Videos and QR Codes in the Library

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_sI4g2qitQ

 

Youtube is the biggest video sharing site in the world. On average, more than 150,0000 new videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute, adding up to around 330,000 hours of video content based on an average video length of 4.4 minutes. (https://www.wyzowl.com/youtube-stats/#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20more%20than%20150,video%20length%20of%204.4%20minutes.)

This is a great resource for anyone as Youtube has become the de facto search engine for K-12 students even before google. I actually jumped on the Youtube bandwagon and created my own channel that I did during COVID which served as my school's way of reaching out to families with a devotion since I was at a private school. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnG7TZlozkBcF1j6Rn-vpiQ

Libraries can make use of this resource and there are many clever ways that librarians have used Youtube to get useful information to their students. 

The first channel that I looked at is The Unquiet Library.   https://www.youtube.com/user/theunquietlibrary/videos

Helpful: The video that I found that would be most helpful to students from here would be this one about finding Creative Commons images as knowing what can be legally used without copyright issues is something that students run into a lot as they do many projects that involve finding images for presentations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeDLRKtFVoo

Interesting: The video that students would find most interesting would be this one where banjo players are in the library for a music club meeting. I don't know why but I ended up jamming to this one several times as the music is very catchy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc7tJ7rh4kw 

The second channel I looked at is Pikesville High School Library Media program. https://www.youtube.com/user/pikesvillehslibrary/videos

Helpful: This channel had a bunch of videos that helped explain what the classes were and what was going to be taught in them. It was hard to pick since they all were pretty much the same but being a history buff, I really enjoyed the AP US History video and her explanation of how the year was laid out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_sI4g2qitQ

Interesting: This was all the rage back in 2013 but who doesn't love a good Harlem Shake Video? Students would definitely call it cringe now but I found this to be hilarious and brought back memories of me doing this with our school. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE3aZMkPnRI

The final channel that I looked at is bbmsmedia. It looks like a middle school would be my guess. 

Helpful: This video was all about the resources that students were able to access at their school including databases and resources that you can't find normally through a google search. This video would be extremely helpful for a student new to the school as well as a refresher for other students as there is a lot of information in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht7cv39Vbr4

Interesting: I couldn't help but choose the overdue library book video set to the theme of Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Beauty and the Beast is the best animated Disney of the 90's and the kids that were in the video were very funny. Students could definitely do these parody videos themselves. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4eLQMPtDYw

Plot Summary

The Cat in the Hat is a 1957 children’s book written and illustrated by American cartoonist, author, and animator Theodor Geisel, who published under the better-known pseudonym, Dr. Seuss. Told from the perspective of an unnamed boy, it features a tall, humanlike cat with a zebra-striped hat and red bowtie who interrupts the ordinary lives of the boy and his sister, Sally. The children watch, mostly powerless, as their pet fish quarrels with the cat as it brings a whirlwind of chaos to their house on a rainy day when their parents are gone. The Cat brings in two of his friends, Thing One and Thing Two, creating such a mess that the narrator and Sally fear they will bear the consequences when their mother comes home. Dr. Seuss wrote the book in reaction to skepticism about the value of early childhood literacy in the United States, hoping to devise a book that would entertain and teach at the same time. The book is now one of the most famous works of children’s literature of all time.

The Cat and the Hat begins as the narrator and Sally sit glumly in their house during a storm, absorbed in their isolation and boredom. Suddenly, they hear a loud noise, followed by the appearance of the Cat in the Hat. The Cat suggests that he entertain Sally and her brother using his inventory of tricks. The pet fish intervenes and tells that Cat to go away before he causes any trouble. The Cat taunts the fish, taking it from its fishbowl and balancing it on top of his umbrella. The game quickly escalates from the simple balancing act to an elaborate performance during which the Cat teeters atop a ball, stacking himself with various household objects. He eventually loses his balance and everything comes crashing down. The fish scolds the Cat but is rebuffed again.

The Cat suggests that he continue entertaining the children with another game. Dragging a giant red box into the house, he releases twin creatures with childlike proportions, blue hair, and red jumpsuits. He introduces them as Thing One and Thing Two. The Things start to wreak havoc around the house, knocking down objects, flying kites, and playing with the new gown of the narrator and Sally’s mother. Their antics are cut short when the fish sees the children’s mother approaching the house. Sally’s brother quickly captures Thing One and Thing Two with a large net; the Cat, clearly embarrassed, returns them to their red crate. He leaves sullenly through the front door, leaving the fish and the children to take stock of the destruction. .

Just before the children’s mother arrives, the Cat returns atop a huge machine with a number of protruding appendages that go to work cleaning up the house. The fish and children are overjoyed to see the damage reversed just in time. Just before their mother enters the house, the Cat bids them farewell and exits. Their mother asks what they did while she was gone, and the children don’t answer. The narrator then turns to the reader and asks, “What would you do if your mother asked you?”

                                                            Book Trailer of Cat in the Hat

As you can see, QR codes are easy for all ages and are a great tool for use in schools and school libraries. The ease of use makes them well suited for things like library book scavenger hunts with different authors and titles as well as sending out information for the library website that is easily put on a newsletter or a business card. I can see having QR codes up around the library with different informational websites as well as having booklists available for students who like a specific genre. It could look something like "Do You Love Judy Blume? Scan the QR Code to find more books by her and other authors like her!"