Advancing a culture of creativity in libraries

CHICAGO — Today’s library workers have many roles to play: information gatekeepers, connectors, collaborators, and storytellers. The key ingredient is creativity, which acts as the lynchpin of functioning successfully as a team as well as impacting communities in positive ways. “Advancing a Culture of Creativity in Libraries: Programming and Engagement,” published by ALA Editions, examines creativity and how it can be applied in library work culture, programming, and outreach. Megan Lotts shows how academic and public libraries can encourage staff to approach teaching, learning, and problem-solving in unconventional ways. This invigorating book:

• demonstrates why the challenges of our current historical moment provide us with a unique opportunity to stop and consider our work and our goals;
• dives into several case studies of creative and playful library projects, many of which can be adapted for reuse, investigating how they came to be and the impact they have had on their communities;
• discusses getting buy-in from administrators and funding organizations;
• offers pointers on collaborating with communities;
• guides readers in assessing the impact projects have on communities; and
• talks about how to learn and grow from failure and frustration.

Lotts is the Art Librarian at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where she regularly embraces creativity when teaching research workshops, building collections, and facilitating programming and events across the New Brunswick campuses. She has presented her research on makerspaces, play, and the work of library liaisons both nationally and internationally and has published articles in Art Documentation, portal: the Libraries in Academia, College and Research Libraries News and other periodicals.

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