[OPLINLIST] Let's get creative

[SWON Info]

At SWON’s Spring Luncheon last week, Cindy Foley spoke about creativity and innovation. Cindy is the Director of Education for the Columbus Museum of Art, where they’ve opened an 18,000 square feet Center for Creativity. They take creativity seriously, and she challenged us to discover what limits our creativity and ways we might move past those limits. 
Outputs or Outcomes? Peers or patrons? 


When a person walks into a museum, a whole world of experiences is open to them, but the Columbus Museum of Art wanted to do more than make their works of art available. They wanted their visitors to engage with the exhibits, so they created a new set of activities for visitors. Since activities were designed to get certain kinds of responses, they could measure how well the activity was working and improve it, instead of merely counting the number of people who stepped through the door. 


If that doesn’t sound like the art museum experience you’re familiar with, it marked a big change for them as well. Those changes came out of some very challenging discussions about who the museum was designed to serve. Certainly they wanted to connect to visitors from the local community. But they also realized that some decisions put the influence of their museum peers ahead of local patrons. 


Visit the Columbus Museum of Art now and you’ll find comfortable armchairs in the gallery rooms and activities that use post-it notes. On some days, teens sell their artwork in the galleries or follow visitors playing live music (on request, of course). Putting local relationships first allowed them to connect with their communities in ways that have brought new energy to the museum. It’s brought new recognition, too: the CMA just won a 2013 IMLS National Medal. You can read more about why they won, here: http://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2013/04/23/cma-wins-imls-national-award/ 
Taking the long view. 


These changes at the CMA were years in the making. That can be disappointing to hear, if you want to make new connections to your community and see a new level of engagement with your patrons. But you aren’t alone. At SWON, we’re glad to share what we know and connect you to others who are working through similar questions. 


All SWON Supporting Member libraries receive 4 hours of free consulting each year. Our fiscal year begins July 1, so if you haven’t invited us out to meet with you, look at your schedule for May and June. We’ll work to accommodate as many requests as we can. I’ll say for myself that I was just at the Computers in Libraries conference last month and have lots to share. We’re glad to field questions, too, even if the conversation begins with, “What do you know about ____ ?” Let’s talk. Let’s get creative. 




Nathan Swartzendruber, 
SWON Technology Educator 



Spring Staff Training Symposium at Dayton Metro 


We have about 10 spots left for this event. If you’d like to register, please do it soon! 
Sign up here: http://tiny.cc/spring_staff 

Connect to SWON online: Website : Calendar : Facebook : Twitter 
Calendar excerpts from the next two weeks. Click event titles for more information. 


    * Overcoming Your Fears of Being Successful, Part 1 - (5/9/2013) - Online 
    * What Libraries Need To Know To Help Local Businesses Succeed - (5/14/2013) - Online 
    * ROYAL Reviews (SIG) Meetings - (5/14/2013) - SWON & Boone County Public Library 
    * Overcoming Your Fears of Being Successful, Part 2 - (5/16/2013) - Online 
    * AL AO’s Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group - (5/17/2013) - University of Cincinnati 
    * “Map Your Future” AA Highway Library Conference - (5/17/2013) - Maysville Community and Technical College 
    * Instructional Librarians SIG Meeting - (5/20/2013) - Cincinnati State 
    * Spring Staff Training Symposium - (5/21/2013) - Dayton Metro Library 
    * Drama-Free Workplaces, Part 1 - (5/21/2013) - Online 


SWON Libraries - http://www.swonlibraries.org 
10250 Alliance Rd, Suite 225 
Blue Ash, OH 45242 
phone (513) 751-4422 - fax (513) 751-0463 


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