Incubating Creativity at Your Library: A Sourcebook for Connecting with Communities

Creativity needs a platform. As technology consultant David Weinberger puts it, “A platform provides resources that lets other people build things.” The library is an ideal platform, and in this book Batykefer and Damon-Moore, creators of the Library as Incubator Project, share the experiences of numerous creative library workers and artists who are making it happen. Their stories will show you how to move beyond merely responding to community needs towards actively building a platform with your community. And best of all, you don’t need to start from scratch—rather, you amplify what’s already working. Filled with ideas and initiatives that can be customized to suit your library and its community, this book discusses the four elements (Resources, Invitations, Partnerships & Engagement, and Staff) and the two lenses (Community-Led and Evaluation) of the Creative Library platform; outlines six steps for surveying your community’s artistic landscape; gives methods for expanding partnerships and connections with individuals and organizations through exploration, hands-on learning, and engagement with the community; shares perspectives on the “ideal library” from several artists, with three examples of artist-in-residence programs; offers examples of community invitations in action, such as the Pittsburgh Fiberarts Guild workshops on creating flowers using recycled materials; shows how to use “orphan photos” from your archives for creative inspiration; advises on using qualitative evaluations to effectively “weed” your initiatives; and shares tips for encouraging library staff to express their creativity, turning avocations into library initiatives like Handmade Crafternoons, the Yahara Music Library, or BOOKLESS. By building on existing elements at your library and filling in the gaps with community-driven additions, your library can be a space that cultivates creativity in both its users and staff.