Creativity and Curiosity
There is much to be said about engaging with the world through creativity and curiosity. As LIS professionals, it is our responsibility to not only engage in new ways of learning for both ourselves and our patrons, but in also making the process a positive experience. We want patrons to come back to our libraries to learn after all, and we want our librarians to want to teach them. But what does this mean for the LIS professional work place environment? As is evident in the readings, it can mean playing creatively with the work space through inspiring spaces in order to engage with staff on a deeper, more meaningful level of collaboration. It can also mean feeding into a librarian’s curiosity by allowing them to teach out of the box programming, such as 3D printers or sewing machine classes. Lastly, embracing creativity and curiosity in the LIS environment also means embracing out of the box thinkers, “full-stack” employees, who are constantly engaging with the rapidly evolving world by wanting to know a little bit about everything.
The virtual symposium allows you to gather your learning from #hyperlib and share it in any creative manner you’d like. Maybe use this opportunity to play with a tool you haven’t had time to try, or spend some time reflecting on your own practice as a future LIS professional. Let your curiosity guide you.
Or consider this question as a way to focus your symposium entry: how will you continue to learn once #hyperlib and, soon enough, your degree is complete? Some approaches to try for this time of exploration, play and reflection:
- Gather what you’ve learned and play around with ways or tools to share it. Consider not depending on an old tool or a familiar tool, but maybe take a tool that seems like it is completely unrelated to sharing and see if you can play with it to come to an interesting result. Maybe take a tool that is familiar and use it in a completely new way. Maybe follow your interests to find a tool for sharing that you’ve never tried before. Maybe look for a tool or process that you absolutely don’t like… and see what happens.
- Spend this module on a tool or process that you’ve noticed but haven’t had the time to try. Maybe there is something that a friend or colleague has recommended and you’ve never looked into it… or maybe something has come across your twitter feed… or maybe you heard something at a conference and never tried it.
- No matter what you explore, use this as an opportunity to push yourself, to seek a challenge. (Heart of Librarianship, page 66)
- Or maybe just reflect on what all of your learning through these modules will mean for your future as an LIS professional. Has it changed your perceptions?
Read the full symposium assignment here
Things to Read
- Felix, E. (2015). Rethink the Staff Workplace | Library by Design.
- Stephens, M. (2015). “Color Me Curious” in The Heart of Librarianship, p. 34
- Stephens, M. (2015). “Stacking the Deck” in The Heart of Librarianship, p. 47
- Cowell, J. (2017). A Challenge to Library Managers: Embed Creativity in Your library.
- Stephens, M. (2019). “The Right Question” in Wholehearted Librarianship, p. 65
- Stephens, M. (2019). “Chaos and Caring” in Wholehearted Librarianship, p. 83
- Solis, B. (2021). Shopping in 2030.
Things to Explore
- Moore, L. (2017). The Gentle Art of World Domination: Art, Occupational Therapy, and Libraries.
- SFPL (2023). Night of Ideas.