Final Vision Project Considerations

                                            Final Vision Project Considerations


One area for growth throughout this course for me has been using technology to better create a library community.  This is the goal that I would like to set for myself with this final vision project. 


Today, I looked at our school library website and at the library websites of all of the other elementary libraries in my district. In general, the websites looked like they hadn't been changed in months. They had some useful features (links to the virtual catalogue or to other educational sites),  but they had nothing new that would encourage users to continually check in on it. I would like to start regularly posting to our school library website as a way of encouraging more visits to it and to the online educational content accessible on it. I am also hopeful that I will be able to invite more people into the physical library through the process of creating content for the website and that this content creation process will bring together intermediate and primary age students. Here are some of the ideas I am considering:


- I would like to adopt a stuffed animal as a library mascot. I got the idea from the 5 Minute Librarian Website. The author states, "Studies have shown that the use of mascots in social media content will boost the number of likes and shares on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites. This is likely because people would rather interact with a cute, memorable creature than a “faceless” marketing person, particularly if the mascot is acting as if it’s a member of the staff. I call this the “He Thinks He’s People” Effect" (http://www.5minlib.com/2015/05/why-your-library-needs-mascot.html).



I will ask a small number of intermediate students who are not big library users to be in charge of taking pictures of the stuffed animal around the library e.g. reading books, researching on the computer, wearing costumes or set against backdrops appropriate for particular holidays. This would be beneficial in several ways. Firstly, it would encourage intermediate students that don't often frequent the library to come into the library to take the pictures. Secondly, it would encourage more web traffic to the library website when the photos are posted (which may have the knock on effect of increasing use of the virtual library and other research links). Thirdly, I will post the pictures of the mascot in the library as well. My hope is that this secret life of the mascot will inspire the imagination of the kindergarten students and may encourage them to choose to read to the mascot during library time. I found a fascinating research article that talked about the value, albeit limited, to be found in preschoolers reading to their stuffed animals (https://www.cell.com/heliyon/fulltext/S2405-8440(16)30746-0).


- Another interesting project I want to try out is Bookface. I found this idea on Twitter and it has been replicated in many other places. The idea is to match your body or face seamlessly with the artwork on a book cover. You can see an example below taken from the Bored Panda website 

https://www.boredpanda.com/bookcoverfaces/utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic



 - Again, the concept will be to engage non traditional users of the library from the intermediate grades to come to stage and photograph these Bookface images. We will post the images to the school library website as well as physically in the library. Over time, I hope to have the intermediate students begin to act as leaders who will help younger students photograph and stage their own bookface images. 


I have several hopes for these projects. Firstly, I want the school library website to be more well visited and used (there are many excellent resources that can be accessed online via the website). Secondly, I want to increase the number of non-traditional users who walk through the library doors. Hopefully, by turning the library into a photo studio for a stuffed animal mascot or an art space for the bookface challenge, more students will want to come into the library. Finally, both of these initiatives may give intermediate students the chance to positively lead and support and primary age students (or in other words create a library community).


Works Cited


Kat. “Why Your Library Needs a Mascot.” 5 Minute Librarian, 15 May 2015, http://www.5minlib.com/2015/05/why-your-library-needs-mascot.html.

Okizaki, Yoshihiro. “The Stuffed Animal Sleepover: Enhancement of Reading and Duration of Effect.” A Cell Press Journal, Helyon, 28 Feb. 2017, https://www.cell.com/heliyon/fulltext/S2405-8440(16)30746-0.

Tymulis, Denis. “30 Of the Best Responses to the #Bookface Challenge.” Bored Panda, Bored Panda, 18 Mar. 2021, https://www.boredpanda.com/bookface-challenge/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic.


Comments

  1. Sonia Aston21 March 2022 at 15:53

    Hi Soren,

    What a great idea! I think that having a mascot would really inspire younger students to be more interested in reading and hopefully in the library as well. Secondly, I think it could provide an opportunity to teach valuable skills such as taking responsibility for something if you allow one students per day to take care of the mascot or stuffed animal.:-) Younger kids love doing things like that! I really liked your idea of using Bookface and getting students to replicate their images into book covers. One thing I encourage my students to do is to get them to re-design a book cover or make a soundtrack to go with a book. There are so many ways we can inspire students to love the library!

    Best wishes,

    Sonia

    ReplyDelete
  2. D.McNee24 March 2022 at 08:41

    You are exploring some good ideas here for your final project. I appreciate how they are tied to fostering a reading culture and building your library community. The strategies you share are engaging and fun. What kind of digital artifact will you create with these ideas? You could create a handbook for other TLs that outline these ideas and strategies? Or a presentation for your staff explaining these ideas and how they can get their class involved? I am curious to see what you create.

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  3. Erin26 March 2022 at 16:21

    Hi Soren,
    These are some great ideas to help create community in your library. I love the mascot idea! I think having the students take pictures of him to share is a great way for them to gain ownership in the space as well. Thanks for sharing!
    Erin

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kim27 March 2022 at 02:26

    Hi Soren,

    you make such a good point about ensuring library websites are updated so that people keep going back to it. If it is only used as a place for basic information, people won't see a need to check in. It is one of the main reasons we haven't done anything so far at my school. I think having some plans now to keep it up to date is a great idea.

    I love the idea of the secret life of the school mascot Soren. I think it is a great way to involve students and add creativity to the space. Speaking from experience, students also love reading to stuffed animals in the space. I often read 'Madeline Finn and the Library Dog' to my class and then talk about how we can't have real dogs in the school, so we have stuffies instead. We've also done Book Face with our students during Book Fortnight - they love it!

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