Monday, March 12, 2012

Everyone is CREATIVE!

Pam Saladin of the Anythink libraries started by stating that librarians and libraries need to be marketers of information. We have to entice or make people want/need books, videos, magazines, databases and other library materials. How do we do this? We create opportunities for people to "bump" into and interact with information, then they will seek out more.
For those of us who believe we are not creative, she gives this advice: there are no original ideas, ideas come from looking at something or thinking about something and asking, "What if?"
Her staff has turned these "what ifs" into experience zones, which rotate and change. In an experience zone, patrons can;
1. Read, Think, Do
2. Interact on their own terms
3. Learn anything, Create something
4. Be creative & Ask questions
5. Play, Have FUN!
6 .Interact "hands on"
To design an Experience Zone Plan you need:
1. Idea
2. Description
3. Materials
4. Preparation
5. Activity
6. Maintenance plan
7. Evaluation - how did it go?
Ideas can be as simple as having a tub of legos on a table (my high school students love these!) or more complicated, like a hair braiding station.
What if?

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