Skip to main content

Library Music Parodies

Beginning about seven years ago, libraries were making music parodies that were garnering huge viewerships.  You may have seen these (or many others we don't have space to include) before, but they're all well worth another look.


Librarians Do Gaga
by the University of Washington Information School
Students & Faculty (2010)



Libraries Will Survive (2010)
by The Central Rappahannock Regional Library (Virginia)



Check It Out (2014)
by St. Joseph County (Indiana) Public Library



Librarians Do Taio Cruz (2010)
by Suzanne Walker &
Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library



"All About Those Books" (2014)
by MDIHS Library


Go Ask Reference (2013)
by Rachel Montgomery & Meghan Adams
(& Mooresville [Indiana] Public Library)



Monday Night (2011)
by Bismarck (N.D.) Veterans Memorial Public Library

My apologies to all the other libraries who have made wonderful music parody videos for not embedding them in this blog post. Find them by searching library music parody videos (or some other similarly crafted keyword search) on YouTube.  They're a hoot to watch.

Music parodies are loads of fun to make, and they are a cute way to impart information to patrons about the library and its services and resources.  They don't seem to be made as often nowadays as they used to.  Video fads come and go.  More recently, there have been library versions of bucket challenges and mannequin challenges and such like.

Parodies are expressly excluded as infringement from the federal copyright act, so we're on safe ground using our own library-related lyrics to parody famous tunes.  Anyway, who could object to all the fun these librarians are having?  Surprisingly, some librarians themselves have criticized these types of videos as being undignified or somehow casting aspersions upon the sanctity of the library profession.

Bosh, with a pinch of balderdash.

Let's not take our profession too seriously.  Librarians are stereotyped as shushing killjoys, too uptight to let people have normal conversations in public spaces in the library.  That stereotype has always been silly, but lots of people unconsciously adhere to it, so we need to lighten up and show that we can have as much fun as any other professional group. Actually, we can have much more fun.  I've been hanging around with librarians for years, and they're more fun than some of the other professions to which I've belonged (college faculty, attorneys, general contractors).  (Actually, I'm just kidding.  Those folks are fun, too.)

Patrons enjoy library music parody videos, and they carry away a favorable feeling, not to mention a positive message, about libraries.  That's what we're marketing, after all.  Why not share some joy and a few laughs in the process?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Using QR Codes to Promote Book Trailers on Book Displays

The ubiquitous book display is a  mainstay of traditional collection promotion in public libraries .  How many of these have you made over the years?  Frankly, I've lost count. Book displays increase item circulation because they attract patrons' attention and provide them with immediate gratification without their having to search for what has caught their interest.  The books are  right there ; just grab them and head for circulation to check them out.  Nothing could be easier. But what if the books are carefully wrapped-up (say, for a banned book display, which we did a couple of times), and patrons can't read the back cover descriptions?  For ordinary book displays, is there something more visually engaging that could appeal to patrons than just having to read the book jackets?  That's where book trailers could help "sell" the book. Wouldn't it be nice if patrons could watch the book trailers while they're look...
Post a Comment
Read more

Promo Trailers: A Library's Video Promotional Tool

(UPDATED JULY 20, 2022)   Social media has become a significant promotional vehicle for libraries.  Posting notices about upcoming programs or new services or the latest cataloged items on Facebook or Twitter can be more effective in reaching your patrons than even your library website. Pinterest and Tumblr are popular places to share what your library is (or will soon be) doing.  Flickr and Instagram showcase photographs of library programs or events.  Most commonly, posts are made to these social media by brief text coupled with photographs or images. Have you considered using video as a promotional tool for your library?   Promo trailers can be used to promote any aspect of your library, from new collections to new technologies to programs to services.   My library has been making promo trailers (formerly called program trailers) for over seven years, although we have been rather selective about the subjects we've chosen to promote with t...
2 comments
Read more

Your Very Own Library Composer

My library makes lots of videos, and so we need plenty of soundtrack music to score them. In an earlier blog post , we discussed how to find royalty-free music to download and use in your library videos.  Those resources are fine, but it takes time and work to ferret out suitable music.  Wouldn't it be easier if your library had its own composer?  But where to find one?  They don't exactly grow on trees. Why not use ours?   Danny Buckley composes original music and has granted my library a limited license to use his music royalty-free, free-of-charge for our videos, provided that we include an attribution credit to him and his music in the videos.  We usually give him two credits:  one as music composer, and the other for the particular composition we're using in a video. Danny is willing to grant other libraries the same license for their videos.  That's a sweet deal.  If you'd like MP3 files of any of his compositions, please fee...
Post a Comment
Read more