Library programs can be brought directly to patrons at schools, daycares, businesses, Senior Centers, and other community gathering places. They are also available for book clubs, homeschool groups, local festivals, fairs, and more.
Examples include:

Schools/Homeschools/Daycares:

• Library Tours
• Story Times & Book Talks
• Library Use Instruction
• Research Instruction
• Library at Your School
• Homework Help
• Pop-Up Library
• Book Discussion Kits

Senior Living Communities:

• Book Delivery
• Book Talks
• Programs
• Technology Classes/Assistance
• Memory Kits/Program

For Kids & Families:

• Special and Seasonal Events
• Park Story Time
• Technology Classes/Assistance
• Homework Help
• Book Discussions or help to get your books for everyone.

What this looks like:

Schools/Homeschools/Daycares:

Currently, the Outreach Department hosts two pop-up libraries in Oak Grove and Pleasant Hill Schools. Students are allowed to have a school library brought to them utilizing Alpha Park materials. Schools have the option to choose between having the student come to a centralized room in the building functioning as the 'library', or having the library travel from classroom to classroom.

Senior Living Communities:

Once a month, the library hosts a crafting program at the Villas of Holly Brooks memory care unit. This program is to help build a connection within their care facility, build relationships, stimulate the brain, improve both verbal and non-verbal communication, increase feelings of connectivity, improve confidence, and more. 

For Kids & Families:

Every week, the Outreach Department travels to Glasford, the furthest point in the district, to host a pop-up library for patrons who cannot travel to our building. We offer homework help, library card applications, material checkout, and much more!

The Library at Your Door!

Long-Term Homebound Service:

Available to anyone unable to get to the library on a regular basis, this service brings you monthly deliveries of regular or large print books, audiobooks, movies, and more. Service is available to your home or to a senior residence and care facility within the Alpha Park Public Library District.

Short-Term Delivery Service:

Short-Term Delivery Service is available to library district residents of any age who will need delivery service for less than 4 months. This service is used while recovering from surgery or a prolonged illness, etc.

Make It Happen:

To request homebound delivery services, contact the Outreach Specialist at 309-697-3822 x91, or email kindred@alphapark.org.

Application:

Please either fill out the application below, or download the form and email it to kindred@alphapark.org.

Or fill out the form below.

Free recorded books, magazines, and playback equipment are available by mail or app to eligible Illinois residents who are blind, visually impaired, physically disabled, or reading disabled. Contact Kindred, Outreach Specialist at 309-697-3822 x91 or email kindred@alphapark.org to assist with enrollment or get the application from the State of Illinois Talking Book program at 800−426−0709.

We keep our Little Free Libraries stocked with all types of books for all ages: fiction and nonfiction, picture books, early readers, chapter books, YA, mysteries, romance, and more! Little Free Libraries encourage readers of all ages to take a book home, read it, and share it!  Feel free to leave books for others to take and share!

Nico Contreras created the Alpha Park and Union Hall Little Free Libraries for an Eagle Scout project in 2021. Bartonville's  Troop 200 maintains it today.     

Please call 800.272.3900 to register! Walk-ins Welcome!

Alzheimer’s Association® support groups, conducted by trained facilitators, are a safe place for people living with dementia and their care partners to:

• Develop a support system.
• Exchange practical information on challenges and possible solutions.
• Talk through issues and ways of coping.
• Share feelings, needs, and concerns.
• Learn about community resources.

Join the Alpha Park Library, the Limestone Township, & the Bartonville Park Committee each month for coffee, donuts, socializing, and a guest speaker. This program runs from April through November each year. 
Held at the Clubhouse in Alpha Park (across from pavilions). Social time from 8 a.m. to 8:25 a.m., with a speaker from 8:30 - 9:00 am.

Speakers for 2026:

April – Bartonville Parks & Recreation & Limestone Township

May – Peoria Riverfront Museum’s 250th Celebration Exhibits

June – Local Mines with ICC’s Ed Stermer

July – Tippy Creek Honey Farm

August – WTVP

September – Games with Graceland Senior Center 

October – Tiffany Olsen (Communication Coach)

November – Christmas Volunteer Work Day!

 What the Library Can do For Your School:

 Offer Library Cards 

Options for your School or Classroom include:

1. APL Library Cards – Library card applications can be dropped off at the school for the students to have their parents sign and return. When the apps return, cards will be made, then dropped off at the school. These are the cards they keep. They will then have full access to the Library's online databases & materials, including ebooks, audiobooks, movies, and music. They will also be able to check out at the library (3527 S. Airport Rd, Bartonville). 
2. School Cards - This card is issued for schools in which the library brings books for checkouts on a regular basis. Either the teacher or librarians will keep the card and get it out when the pop-up occurs. The books can be taken home, or some schools choose to leave them at school (classroom, locker, etc.) to be read only at school. The choice is up to the teachers. This limits the card to in-school use only. 
3. We can issue both cards! It's confusing at first, but this allows kids to check out during the school pop-up or access online material even if they have fines on their APL Library Card. 

We are happy to discuss these options with you and determine which one best fits your needs. It may look different for different grades/classes, or we could consider one option for the whole school. 

 
Reading Awards

We would be interested in providing an end-of-year reading award at your award assembly to honor the student who read the most books during the school year. They would receive an award, plus a name plaque on a sign inside the library. This is new to us, so we are open to other ideas here. 

Library Instruction:

We are happy to come to any class and give a demo on how to access free eBooks, download free movies & music, or how to use Worldbook or Novelist. We make it fun.

TumbleBooks is great for young readers or anyone struggling with reading – and it's very entertaining. 

Novelist is great for tracking books read and finding read-alikes or other authors/books. 

Learning about our online programs will give students a boost with high school research and navigating websites, as well as improve literacy. 

Pop Up Library: 

We can bring books for checkout to your classroom or for the entire school. For example, we visit a 3rd-grade class at Pleasant Hill weekly, providing books they request (specific topics usually) and then some random books for them to browse and choose. For Oak Grove School, we bring a pop-up library to the gym, and each class rotates in. We do this biweekly.

Library Sponsored Reading Challenge:

We use the online Beanstack program to create and track readers. The 3rd-grade Pleasant Hill class had a challenge to read 40 books by the end of the year. The teacher logs them, and the library provides incentive stickers and a final prize when the challenge is met.

Book Discussions

• We could host book clubs in a class, during lunch, before or after school, or off-site. 
• We could provide books for your book discussions. We have some book discussion kits, or we could always order books. 

Getting Students Involved

We have a teen board that meets 2x a month at the Library. We are also looking into forming tween library groups at the schools to reach the younger crowd. These boards discuss what type of programs the library offers, the type of books or other materials they'd like to see in the library, and socialize.

Have Other Ideas?

We are open to other ideas as well. Contact us if you would like to hear more about what we offer.

Kindred Ahrens 
Outreach Specialist
Alpha Park Public Library 
309-697-3822 x91
kindred@alphapark.org 

 Monroe Grade School held an Incentive Behavior Party at the Library for all Kindergarten and 1st Grade students with excellent behavior all year! These students attended a special train-themed storytime, featuring How to Train a Train by Jason Carter Eaton. After the story, the students boarded the library train for a magical library tour before ending the day with free play and a coloring book gifted by Amtrak!