The concept of fun as an integral part of certain library events and workshops is an idea that always stood out to me, particularly for its added benefit of being a sort of gateway into fostering and nurturing passions, interests and even further connection within the community. Lately, I was reminded again of its significance because of a recent event I attended at a local library. The event was a henna workshop that was a part of that library branch’s overall open-house day, where we not only learned about the history and significance of henna but also got to get some hands-on experience with it by practicing using the henna cones. To top it all off, everyone was also given the option to get a henna design from the artist presenter herself — who was the first person to open a henna salon in the U.S. I hadn’t been to a library event in quite a while by this point, and so I can not think of a better one to usher me back into attending more of them than this one! Along with having a gorgeous henna design, I also learned a lot and even felt a greater sense of community due to all the friendly other participants that I talked with while there.
Simply put, libraries are striving to create a ‘learning culture’ — ideally one that “[creates] an imaginative world for children and . . . adults that opens their minds to the world” (Kansas City Public Library, 2015). Libraries are in a uniquely fitting position to do this, already inhabiting roles as “critical community hubs for lifelong learning” (Nygren, 2014) while also dedicating themselves to upholding intellectual freedom and the right to access information and knowledge equitably, no matter your background. This then leads to the idea of libraries as the “people’s university”, supporting the goal of lifelong learning amongst its community (Stephens, 2014). Being an open access, free resource to all, libraries are thus readily positioned to support the goal of lifelong learning and curiosity. They are already “centers of community activity” that center around personalized and interest-driven learning (Nygren, 2014).
The truth of the matter is that learning is everpresent and continuous. No matter how much schooling you receive or how old you get, there’ll always be something you can learn in all sorts of environments — such as in both physical and digital environments (Nygren, 2014). Through their programming, libraries can support learners by creating a “community hub where people can gather, create, support each other, make connections, and advance skills” (Nygren, 2014). Having such a space will hopefully leave patrons feeling comfortable enough, both online and physically depending on the environment, to explore their passions, new ideas and facilitate discussion to learn not only from the resources that the library provides but from each other as well.
An important way that libraries can foster the curiosity and passion that leads to lifelong learning practices is through the practice of participatory learning — which is a concept we’ve touched on before in this class through initiatives like makerspaces. Participatory learning can help lead to deeper learning through its usage of active learning vs just passive absorption of content as well as through its belief that learning is a social process (Kansas City Public Library, 2015). Due to its hands-on approach, this can often go hand-in-hand with creating fun learning opportunities because it inherently engages participants by encouraging active contribution, creating a sense of shared purpose and increasing social connection and belonging (Nygren, 2014).
Fun is “one of our most basic needs as humans” (Fenn, 2019) and can play a significant part in learning. It can lead people, especially younger students, to be better and quicker at being self-sufficient, while also “lead[ing] to higher levels of leadership, better communication and an overall more meaningful course outcome” (Fenn, 2019). As mentioned before, the active engagement and involvement that participatory learning brings about is more beneficial for longer-term retention rates, especially when it’s broken down into more manageable chunks (Ballance, 2013) — which can be helped by balancing lectures out with activities or integrating the activities into the process of learning.
This is definitely something that I personally experienced as well during the aforementioned henna workshop I attended. Along with being skilled and knowledgeable, the workshop’s presenter kept her PowerPoint presentation to a minimum, streamlining the content to its key points, which helped me retain a lot more — both so as not to overwhelm us with information, while also actively adjusting to the intergenerational nature of the workshop’s participants. There were a wide variety of participants at this particular workshop — from younger elementary and preschool children with their families to teens and senior citizens, as well as college students like myself and my siblings who attended with me. Because of this, the presenter knew that it would not be prudent to go on long lectures about henna or else she’d risk significantly losing the attention of some of the younger participants. Along with this, the presenter even kept things tactile and interesting during the PowerPoint too by passing around printed out versions of her slides so people could take a closer look if they liked and also having interactive portions of the presentation. For example, when talking about the process of making henna, she had samples of the plant in its powder form and its paste form for participants to look at and smell. Along with being genuinely interesting, I think that this was another meaningful way that the presenter kept things participative and made the group really come together.
