(3 Jun 2021) Bestselling tech maven and editor Ellyssa Kroski is back with “32 Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality Programs for Libraries,” published by ALA Editions, a timely, all-in-one guide to planning, organizing, and running virtual events. Ranging from simple gaming activities utilizing VR headsets to augmented reality tours, exhibits, immersive experiences, and STEM educational programs, these ideas include something for every size and type of academic, public, and school library. Programs encompassing new technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) are all included. Complete with step-by-step instructions, a materials and equipment list, budget, and recommendations for age ranges and type of library, among this collection’s engaging programming events and educational opportunities are:
- adapting to COVID-19 by transitioning a library orientation game night to an enhanced virtual tour;
- Oculus VR programs for patrons with physical and cognitive disabilities;
- field trips with Classvr and Thinglink, which enable school librarians and educators to connect virtual experiences to curriculum;
- creating and manipulating virtual clay to sculpt with Oculus Medium;
- leveraging VR software to stage a virtual art exhibition;
- using VR for STEM programs, literacy programs, geography programs, and YA outreach;
- transitioning academic library services from traditional face-to-face, hybrid, or online approaches to a virtual world (AltSpaceVR or ASVR), helping to maximize individualized learning;
- using a virtual environment to help students understand the impact of warfare and the implementation of power; and
- an AR game based on the library’s catalog system.
Kroski is the Director of Information Technology and Marketing at the New York Law Institute as well as an award-winning editor and author of 60 books, including “Law Librarianship in the Age of AI,” for which she received AALL’s 2020 Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award. She is a librarian, an adjunct faculty member at Drexel and San Jose State Universities, and an international conference speaker. She received the 2017 Library Hi Tech Award from the ALA/LITA for her long-term contributions in the area of Library and Information Science technology and its application.
More information of the publication can be found from ALA here.
