No time to locate and reserve materials?
Not quite sure what to search for?
Put us to work for YOU!
The ERS Library's CheckThisOut! Multimedia Kit Subscription Service (CTO!) is FREE and available to all staff at our Library Media Services contracting sites. Once you sign up for CheckThisOut!, the ERS Library Team will begin curating monthly sets of materials, especially for you and your students. These kits, based on the criteria you select (see below), will be delivered to your campus. Four weeks later, we'll deliver a new kit and pick up the old one. Kits are available in August - November and January - April. December & May are PICKUP-ONLY months, as all materials must be returned to the ERS Library before winter and summer breaks.
Kit sizes & available customization:4-6 item kit | Material types, grade(s), reading level, and topic customization. |
8-10 item kit | Material types, grade(s), reading level, and topic customization |
Class Library kit | 30 single copy fiction/nonfiction books by grade & reading level [NO topics] |
Digital Resources Only | Links to ERS Portal Resources w/ grade & topic customization (sent via email) |
NO KIT | For months when you don't want a kit delivered or emailed. |
If you prefer the content you receive to be specifically ERS Portal digital resources, select only "Digital Resources from the ERS Portal" in the What types of materials are you interested in receiving? section
and "Digital Resources Only" in the monthly Kit Type sections. You will receive a monthly email containing 4-8 links to curated resources from the ERS Portal rather than a physical delivery to your site. Otherwise, you may
select as many types of materials as you like, digital and physical.
When completing the sign-up form, you can choose which style of kit to receive each month. Feeling adventurous? Try them all!
Art Prints, Big Books, Board Books, Book Kits (SM/LG), Chapter Books, Digital Resources from the ERS Portal***, DVDs, Easy Readers, Fiction books, Graphic Novels, Non-fiction Books, Picture Books, Playaway Audiobooks, Professional Development Books, Puppets, Spanish/Bilingual materials, STEM Kits, and Storytelling Kits. The CTO! form allows you the select as many options as you like.
***Digital Resources from the ERS Portal will arrive via email. Included will be links to standards-aligned digital resources from Learn360, Discovery Education, TeachingBooks, World Book & Britannica Encyclopedias, ProQuest (Culture Grams, SIRS Discoverer, SIRS Issues Researcher, eLibrary & Research Companion), Gale (Opposing Viewpoints, Cameron's Collection, Camp Cameron) and others. The ERS Library’s digital resources support learning in grades K-12.
Note: If we feel certain an item is a good fit for the lesson ideas/topics you mention, you may occasionally receive material types that you did not request when signing up for CTO!.
No, CTO! is specifically for educators who want to arrange scheduled monthly deliveries. All staff at ERS Library contracting sites can log in to the ERS Portal and use the Follett Destiny Online Library Catalog to request items. These will be delivered to your site unless you notify us that you want to pick them up at our office.
**Click here for Step-by-step Instructions on Reserving Materials to be Delivered to Your Site**
Delivery dates for the entire school year are listed in the sign up confirmation email you receive after completing the CTO! form. The bottom of each monthly packing sheet also contains the delivery date for the following month.
The rule of thumb: from your start date you should receive a new kit (and return the old one) every 4 weeks -- not counting Thanksgiving, winter or spring breaks.
No, that's part of the surprise :D
CTO! kits are assembled 1-2 days before delivery and are based on what is available in the ERS Library at that time. Each of the 75+ kits we assembled & deliver each week is unique. Due to the nature of this type of kit curation, it is not possible to email preview lists ahead of time.
The Friday before a kit is due, you will receive an automated “ERS Library -- Items Due Next Week” email.
**You need to reply to this email.**
If you are done with the kit, reply with the word “PICKUP”.
If you are still using the kit, reply with the word “RENEW”.
A member of the ERS Library Staff will respond to your request with either pickup confirmation, the new due date for your kit, or to let you know if any items need to be returned as they were reserved by other educators. Be sure to have returning items in place by 9:00am on your designated delivery/pickup day.
Yes, absolutely. ERS Library materials are meant to be used by educators and their students. We recommend implementing a tracking system to make collecting materials for return easier. Due to the number of pieces involved and the potential for loss, we highly suggest STEM kits and manipulative sets stay where they can be monitored by the CTO! participant.
While you can’t change your CTO! assigned delivery dates, you can adjust the topics you requested each month and you may want to switch your requested items to be delivered the previous month (e.g. if your August kit will be delivered on 8/29, request materials you’ll use in September).
Follow the directions in the "My lesson plans changed..." question above to edit your kit preferences.
Follow the directions in the "My lesson plans changed..." question above to edit your kit preferences. Once in the form with your original responses visible, you can switch each month's "Kit Type" selection between the 4-6 items, 8-10 items, Class Library, Digital Resources or NO KIT options. Make sure you save your changes when finished.
IMPORTANT: Changes must to be made prior to the date listed in the monthly descriptions. Any changes made after those dates will not be printed on the curation/packing sheets for our consideration.
"I enjoy using CheckThisOut! to support my Social Studies and Science curriculum. I use my long term calendar to order for the whole year so I don't have to think about it. They just show up. I use the stories to introduce a topic or to just fill in extra time (if I have any-LOL). My favorite thing about CheckThisOut! is planning it all out at once and not having to think about it afterwards. It's like a gift I forgot all about that just shows up for me to use." - K. Tracy, Kings River School, Kings River SD |
"I use CheckThisOut! as a great resource when looking for books for our students. I love the variety and great conversations that the books start. Best thing of all? The great titles!" - Linda S., Mark Twain Elementary, Corcoran USD |
Tulare County Office of Education
Tim A. Hire, County Superintendent of Schools
P.O. Box 5091
Visalia, CA 93278-5091
(559) 733-6300