Book trailers increase students’ interest in reading

The music is eerie, the words forbidding.

“Thirteen years ago, a plane appeared out of nowhere ... no pilot, no crew. The only passengers were 36 babies.”

It sounds like the introduction to television's next “Lost,” but it's a book trailer for Margaret Peterson Haddix's newest series, “Found” - one of several trailers played in the library at Solon Middle School.

“This is all about marketing,” said Kathy Kaldenberg, Solon's media specialist. “Kids are just so drawn to multimedia. Any way that we can catch them, to keep them reading, is something we're going to try.”

Not that book trailers are new. Book publishers have used them for years. However, it's only recently that Solon's middle and high school libraries have played the trailers continuously throughout the school day.

And students are taking note.

“The kids stop all the time because they are running on a loop,” said Karen Clingerman, media associate at Solon High School. “They see different things every time they are in the library.”

“Anything with music in it catches their attention,” said Jennifer Bishop, the media associate at the middle school. “They will just stand there and watch.”

Then they go to the shelves and grab the books. Both Bishop and Clingerman said they have seen increased circulation of the books featured in the trailers.

Dylan Benton, 13, said she's read books she normally wouldn't pick up because of the trailers.

“I wouldn't have thought of a lot of them because the title sounded boring,” the seventh-grader said. “But then I see the trailer and I think ‘OK, that sounds interesting.'”

Seventh-grader Justin Ringdahl checked out Neal Shusterman's “Unwind” on Friday because of its trailer.

“It looks like it has a lot of action in it,” said Justin, 12.

Solon's libraries play trailers through the media center's YouTube channel. Most trailers come from the publisher, but some are made by fans. Bishop said the fan-made videos are often better because the enthusiasm for the book is genuine.

It's that enthusiasm Justin Turner has counted on in the years his language arts students have created book trailers.

“I call it the 21st-century book report,” Turner said. “Today's students are a visual generation.”

The project gives students a chance to share book recommendations with their classmates. The student-created trailers aren't part of the libraries' playlists, but they can be accessed on the district's website.

In addition to the book trailers, Solon's libraries have started adding Quick Response codes to its newest books. When a code is scanned with a smartphone, it accesses links to the book trailer, author interviews, recommendations and other information.

About 20 percent of the high school library's new books have the codes.

“We're really just starting with this,” Kaldenberg said, adding that QR codes are another way to reach out to students.

“We'll explore all options if they will get students, keep students, reading,” she said.