More FAQ About Library Lesson Plans

It's been an awesome week. Technical difficulties aside, I've been so pleased with the response to my podcast and the sale on my library lesson plans. Thanks for being such awesome readers, customers, and librarians. I love sharing my work with you, and more importantly, I love when you guys share what's going on in your libraries with me.

I've gotten a lot of questions about the sale and about my library lesson plans over the past few days, so I thought I would take this opportunity to address several questions that keep coming up. If you read through this and you're still confused, feel free to contact me.

1. Are the yearly lesson plans new, or are they the same as last year's?

The full year of library lesson plans is basically unchanged from last year. As I mentioned in my podcast , I did make a few updates to the lessons because a few of the books I used last year are now out of print. You can find all the updated materials on my lesson plan resources page, so there's really no need to purchase the entire year lesson plans again if you already have them. I have received this question so many times that I'm considering creating an entire new year's worth of lesson plans. If this is something you'd be interested in purchasing in the future, let me know in the comments!

2. Are the lesson plan resources included? Do I need to download them?

All my lesson plan resources are available completely free of charge and will be as long as my website exists. It's very easy to find the resources for each month. You can click Lesson Plan Resources at the top of my website, then click the month you're looking for, or you could type in https://elementarylibrarian.com/august (or whatever month you're looking for). The only resources that are not included on my site are the activities found in the Complete Library Skills books (you could substitute a similar activity from another resource if you don't want to purchase them) and the online encyclopedia of your choice. I know many districts/schools already subscribe to one, but if you don't, you might want to consider it. The only free web encyclopedia I'm aware of is Wikipedia.

3. What's up with the Mini Lesson Packs?

I created the Mini Lesson Packs to fill in the gaps of subjects I chose not to cover in my entire year of lesson plans for various reasons. In each mini lesson pack, you'll find one lesson plan per grade level K-5 on a particular subject, such as back-to-school, Newbery and Caldecott medals, genre studies, and more! Each mini lesson pack contains lessons that are not included in the full year of lesson plans, so be sure to check them out! These will be released throughout the school year, so check back for new materials!

4. You mentioned a Library Centers book in your podcast. Where's that?

In the true spirit of procrastination, it's not finished yet. 🙂 I have the entire book outlined on paper, but I have not typed it all out yet. My plan is to have the 101 Library Centers book completed no later than August 10. The book will contain teacher instructions and printable student instruction cards. I will be sure to let you know when it's ready.

5. Can I purchase using a school Purchase Order? Can I still get the sale price if it takes a little while for my school to approve it?

Purchasing library lesson plans with a school purchase order is very easy. Just contact me to let me know you want to use a purchase order. At that point, I'll email an invoice to you with the sale price on it. Once your purchase order has been approved and entered (it's OK if it takes a few weeks), you can send it to me via email or postal mail (you can even take a picture of it with your phone). When I receive the purchase order, I will email the lesson plans to you, and you'll have your organization mail a check to me. It's that simple.

6. How do I know what subjects are included in the entire year of lesson plans?

All the subjects are listed in my curriculum map, which can be found by clicking here.

7. I bought some lesson plans. Where's my download link?

The download link will display on your receipt immediately after your purchase. If you missed that link, the receipt is also sent to the email address you used to purchase the lessons. If you don't see it, check your bulk/spam folder. If you still can't find it, contact me and I'll be happy to help.

8. I see you've mentioned stations in your lesson plans. How does that work exactly?

Many of my lesson plans are designed for library stations or library centers. The first week is an overview of what we'll be doing the rest of the month, then weeks 2, 3, and 4 are the actual rotations. You can read more about how I use library centers/stations in this article and I also discuss how stations work with my schedule in this article.

9. I have some really awesome lesson plans I'd love to share. Do you partner with other librarians who'd like to sell their own library lesson plans?

I have not done this yet, but it's something I'm highly considering. If you're interested in partnering with my website, contact me and we'll discuss specifics. This would be an arrangement similar to the Teachers Pay Teachers model, but the good thing about my site is that it's highly targeted - all my readers are elementary librarians. I would carefully consider every submission to make sure that it meets the same high standards as my original materials, and everyone would benefit from having an even wider variety of lessons to choose from!

10. When does the sale end?

I haven't decided on the exact end date of the sale at this point, but I can tell you that it will only be available for a limited time! Don't delay if you want to purchase because I don't want you to miss out! This is the best price I've ever offered on the full year of library lesson plans. Once the sale ends, they will go back up to the regular price of $150.

There you have it. More frequently asked questions about the library lesson plans sale. If I missed your question, or if you have a suggestion about a product you'd like to see in the future, please let me know. You can respond in the comments, or contact me. I'm always happy to help.