I dove into this module while still collecting my many, many thoughts from the Martha Stewart documentary. (Highly recommend!) Though she was criticized (relentlessly) for creating a perception of perfection, her commercial success was rooted in teaching skills and making information accessible. She didn’t build her industry teaching people how to make money from their interests; she built her industry by permitting, educating, and encouraging people to do things that allowed them to simply enjoy living.

She argued her case to corporate partners: why shouldn’t everyone be able to attempt elaborate recipes, learn how to keep a garden, or enjoy making their home beautiful, regardless of their income or where they live?

And she has lived by her personal mantra: Learn something new every day.

Martha Stewart, a champion of lifelong learning.

I thought of this reading about Scandinavian attitudes around play which incorporate multigenerational play and exploration into urban landscapes. Cities are planned to include dynamic parks and buildings where people can come together intentionally or in transit to climb, explore, or just encounter a unique experience. Hanna Harris, the chief design officer of the City of Helsinki, says that play is “something that everyone has a right to – it is like a basic service of urban life.”

Libraries support curiosity and learning. Play is embodied curiosity.

In Dr. Stephens’s YLibrary presentation, he shared that the Chattanooga Public Library has a space dedicated to “prototyping, experimenting, and dreaming.” The US does not have a culture, in my experience, that values play without profit – it feels almost subversive to be able to dream, play, and experiment without a business plan or profit motive. Yara Shahidi touches on this in her Ted Talk, Let Curiosity Lead. She talks about how there comes a point in adulthood when we’re pressured to move away from being interested in many things and pick something to “get serious” about because our multiple interests are somehow incompatible. “Curiosities are labelled as distractions,” she observes, to our personal and societal detriment.

Libraries are spaces where we can freely follow our curiosity.  The library, as Dr. Stephens describes it, is a center for lifelong learning. As physical and virtual space, libraries democratize access to learning and experiences . None of this is possible without librarians dedicated to listening to patrons and evolving library services to meet community needs. Curiosity is unique to each community and each person. For some, play (embodied curiosity) looks like storytime or an in-person book club. For others, that play may look like learning a new language, watching foreign films, or taking a course to level up their Excel skills.

Because of libraries, we all have a chance to learn something new every day.
It’s a good thing.