It's been awhile, but I'm back to ride a wave of library related You Tube programming. There were many library videos. Some of the ones I view were:
City of Plano, Texas- Library Technical Services
This video clearly explains how library books get into patrons hands from vendor to book shelf. The video and audio quality are excellent and the video is a little over 3 minutes in length.
Library Book Cart Drill Team
This video was grainy, but the audio was good. There was no other information about where and when it took place, although I'm pretty sure it's a library convention. I've witnessed this competition in person for the first time at last year's TLA convention. It's a fun video to show to those who've never seen or heard of a book cart drill team and there were quite a few on You Tube.
I also went to Teacher Tube, a similar site that concentrates on educational web program.
Library Catalog Mini Lesson (online catalog)
The video was informative, but the quality of the video wasn't very clear. I don't know how it was filmed. It was a little fast, cramming all of information into a film. I would have broken into a smaller mini lesson (searching by author, subject, etc.)
Be Creative @ Your Library
This video was a commercial create for New York's statewide summer reading program. It doesn't give any information about the summer reading program, but I thought it was a well produce promo that could be used year around to encourage kids to go to their library and read.
I thought about creating videos of library and reading programs, especially ones that show the users using the library. Some of the videos I saw talked about library services and some were orientation videos, but the libraries were devoid of patrons. I know filming with large groups of people can be difficult, but these shots can be filmed later and inserted in the final video. These videos were on You Tube and Teacher Tube not only to inform their patrons, but to share their ideas with others. It gives all of us who work and use libraries a chance to informally collaborate and celebrate libraries and their programs. The last video that was a commercial reinforces how most people in our country choose their products and services- through advertising. We have products, we are a service. Videos like the ones I viewed advertise and promote us- basically selling us to the public. It's reciprocal as well. They may not know that they can get X, Y, or Z at the library (and usually for free), unless we inform them.As a school librarian, I've have films that were a result of book reviews and research projects on my website, but not much else. Seeing the variety and ideas out there helps me see what I can offer my users. Until then, keep reading.
Queen B.
