Quick Summary
The first resource pack of the 2025-2026 School Year has arrived! Read more to learn about the resources in eLibraryMN, Ebooks Minnesota, and Minnesota Digital Library that discuss what it means to be a citizen in the United States.
We're back to school, and it is a fantastic time to think about how we belong and contribute to our communities. How do people work together to solve local problems? How do we balance individual freedoms with responsibilities to others? How can students make a positive difference in their neighborhoods and beyond? Read ahead to uncover the many ways that you can encourage students to explore what citizenship means in this month's Resource Pack. The September pack includes a variety of engaging resources from eLibraryMN, Ebooks Minnesota, and Minnesota Digital Library about civic engagement, democratic processes, historical changemakers, and the responsibilities we share as members of a community.
For younger students, access Britannica for age-leveled and accessible entries that will introduce civic ideas like rules, fairness, and community helpers. When they are ready to start exploring citizenship topics on their own, EBSCO Explora’s Citizenship and Global Citizenship sections will give them a place to start their studies in government, history, and current events. And don’t forget that you can always use the ELM databases for the full-text articles they provide. Link to newspapers and magazines like The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Smithsonian, where students can explore issues without paywalls.
For citizenship topics, Ebooks Minnesota has you covered with books introducing the meaning of Citizenship and each citizen's role in society. Whether students are reading about young activists, learning how government works, or exploring the history of voting rights, the MackinVIA app provides a safe and accessible ebook experience for all. Older students can dive into the 9–12 collection, with titles examining the American Dream, and DACA, or read the award-winning Everyone who is gone is here: the United States, Central America, and the making of a crisis.
This resource pack also includes a variety of photographs, documents, and recordings from the Minnesota Digital Library that show how people in the state have become U.S. citizens over the years. Examples include citizenship classes, recognition ceremonies, magazine articles, student essays, and several oral history interviews. The primary sources also provide examples of citizen responsibilities, such as voting, serving on a jury, and representing one’s community through public office.
Image credit: New citizen John Frenner and his family with an American flag on the cover of the “Ore, Iron and Men” magazine, July 1953. Hibbing Historical Society collection, https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll526:281
