Do You Animoto?

I shared early on how much I enjoy taking pictures. I enjoy sitting by a pond and taking a hundred pictures of ducks in hopes of getting that perfect shot. I take pictures of my cats every day, because they are always doing something adorable. And when I got my new cell phone I check the camera out before finding out if it could make calls. A few years ago, I found an ideal, free way to market the photos I took at library programs and events, I found Animoto.

Animoto is a web app that takes the photos you upload, organizes, synthesizes, adds music and creates a video trailer of the images. The free service can accommodate up to 15 images in a 30 second free web-quality videos. When users pay for the premium services, about $30 a year, unlimited feature-length videos can be created.  At this level of service, users can download their videos to their computer and create DVDs to share with family and friends.

Over the years, I have taken the best of the best videos from events and put them on our library's web and Facebook pages. Videos are easy to share through email and social networking sites and are just long enough to whet the appetite of your patrons.  Those who couldn't attend can see what they missed and those in the audience may want to share the fun with Grandma or Daddy stationed over seas.

Follow the links for to take a look at a few of my favorites.  These are from events while I was working at the Dorothy Bramlage Public Library in Junction City, Kansas.

Red, White & Blue Crafts for Kids 2011

Touch-A-Truck 2009

Iditarod Racer-Karen Land 2009

Another way to get people into your library is to highlight book covers from your collection in your videos.  A few ideas include...

On the NEW book shelf

This week at Storytime we will Read

 Latest titles from Best-Selling Authors

Check out my brand new video using Animoto's new free cool background!

The World of the Little House

 Give it a try.  It easy, fun and FREE!  Ready, set, shoot!