Calling all autodidacts, self-starters, and anyone else feeling the pull of the new year. The possibilities are certainly endless and if you’re looking to learn something new in 2026, your best bet is a good plan. Enter the personal curriculum. A personal curriculum is a self-paced, personalized learning plan primarily used by people who are out of school but are craving the structure of a syllabus without any of the pressure. Read on to learn how you can make a personal curriculum using resources available here at the Frisco Public Library.
The phrase “personal curriculum” was coined in the summer by Elizabeth Jean, opens a new window, and has since spawned thousands of videos on possible topics to explore and methodologies to employ. Making a personal curriculum involves finding a topic that impassions or intrigues you and then writing out measurable learning outcomes that you want to achieve through study materials and maybe even small assessments to track your progress.
If you are struggling to come up with a topic, consider a question you’ve asked yourself lately or a pattern you’ve seen that you want to explore. If all else fails, start browsing Frisco’s new non-fiction books until a title catches your eye and start from there. Once you have your introductory topic and your goals, check out these resources available with your library card:
America’s News , opens a new window
Featuring offerings from as recent as today and as far back as 1978 from a variety of US and Texan papers, America’s News can serve as a great secondary source for your history or politics lesson plan.
Gale Courses, opens a new window
Featuring instructor-led online courses with topics ranging from business to creative writing, Gale Courses typically run 6 weeks and can include lessons, assignments, and discussion boards.
Kit Collection , opens a new window
Whether you’re looking to learn how to bake a cake, how to play the ukulele, or how to use Arduino, check out one of our curated kits and add them to the practical applications portion of your personal curriculum.
Interlibrary Loan , opens a new windowand Purchase Suggestions, opens a new window
See a book you want but we don’t have? You can always suggest a purchase from your account or request an interlibrary loan.
LinkedIn Learning, opens a new window
Featuring career-focused courses taught by professionals, LinkedIn Learning is a great resource for skill-based personal curriculums as well as anyone looking to prepare for professional certifications, opens a new window.
ProQuest has a collection of full texts as well as abstracts and indexes for researchers to browse and download, which makes it a great resource for initial research. ProQuest has multidisciplinary content in many formats including scholarly journals, books, video & audio, dissertations & theses, and newspapers.
Search by Subject, opens a new window
You can find more research tools (like the many Gale Onefile, opens a new window databases) and practical resources broken down by topic, such as money and genealogy, or by format, such as journals and magazines.
Udemy features thousands of on-demand video courses with topics that range from technology to the arts for beginners and for experts. You can filter your Udemy search to include practical exercises or quizzes as well as courses taught in different languages.
Finally, here are some topics you could be exploring in 2026:
AWS 101
Understand cloud computing fundamentals.
Books:
Amazon Web Service, opens a new window
Research: AWS launches AI Factories and new innovations, opens a new window via Gale Onefile: Computer Science
Courses: updated regularly on Udemy and LinkedIn Learning
We’ve Got Bread at Home
Be able to bake a loaf of sourdough consistently and learn what a sourdough starter is.
Books:
Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, opens a new window
The Beginner's Guide to Sourdough, opens a new window
Course: #1 Sourdough Bread Baking 101, opens a new window on Udemy
The Wolf at the Door
Learn how the wolf of literary archetype has shifted in our cultural imagination and compare the different iterations and tropes worldwide.
Books:
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, opens a new window
How to Be Eaten, opens a new window
Papers: The Form and Spirit of Beast Fable, opens a new window by Jan M. Ziolkowski and Translation of Cultural Images of Wolf and Tiger, opens a new window by Hung-Shu Chen via Gale Literature , opens a new window
Possible media:
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