Free to Use–and Useful for Teachers

One of the most popular questions we receive through the Library’s Ask a Librarian service is if we have a list of every image in the public domain. While it’s impossible to create such a list, we have found a way to guide people to images that are free to use and reuse. The Library’s Free to Use and Reuse sets contain images that are either in the public domain, have no known copyright, or have been cleared by the copyright owner for public use.

These rich primary sources can be used to engage students and get them thinking about why a particular photograph was taken or what story a photograph can tell. The sets cover a wide variety of topics with appeal for students of all ages and ability levels.

Here are a few other activities you might try with your students.

• Use the Library’s primary source analysis tool with a photograph from one of the Free to Use and Reuse sets as a bell ringer to get students thinking.
• Ask students to pick a photograph from one of the sets and explain why they think it was included and if they agree with the selection. Encourage students to think about what is missing from the set.
• Assign or allow students to choose a photograph and speculate: What might have been happening ten seconds before the photograph was taken? Ten seconds later?
• Ask students what sets they would like to see added.

Let us know what ideas you have for using the Free to Use and Reuse sets with your students and share ideas for other sets in the comments.

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