BALTIMORE COUNTY — Baltimore County Public Library has a range of free resources available to help students and families prepare for the new school year, including expanded online tutoring, after-school snacks, and early literacy programs.
One of the library's featured offerings is BrainFuse, a free online homework help platform that connects students with real tutors — not AI.
"It's not an AI, it's a real agent that is going to tutor you. Just put in your grade and whatever the subject is, so 8th grade algebra 1 math, and it'll come up and an agent will actually talk to you, work through whatever the problem is," Emily Williamson, communications staff at Baltimore County Public Library, said.
New this year, the BrainFuse access window has expanded from 16 hours to 24 hours of online help.
"Tutoring is expensive, so you can get free online tutoring," Williamson said.
The library also offers Skill Surfer and a writing lab through BrainFuse, where students can submit writing samples for feedback and critiques.
After-school snacks are available at 9 branches starting Tuesday, September 8 for students 18 and younger. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.
After-school snack locations:
- Arbutus
- Cockeysville
- Lansdowne
- North Point*
- Parkville-Carney
- Reisterstown
- Rosedale
- Sollers Point
Woodlawn
*The North Point Branch is currently closed for HVAC repairs and is scheduled to reopen Monday, November 9.
"You can study, you can hang out with friends, get a snack, and kind of fill that gap between school and dinner," Williamson said.
For younger children not yet in school, the library offers the "1,000 Books Before Kindergarten" program and Storyville, a child-sized village designed to support developmental learning.
Every Baltimore County Public School student already has a library card through their student ID. Families can visit the front desk, provide their student ID number, and gain access to check out 5 books, e-books, and research databases.
"We really want families to think of it as a third space to learn. So you have the classroom, you have your home, and we want you to think of the public library," Williamson said.
Families near the North Point Branch in Dundalk should note the location is currently closed for HVAC repairs and is expected to reopen by mid-November. The library's bookmobile will be stationed outside the branch through the end of September.