The importance of fun library experiences for intergenerational patrons is also something I came to be interested and passionate about because of my wholly positive experience during the henna workshop. Of course, I do believe that age-specific programs are still a necessity, but I think that it is important to not only have more programs where people of all age groups can learn and work together but also for there to be more specifically ‘fun‘ events for adults as well. There are a plethora of vital instructional services for adult patrons — such as technological, career development, and financial management assistance programs, but there should also be an emphasis on fun social and/or learning experiences for adult patrons as well just like there are for children.
This leads me to think about an article from this module on Scandi & Nordic playground designs. In it there is this quote which resonated with me about the aforementioned topic of fun in adult library services:
“Play doesn’t just stop when you get older . . . If anything, you should make sure you can incorporate play even more” (Dowdy, 2022)
With this mindset, Nordic countries like Sweden have developed parks known as ‘valley parks’ which are more of a communal space vs being ‘just for kids’ (Dowdy, 2022). The idea was that it would be a place “where different generations and social classes could meet” (Dowdy, 2022) because they believed that everyone should have access to play areas. Libraries can be and are similar spaces. There is no barrier to entry to the institution and like the workshop I attended, there are numerous opportunities for learning and growth across social boundaries such as but not limited to age, class, and ethnicity.
Just because adults are saddled with vast, pressing responsibilities doesn’t mean that they aren’t also in the market for fun events. Many libraries have picked up on this and have worked to broaden the spectrum of events that they offer for adults across the board. At the henna workshop, I talked to an older woman who mentioned that she frequently attended library events and was interested in more arts and crafts-centric events for adults. In lieu of this, she said she’d often just observe ones aimed towards younger audiences and gain vicarious enjoyment that way. With this sentiment of hers in mind, I decided to look through the San Francisco Public Library’s calendar of events for the rest of this month in order to see what sorts of adult programs were offered that were not the typical instructional aid sorts. I was very pleasantly surprised at what I found. SFPL offers a very wide scope of events for adults — from film screenings and book clubs that are more typical in a library to things such as Tai Chi classes, a workshop to learn Tatreez (traditional Palestinian embroidery), coloring events for adults, a Beatles singalong, jewelry making workshops and even an introduction to biking in San Francisco — as well as so much more! I was really impressed with the fact that this wide variety of events was just what was scheduled for this latter half of April. I think that SFPL’s broad variety of events is a great example for other libraries to utilize as a framework and branch off of to see what works best in their own communities. No single type of event will appeal to all patrons and so it is important to provide variety whenever possible.
This all seems like a lot for libraries to try and juggle on top of all their other expected duties and responsibilities. And it certainly is. There is definitely a discussion to be had about the dangers of overworked librarians who stretch themselves too thin, but that isn’t going to be in this (already long) blog post. Fortunately, librarians should not expect or try to manage and teach all of these programs by themselves. Librarians have their own unique skillsets and so it is unrealistic to expect that they have the ability and time to learn it all. Expanding your horizons is always a good thing, but people can only take on so much at a time. Instead, libraries should look outwards to their communities — creating opportunities for people to come together and learn from one another (Nygren, 2014). Partnering with organizations and skilled professionals in the relevant fields you’re hoping to incorporate into library services is a mutually beneficial and recommended course of action. You’ll not only help introduce community members and organizations to one another, but you’ll also expand the library’s reach as well — promoting its services to wider and/or newer audiences (Kansas City Public Library, 2015). Just like how the library works to show up for its community, so too can the community for the library in turn.
References
Ballance, C. (2013, August). Mobilizing knowledge to create convenient learning moments. eLearn Magazine. https://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=2513574
Dowdy, C. (2022, February 7). What the Nordics can teach us about having fun. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220207-what-the-nordics-can-teach-us-about-having-fun
Fenn, R. (2019, June 18). Why fun is an important part of learning. Outward Bound. https://outwardbound.org/blog/why-fun-is-an-important-part-of-learning/
Kansas City Public Library. (2015). IMLS focus: Learning in libraries. IMLS. https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/publications/documents/imlsfocuslearninginlibrariesfinalreport.pdf
Nygren, Å. (2014, August 4). The public library as a community hub for connected learning. IFLA. https://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1014/1/167-nygren-en.pdf
Stephens, M. (2014). YLibrary? Making the case for the library as space for infinite learning. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4zt1yliwb2ffzr8euix2p/YLibraryInfiniteLearning.pdf?rlkey=m0v6lkd43ufilkp5aktawhlpr&e=1&dl=0