Reflection 4: Possibilities for partnership

The concept of libraries as a space for infinite learning was a catchphrase from the lecture that inspired me, but it wasn’t until I saw that photo of the butcher dividing a side of beef in the Kansas Library’s community room that it made an impact.  It took me out of my comfort zone, but I’m now grateful for the visual because it got me thinking about ways in which I could introduce unexpected types of learning at an academic library.

Here I will focus on two areas from the readings:  What activities could be brought to the library to make it a space for infinite learning and how do we manage these activities going forward?


The Library as Incubator Project is a site I was familiar with, but had seldom visited until this week. This is where I got some ideas on bringing creative learning activities to my library.  Temple University’s Artist in Residence series is a labor of love initiated by the library with support from many other departments on campus. Artists come to campus tor 4-10 days and partake in 3-5 public activities.  This got me thinking.  My college would not be able to afford to support an artist in residence, but what about partnering with the well-regarded Montalvo Arts Center just down the road (literally a mile away) and their Artist in Residency Program?

montage of photos of the outside of Villa Montalvo
Villa Montalvo Arts Center. Photo by M. Mills

It would be great way to reach out to the college’s Art department and Montalvo to create something similar in the community college library where I work. This is the type of participatory activity that we have been talking about in past lectures and it is great to see that I’m starting to connect the dots 🙂

The second area of interest is implementing innovation management. @Michael’s lecture touched upon the importance of learning how to manage the space, department and services that must be in place before during and after projects are deployed. I followed the link that accompanied the Innovative Pedagogical Practices graphic from the lecture slides and found a report titled, Innovative Learning: Key Elements for Developing Creative Classrooms in Europe which stated that, “Innovation and creativity comes from the people while organizations should provide the necessary structures and incentives for their realization and management”. Stephens’ article Library as Classroom also touches on “creating innovative timetables that enable flexible programs and services to evolve without bureaucratic barriers…” As the management of these activities will be my responsibility, I’ll have to be thoroughly acquainted with these concepts as I move forward with the library as classroom model.

References

Batykefer, E. (2016, October 11). Temple University Libraries’ artist-in-residence series: 2014-2015 seasons with micha cardenas and Angela Washko. The Library as Incubator Project. Retrieved from http://www.libraryasincubatorproject.org/?p=18646

Bocconi, S., Kampylis, P. & Punie, Y. (2012). Innovative learning: Key elements for developing creative classrooms in Europe.  Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. Retrieved from http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/publications/pub.cfm?id=5181

Stephens, M. (2014, May 20)  Library as classroom: Office hours. Library Journal. Retrieved from http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2014/05/opinion/michael-stephens/library-as-classroom-office-hours/#_

One Reply to “Reflection 4: Possibilities for partnership”

  1. The “Books and Butchers” photo often makes an impression on audiences and in this module. I am glad it offered you an “aha” comment.

    Nice to read the quote you pulled from the “Creative Classroom” piece as well. I need to revisit it after a year or so. The Innovation management piece intrigues me.

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