Videos and QR Codes in the Library

YouTube can be a powerful tool, however, being a mother of young children, I am always a little leery of it.  Some of the content can be completely unacceptable.  Although, once I learned how to turn safe search ON, it is very useful for people of all ages.

Librarians all around the country are using YouTube in many ways to promote the library, teach mini-lessons or to create cute/funny videos about overdue books.  Check out some of my favorite videos from different library Channels.


The first channel I looked at was Norman High School Library


One of the most helpful videos I saw was How to use EBSCO Host.  The narrator takes you through a step by step process of how to search and narrow your search using this database.  She also discusses how to complete the search from home, which is very beneficial to students.

This next video is a student favorite, with more than 1,000 views!  It includes students and teachers, dancing and singing The Dark Lord Funk (Uptown Funk tune).  It is pretty entertaining and you find yourself singing along with it!

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The second channel I explored was The Unquiet Library, which is administered by Buffy Hamilton, the Library and Media Specialist at Creekview High School.

I chose this first video as the most helpful to students because finding images that are licensed to use is difficult to do.  Actually, before my MLS classes, I never thought about it being a copyright issue to use images that I found.  This is a great way for students to learn how to find appropriate images.

This next video is a new concept to me and I think it's a great idea!  They bring the library to the students, via a cart with wheels, and students can check out books while they eat.  This is a great option, as some kids don't like to actually go to the library.  In high school, I was one of those kids.  For whatever reason, which I think was the scary librarian, I did my best to avoid it.  I think students would like this video because it gives them choices and options for checking out books.

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Pikesville High School Library is the third channel I viewed.  

The video that I think is most helpful to students is about Course Advisement.  It lets students know exactly what they need for the upcoming school year and graduation requirements.

Pikesville High School Library enjoys videoing students while singing and dancing.  I think students would enjoy watching this next video because it highlights Hip Hop Day and Black History Month.  It looks like they had a lot of fun on this day in the library.  Their library is definitely not a "quiet zone" all the time, and that is something that inspires me.

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The last channel is Bonnie Branch Middle School.  This is my FAVORITE channel so far!  It includes some tutorials, for students and teachers, and many parodies made by students for different reasons, such as overdue books.  I found this channel entertaining!

The Online Career Resources video would be the most helpful to students.  The librarian walks students through the steps of how to use the online resources that are available when doing research.

I love the Bring Them Back Overdue Library Book Parody.  They use the song "Let it go" from Frozen.  Primary elementary students would really enjoy this video.  What a great way to start a lesson about returning books, especially if it has been an issue in your library.

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Wow, I never knew the possibilities with YouTube and the school library!  This was interesting and exciting to research.  I cannot wait to try some of these ideas out.  I imagine that some of these videos encouraged other students to come to the library, if even just to explore the options to make videos.  The first step is to get the students to come!  I would love to have students create videos for book reviews/book trailers.  As the librarian, I would make mini-lessons for how-to's in the library, directly geared towards helping teachers.  

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I have used Animoto several times as a teacher.  I usually take our field trip pictures to create videos for my students.  It is something that they cherish.  The one thing that is a negative for Animoto is that when you sign up for the free educator plan, your video can only be 30 seconds long.  That is much time for anything.  

I did enjoy creating this book trailer for Shiloh.  This is a book that I use yearly with my 3rd grade students.  

When Marty Preston comes across a young beagle in the hills behind his home, it's love at first sight—and also big trouble. It turns out the dog, which Marty names Shiloh, belongs to Judd Travers, who drinks too much and has a gun—and abuses his dogs. So when Shiloh runs away from Judd to Marty, Marty just has to hide him and protect him from Judd. But Marty's secret becomes too big for him to keep to himself, and it exposes his entire family to Judd's anger. How far will Marty have to go to make Shiloh his?

View the Book Trailer by scanning the QR Code below!  Hope you enjoy it!

With QR codes, the possibilities are endless, whether in a classroom or the library.  After some research, I found that many librarians use them for various reasons.  These are some of my favorites that I plan to use in my own library:

I love this idea from The Brown Bag Teacher.  She created research mats for her 1st graders that were researching Penguins.  Each QR code took the students to different websites, that were appropriate, that discussed penguin facts and videos.

The Daring Librarian uses a scavenger hunt for her middle school students.  This could easily be adapted for elementary aged students and they would love it!  Who doesn't love a good old scavenger hunt?!  It is a great way to learn your way around the library.  She also created a slideshow with all of her ideas of how she uses QR codes in her library and around the school.  Check the slideshow out here.

One idea was to create book trailers for the current Bluebonnet Books.  I love this and think that it could really help promote these award winning books.

Teaching like it's 2999 has some great ideas of how to create and display student work in the form of a QR Code.  She also uses them to create interactive libraries by genre.  These were some new ideas to me, but definitely worth a try!

One last way that I am going to use for sure is to create book trailers, reviews and read alouds with QR codes.  They are a great way to get students involved in lessons and motivated to want to learn and do more.  

You should try them out.  They are so easy to create for everyday use in a school!