Peak behind the curtain–was originally going to call this article something like “Why you NEED to make a Summer Reading PSA” to make it more attention grabby. But in reality, you don’t really need to. You don’t really need to do any of this. Burnout is real, especially in this field; as a children’s librarian, you’re probably already doing enough, and that’s good enough. Really. Hope that helps for anyone feeling burnout.
So to rephrase the conversation, here’s why I’ve made a movie every year for the past five years:
You’re school visits become SO much easier. I just did my school visits for this year. I talked to about 600 kids in about 4 hours. It’s really hard to sustain kids excitement for a whole summer in my opinion, you’ll get something in a month if you do really once school lets out in 2 weeks. That’s maybe a big ask. So it’s already an uphill battle. Then explaining how your program works–no matter how much you streamline, it’s probably still confusing for a kid to remember, given the excitement of school ending. They will remember NONE OF IT. But what will they remember? Your movie. I had kids coming up to me 2-3 weeks later saying, “I remember you” and “that movie was great!” So it’s messaging on a level they will remember, but it’s all using that local celebrity status that I mentioned in another article to your advantage.
It’s a building block to new skills. Before this, I knew nothing about editing/filming. But it’s incredibly easy to pick up, if you’ve put together a PowerPoint, you can put together an iMovie. As you can probably see here, it’s just blocks and timing them out, just like a PowerPoint.
It’s so easy basically anyone can do it…but not everyone knows that, and that makes you invaluable to your organization. It will also put you in that mindset of viral marketing that’s becoming increasingly important. Like the videos I made to promote Tea Rex Tea Party:
Making the Movie
Well that’s the hard part…so I’m going to skip that. But here’s what I’ll say! Use a format that you are comfortable with. And if aren’t familiar with any editing tool, go with what’s free and within arms reach. That’s why I use iMovie–it’s right on my phone and I have easy access to it. Whatever learning, just go to YouTube and watch some beginner how-to videos and you’ll pick it up fast. It’s a reference question you’re answering for yourself.
Also, here’s a GREAT tip I wish someone taught me–a PowerPoint slide is the same size ration as a widescreen shot. So make a PowerPoint slide with whatever words you want on it, like “FIND ADVENTURE AT THE LIBRARY!,” save it as a jpg, and then insert it into iMovie. No resizing needed–perfect every time.
Some Other Tips and Tricks
Sorry for not going over the basics, but really the point of this article is to go over some of the BIGGER things I learned from doing all these videos.
Go with a theme. I never use the summer reading themes in my programming, but I do for my videos. Because a prompt is really going to help your creativity. “Adventure Begins at Your Library” made me think of Indiana Jones. “A Universe of Stories” made me think of 2001: Space Odyssey. “Tails and Tales” made me think of my dog! From there, I think of the few main bullet points I want to get across, like certain programs or prizes that can be won, and I think about how I can insert that into the movie without forcing it.
No voices. Music excluded, my movies are mostly silent, which is probably my number 1 trick. Voices complicate things, you usually need mics better than your phone has and you will probably need to do multiple takes. If you are limited to a phone, it limits your shots, because you’ll probably have to get up REAL CLOSE so that your voice can be picked up by your phone. Plus, think of your audience–it’s mostly kids in a school visits, maybe an echoy gym and voices make it less accessible and potentially muddle the message if it’s not clear. AND if you put this on your social media, it will be people scrolling with the sound muted most likely. So, no voices in my opinion. One less thing to worry about.
Be a cartoon. Cartoons are simple. And cartoons, even the older ones, are usually still funny, or at least entertaining. Working with kids, you realize that they still laugh at the same things back then that they do now. Because unlike adults, they are still seeing things and experiencing things for the first time. That includes comedy. So slapstick–still funny. Weird things, like pickles–still funny. Things not behaving like their suppose to, like a puppet chomping on a librarian–still funny. Humor will make your movie be really memorable and really stand out, but make sure it’s appropriate obviously.
Hope this helps and inspires you to make some movies of your own!
The Lego Librarian 
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