Ideas About Curiosity Ted TalkWith these reflection blogs, I have enjoyed bridging the course material to life experiences. So, yes, it is time for yet another personal anecdote.
In one of my previous positions, I was put in charge of adult programming initiatives. I created programs for young adults and the senior community. One day, our courier driver stopped by my office. She told me a local organization that serves adults with developmental disabilities would like to use the library for outings. I took a deep breath, replied, “That’s great!” Then I immediately proceeded to become petrified.
As I alluded to in previous posts, my mantra is to do no harm. Therefore, if I were to develop programs for this underserved population group, I wanted to ensure I was doing it the right way. First, I consulted with a great youth librarian at my organization, who had experience in this arena. They provided some great tips. Next, I took a look at what other libraries were already doing. Finally, I read literature on how to create programs from a place of care.
After this brief research period, I decided to do a craft hour for this group. Since their day is so regimented, it allowed them time to simply relax and express themselves. I even advocated for their craft projects to be displayed, so it gave them a sense of pride whenever they visited the library. This experience taught me many lessons. First, be a good librarian by getting to know all of your patrons—even the ones you don’t see often. More importantly, stay curious. I told myself I would no longer let knowledge come to me, but I would seek it instead. It is exactly what I thought of when I came across this great quote from the module:
“We are born to learn, but somewhere along the way many of us pick up the idea that we must be taught in order to learn. We think that if someone doesn’t stand up in front of us and talk to us with either a chalkboard or PowerPoint slides, we cannot learn.
We must regain our sense of wonder and our desire to learn.”
— Roy Tennant, Strategies for Keeping Current, Library Journal, 9/15/2003, p.28
Learning does not have to be formal. Feeding curiosity can come in many forms, such as committee work, special interest groups, magazine subscriptions, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. The life of an information professional must be to constantly consume information. This is the way to remain ahead of the curve.
Stay curious, my friends.
Ron, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate hearing how what we are learning matches up with your experience. Great idea to display the art, it probably felt to the participants like hanging art on the fridge–that’s how you know you’re home!