School library QR codes help kids with contactless browsing

School library QR codes - library shelves with books

An Alden, New York teacher created 150 quick response barcodes to make it easier to peruse books.

A teacher from Alden, New York has generated 150 school library QR codes to support students who want to use the resources in a touch-free way. This allows students to access these resources and books while reducing the spread of germs.

The library media specialist at Alden High School wanted to reduce the need to touch the books.

Ann Sobol from Alden High School came up with the idea for the school library QR codes to make it possible for students to find the books they needed without having to flip through them to discover what is inside. The quick response codes can be scanned with smartphones in order to learn more about the book to which the barcode was linked.

“Normally they pick up a book, read the inside cover, read the back, the reviews. Then they move on to another book and probably do that four, five, six times during a class. Touching everything! So, we don’t want kids to do that right now,” explained Sobol.

The school library QR codes were generated using a free program before being printed and laminated.

The 150 laminated quick response codes were displayed with books in the Alden High School library. To use them, students need only use their smartphone camera apps to scan the barcodes. This presents the students with a link that directs the student to the book’s publisher, to Amazon, or even to a YouTube book trailer, where they can discover what they will find within the book.

“[They can] quickly walk around and get an idea of what the book is about, if they want to read it. They don’t have to touch it and pick it up. They can move on and scan another book cover,” added Sobol.

New books were placed on display at various stations in the library where they could be viewed in a socially distant manner. Other books were added to the stations based on School library QR codes - library shelves with booksstudent reading survey responses. Sobol stated that she intends to generate more school library QR codes to be able to add more books to the displays.

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