CalMatters for Learning

Welcome to the free learning hub for California library staff. Here you’ll find activities, resources and unique tools to guide conversations in your communities about issues important to Californians.

Brought to you by the California State Library:

Tents outside the First Street U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles, where homeless advocates and supporters rallied as the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C. heard oral arguments in the Grants Pass case, on April 22, 2024. Photo by Ted Soqui for CalMatters
Featured Resource
Homeless Encampment Sweeps in California
Use this resource to understand homelessness in California and how a court ruling is impacting communities across the state. In June of 2024, the Supreme Court gave cities in California and beyond more power to crack down on homeless encampments. Gov. Gavin Newsom has responded with demands of encampment sweeps throughout all of California. Cities and counties struggle to clear encampments and find a place for those living on the street to stay.
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Tents outside the First Street U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles, where homeless advocates and supporters rallied as the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C. heard oral arguments in the Grants Pass case, on April 22, 2024. Photo by Ted Soqui for CalMatters
Homeless Encampment Sweeps in California
Voter Guide: Filling Out Your Ballot
Rosalinda Avitia, 73, listens to organizers as they review voter registration information in Tulare on Nov. 1, 2023. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters
Election 2024: California's Voice in a Historic Year
Firefighters watch as the Fairview Fire burns on a hillside near Hemet on Sept. 8, 2022. Photo by Ringo H.W. Chiu, AP
California Wildfires – unpredictable and extreme
News inscription on neon signboard hanging on street
The Changing News Media Landscape
Butte College campus bustles between classes on February 12, 2020. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters
Community Colleges: Educating and Training California’s Workforce
California’s Mental Health Care
Water rushes out of the Oroville Spillway at Lake Oroville in Butte County, on March 26, 2023. California ended its 2022-23 water year on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. After years of severe drought, the reservoirs in the state water project ended the year at 128% of their historical average. That includes Lake Oroville. Photo by Noah Berger, AP Photo
Floods and Drought: Managing California’s Water
2024 Voter Guide
2024 Elections: Voter Engagement
A "for sale" sign is posted in front of a home in Sacramento on March 3, 2022. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli, AP Photo
Housing in California
Medi-Cal Insurance Coverage
A student writes on a board at Stege Elementary School in Richmond on Feb. 6, 2023. Photo by Shelby Knowles for CalMatters
Teacher Turnover in California
New housing construction in the Crocker Village neighborhood in Sacramento on Feb. 10, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
Housing and Homelessness
Illustration by Julie A. Hotz for CalMatters
Electric Vehicles in California
water laws
Water in California
Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock
Wage Theft
The state Capitol in Sacramento on Nov. 17, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
California Government

Online Events

  • 7
  • Jan
  • Healthcare for DACA Recipients
  • January 7th, 2025 | 10:30 am – 11:00 am online event
  • For the first time since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children can purchase subsidized health plans through Covered California, the state’s insurance marketplace. While it is difficult to predict what will happen in the coming months, those eligible should take the opportunity and get health insurance as soon as possible. Join CalMatters Deputy Editor Adam Ashton and Health Reporter Ana B. Ibarra for an in-depth conversation about what this means, how to get access and how things might change under president-elect Donald Trump. 

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This project is supported in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

About CalMatters

CalMatters is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable. We are the only journalism outlet dedicated to covering America’s biggest state, 39 million Californians and the world’s fifth largest economy.

Learn more about us