ENTERTAINMENT : Quality Videos : Not all children’s offerings are from the cartoon genre. Librarians say good tapes can foster a love of reading.

So your 8-year-old says he will simply die if he can’t rent the horror video “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.”

Do you cave in to his desperate pleas and then pray that he won’t suffer permanent brain damage from the grisly terror the film serves up?

It doesn’t have to be that way. Quality videos for children are out there and their numbers are growing, video experts say. Not only that, libraries are getting into the video business with a discriminating eye for first-rate material.

The Thousand Oaks Library began stocking children’s videos nine years ago and the collection has grown to about 600. The videos are so popular they amount to about 15% of the library’s circulation.

Librarians make no apologies for stocking videos. Reading and watching can go hand in hand, they say.

“There are such good videos out there that will foster a love of reading in kids, especially if the parents have not read much to their children,” said Thousand Oaks Librarian April Judge, who selects videos for the library.

Her picks? Faerie Tale Theatre and other production companies offer classics narrated by celebrities. You can hear Jack Nicholson narrate Rudyard Kipling’s story, “The Elephant’s Child,” Shelly Duval doing “Annie Oakley,” Elliot Gould reading “Casey at Bat,” Mia Farrow doing “Beauty and the Beast,” and Robin Williams ad-libbing his way through “Pecos Bill.”

She also recommended Children’s Circle productions, such as “Doctor De Soto and Other Stories” which are adaptations of children’s books. Another high on her list was “Wee Sing: Grandpa’s Magical Toys,” one of a series of videos that gets kids off the couch, dancing and singing.

Sesame Street also puts out entertaining videos that cleverly inform, such as the one about a visit to a museum, she said. The library also has the Disney classics, such as “Peter Pan” and the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons, but the emphasis is on videos adapted from books.

Ventura County’s public libraries generally don’t stock videos, but 18 months ago the Port Hueneme-Prueter Library in Port Hueneme tried out the concept. The library has 40 to 50 videos, but scarce funds have prevented the collection from expanding.

You won’t find Disney cartoons--the bulk of the children’s offerings at many video stores--at the Prueter Library.

“We don’t feel we want to compete with the video stores,” said Lori Karns, branch librarian. “We’re trying to offer a visual experience of children’s literature to help kids get hooked into reading.” The library offers a list of videos based on books so that children can borrow the book after they’ve seen the video.

One of her favorites is Weston Woods’ adaptation of “Ping,” the story about the duck of the same name.

Many of the newly emerging top quality children’s videos are available at video stores. However, Disney videos are still the most visible when you go to the video stores.

At Salzer’s Video in Ventura, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is still a hot item, according to Manager Denise Alarcon. And “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie and cartoons are popular too.

If all you want for your children is entertainment, Disney offerings, for the most part, are OK, said Evan Levine, a New York-based syndicated columnist who writes about children’s videos and television programming.

“There might be a lot of head-bashing, and if you’re looking for high moral value, you won’t find it,” she said. “But kids think they are hysterical.”

Nor does she think the Turtle videos are terrible. But high on her preferred list are adaptations of classical literature. “Trust the things you like reading to your kids,” she said.

Even then, watch out. “Mogli Goes to the Jungle,” an animated adaptation from Kipling’s “Jungle Book,” was quite frightening and left some children upset, she said.

For more help in selecting videos, a growing number of publications offer reviews: “Movie Guide for Puzzled Parents” by Lynn Minton, “Kidvid--A Parents’ Guide to Children’s Video” by Harold Schechter, and “Parents’ Choice Magazine’s Guide to Video Cassettes for Children.” “Parents’ Choice Magazine” regularly reviews new releases, as do “Children’s Video Report” and “Video Librarian,” which sometimes can be found in libraries.

Other goings on:

* A Spring Craft Fair will be held at the Moorpark Community Center Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be activities for kids.

* Hundred Hats Theater for Young People in Santa Paula is offering acting classes for kids 5-7 who will learn about theater and act out fairy tales. Classes run six Saturdays, beginning April 6, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., and cost $25. Call 525-4645 to register or for more information.

* Kids 6 and up can attend a Kids Inventor Workshop, Saturday, April 6, offered by Moorpark Department of Community Services. The class, taught by Alan Tratner, runs from 10 to 11 a.m., and costs $14.50. Call 529-6864 for registration information.

* OK Kids Club at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks has Easter crafts today from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. On March 28, the Scott Land Marionettes entertain.