Library Orientation 6.0

This marks the beginning of my sixth year at The Skokie School Resource Center and my 33rd year as an educator. I have experimented with various methods to introduce students to our library and its resources, including scavenger hunts with maps, orientations, and slide presentations. I wanted to try something new, exciting, and fun this year. Inspired by articles from other educators and librarians, I decided to focus on key spaces and areas to help students become independent and empowered learners.

My AMAZING associate and I identified 16 different spaces to highlight, many of which have subcategories. For example, our extensive fiction section has special organizational methods we want students to understand. The non-fiction section is also large, so we aimed to highlight popular areas for students. We created a spreadsheet to organize these spaces and wrote notes for the audio recordings linked to QR codes. The QR codes were placed around the library for students to scan and listen to audio messages introducing each area.  HERE is the Canva template if you want to customize it for your space.

In addition to the audio messages, we included clues for a word scramble. Each space provides a letter for the student's recording sheet. Once they visit all 16 stations, they can decipher the code phrase. A wonderful colleague gifted me a pen for my lanyard that read: Carpe Librum, meaning seize the book. Because I needed more 'characters' for the number of spaces, I created a simple three-word phrase that includes Carpe Librum Now for the scavenger hunt.  It literally means Seize the Book Now!

I used Vocaroo, an app my good friend Wendy Garland recommended, to record audio and create QR codes efficiently. Vocaroo simplifies the process by allowing quick recording and QR code generation in one step. This method saved me significantly more time than my initial plan, which included recording the audio, loading it to Google Drive, exporting it to a QR Code generator, and uploading it to the spreadsheet again.

I formed random groups of two or three students to implement the scavenger hunt. One student handled the iPad, while another used a clipboard and recording sheet. Each group started at a designated QR code station and explored in any order, ensuring only one group per station at a time. After completing the scavenger hunt, we discussed their feedback and the meaning of the discovered words. 

Lately, I've been thinking about how to 'enhance' this process even more using AI. Here are two ways I plan on reimagining it next year for orientation.

Personalized Content Generation

• AI Tool: Use ChatGPT (Free) to generate custom hints, trivia, or fun facts about each library section. For example:
  • Input: "Write a riddle about the fiction section of a school library."
  • Output: "In a world of tales both old and new, I’m where you’ll find adventures true. What am I?"
  • Benefit: Keeps students engaged with fresh, playful clues.

Gamification with AI Feedback

• AI Tool: Use Kahoot! AI or Quizizz to create a quick, gamified recap quiz. These tools can leverage AI to adapt questions based on the clues found during the hunt.
  • Benefit: Reinforces learning outcomes in an enjoyable, competitive way.

Does this make you want to try something new in your library? Please share your thoughts in the comments.