I love the response of Oak Park Public Library’s (OPPL) Spark Team when it was suggested they repurpose a small area into an art space. In the article, Embracing the Long Game, Greenwalt (2013) writes, “They said, ‘OK, we’ll call it Idea Box, we’ll put things in there, we’re not entirely sure what’s happening with it yet, but I think it sounds really good’” (“Inside the Idea Box” section, para. 2). I’m sure Greenwalt intended it to sound amusingly half-baked, but it also reminded me that being playful and experimental are important elements of hyperlinked librarianship. Stephens (2016) states that “playfully approaching opportunities to create learning experiences and engaging information-based services” (p. 34) is an informed practice of hyperlinked librarians.

Since then, the Idea Box has developed into a participatory space that invites visitors to interact with the displays and each other. From the article, it was difficult for me to picture what the space looked like, but the OPPL website has photos of some past exhibits. The Idea Box is versatile—it has been transformed month-to-month as a bulletin board, diorama, display case, or interactive space. It’s on hold for now while the OPPL evaluates its continued use but it’s impressive the exhibit has lasted for as long as it has.

I enjoyed reading about OPPL’s Idea Box but, really, it was the end of the article that left an impression on me. The Idea Box helped OPPL create opportunities for community interaction in a way that was also budget-friendly, something libraries must often consider. Libraries may not have the funds to equip state-of-the-art makerspaces but that should not hold them back from doing what they can. OPPL’s customer service manager Monica Harris stated, “We’re really interested in creating some of those things too, but this [Idea Box] was a way for us to jump in and get our hands dirty right away” (as cited in Greenwalt, 2013, “Inside the Idea Box” section). It illustrates the way such a simple idea could spark a chain reaction in fostering participatory culture that can have long-lasting effects for future ventures.

Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@xusanfeng?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Levi XU</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/water-ripple-dOhJtfXJZfw?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>

Photo by Levi XU on Unsplash

 

References

Greenwalt, R. T. (2013, February 21). Embracing the long game. Public Libraries Online. https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/02/embracing/

Stephens, M. (2016). The heart of librarianship: Attentive, positive, and purposeful change. ALA Editions.