near Montevallo where he enjoys his other career of portraying Benjamin Franklin at the American Village.

The Birmingham Public Library offers these and other useful online resources at its Web site www.bplonline.org.