LIBRARY LESSONS & PRINTABLES
DISCLAIMER: Some of the lesson ideas posted below contain links to products I created for my TPT store. To create them, I used only my own computer, equipment, software, clip art, and fonts purchased with my own money and for commercial use. All were created on my own time, not at school or during school hours. These lesson ideas took considerable time to create and perfect so that my fellow librarians might not have to spend so much time planning library lessons. I very much appreciate link sharing, but please do not share any of my actual products–either free or paid–anywhere online or on school or district shared drives.

New Release Spotlight: May 17 and May 24
Well, I guess my Spotlight hiatus–if you can call it that–is ending! I’ve decided to go back to weekly New Release Spotlights starting May 31. It’s partly because I have

Girls Like Us by Randi Pink: A Librarian’s Perspective
Girls Like Us is the first book I’ve read by Randi Pink, and I definitely enjoyed it. I was born after the story’s events, but I remember this issue coming

New Release Spotlight: May 3 and May 10, 2022
Welcome to May! This month is historically quite good for new book releases, and with a collective total of 40 starred reviews, today’s list is no exception. I think YA

Stolen by Lucy Christopher: A Librarian’s Perspective Review
Stolen by Lucy Christopher was popular in my Grade 6-12 library a few years ago. I had three copies, and they were never on the shelf. Concerned about the possibility

New Release Spotlight: April 19 and April 26, 2022
Welcome to the Spotlight for April 19 and April 26, 2022! We’ve got new titles this week from Shaun David Hutchinson, Emily X.R. Pan, Julie Kagawa, Tae Keller, Linda Williams

Dark Meanings of Nursery Rhymes : A Library Lesson for Older Students
Since April is National Poetry Month, I thought I’d share a fun lesson about the dark meanings of nursery rhymes. Secondary students LOVE hearing these stories! They are an interesting

New Release Spotlight: April 5 and April 12, 2022
Welcome to beautiful, sunny April! I’ve got two Spotlights releasing together this week. The middle grade titles are my favorites, with YA in a close second. Definitely worth a look!

New Release Spotlight: Best YA Books March 2022
Welcome to the Best YA Books March 2022 list! As often happens with my New Release Spotlight lists, the YA list is lengthy! Every book on this list received at

New Release Spotlight: Best Picture Books March 2022
The picture book list for March 2022 is the shortest of my three “Best of” lists for March 2022. I also have Best YA Books March 2022 and Best Middle

New Release Spotlight: Best of March 2022 (Middle Grades)
Welcome to Part II of my Best of March 2022 Spotlight! This is the new book releases for middle grades list, which I define as Grades 3-7. Middle grades are

12 Picture Book Biographies for Women’s History Month
This week, I’m bringing you twelve gorgeous picture book biographies for Women’s History Month! As I did with the YA and MG Women’s History Month booklists, I’ve got an editable

Brave Face by Shaun David Hutchinson — A Librarian’s Perspective Review
I read the audiobook of Brave Face, written and narrated by Shaun David Hutchinson. Audiobooks are kind of my jam lately, and I’ve reviewed a few just in the past

12 Middle Grade Books for Women’s History Month
It’s time for Week 2 of my series spotlighting strong females! As promised, I’m featuring middle grade books for Women’s History Month. As I did in last week’s YA Books

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson — A Librarian’s Perspective
I’m on a roll with fiction audiobooks lately! Last week, I loved the audiobook of Parachutes by Kelly Yang, and this week I enjoyed the audiobook version of White Smoke

Parachutes by Kelly Yang — A Librarian’s Perspective
I read the Parachutes by Kelly Yang audiobook in just 4 days, and I relished every minute of it! I am trying very hard to get back to my book

12 YA Books for Women’s History Month — Featuring Strong Female Protagonists
Welcome back! I’m trying out an idea to promote YA books for Women’s History Month, and I am excited to hear what you think! This is an experiment, so bear

New Book Releases March 2022 — Week 1
I think authors did a lot of writing in the past couple of pandemic years! The New Release Spotlights have been extra-huge nearly every week of 2022 so far, and

Why We Should Stop Teaching Whole Class Novels
Stop Teaching Whole Class Novels: UPDATED February 27, 2022… Up until two days ago, this post had not been live since 2017. I was teaching at the time, and when

New Books February 2022 — Week 4
I’ve got 17 new books for February 2022, Week 4! It’s a smaller list than we’ve been seeing for the past few weeks. This week’s top picks: Daughters of a

New Book Releases Feb 2022 — Week of Feb 15
I’ve got 24 books on this list of New Book Releases Feb 2022! This week’s list is HUGE. We’ve got new releases from some huge authors including: Zoraida Córdova, Margarita