MY BUSMAN'S HOLIDAY
by Marylaine Block
It seems like I can't stay away from libraries, even when I'm on vacation. Good thing, too, since I always discover something interesting or, in this case, downright exciting. When I visited my son in Greensboro, I also visited ImaginOn <http://www.imaginon.org/> in nearby Charlotte. It's the youth services branch of the Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County, and though I'd written about it in my book, and interviewed Michele Gorman, who presides over ImaginOn's Teen Loft, I'd never actually seen it.
Let me tell you, the difference between knowing about ImaginOn and being there is the difference between being impressed and being completely blown away.
When you learn that the building is shared between the public library and the Children's Theatre of Charlotte, you would, of course, expect a certain amount of drama and style in its presentation. But that still doesn't prepare you for what awaits you.
You see, when the two organizations first got together to discuss how a partnership might work, they realized that what they had in common was storytelling, and their joint goal was "to bring stories to life through extraordinary experiences that challenge, inspire and excite young minds." That's why the central feature of the building is the entrancing three-story-high Story Jar, a gigantic, colorful spiral from which hangs puppets, boots, umbrellas, toy cars, and other objects that can become taking-off points for children's stories. (There's a great picture of it at <http://www.holzmanmoss.com/announcements.html>; arrow down to March, 2006.)
But the REAL story jar is online. Computer software prompts children through the process of writing stories, which can then be stored, and searched, online; kids can then send the URL for their stories to their proud grandparents. Other software for the Team Machine (linked computers that only work when ALL of them are signed on so that kids must work together) helps kids write plays, and design sets and costumes. The staff of "Tech Central" helps kids learn to manipulate all kinds of media to tell their stories. In "Studio One," teens learn the latest techniques for sound-mixing, video-editing, and animation while producing their own videos.
What they can envision on the computer they can learn how to construct in real life, because the Children's Theatre staff offers classes where children can learn how to do lighting and set construction and all the other nuts and bolts of theatre, dance, and art. There are also two theatres in the building, one seating 250 people and one seating 500, and young people have a chance to take part in the creation of theatre productions.
The Teen Loft is as cool a place for kids as I have ever seen, full of computers, graphic novels, DVDs, CDs, popular magazines, and books. There are quiet areas for study, and hang-out areas for fun - big booths reminiscent of fast food joints and soda shops (yes, food is allowed). For maximum accessibility, the YA librarians are stationed in the major traffic path, not hidden behind a reference desk.
The children's area on the first floor is arranged in the order of a child's development. The first things little kids see when they enter the building are picture books and children's DVDs and itty bitty chairs that couldn't say more clearly to three-year-olds that "this is just for you." As the collection moves up to easy readers and chapter books, the comfy chairs and computer stations get bigger. But the designers never forget the perspective of their littlest customers. As children climb the stairs that curve around the Story Jar, being low to the ground, they can see what tall grown-ups miss: at stair level, glass windows reveal the way the stairs are constructed.
An enclosed garden area outside gives another safe space where children can listen to or tell stories, or rehearse for performances.
There's a lot of cross-over between the theatre and the library, with library exhibits that amplify on themes from current theatre productions, and the library and theatre staff picking up ideas and techniques from each other.
There's also a gift shop that resembles a good museum store, with plenty of t-shirts, books, games, story-starter kits, puppets, stuffed animals, and more. I don't know the economics of it, how much goes to the library and how much to the theatre, but I'm willing to bet it's a great revenue source. The only bet I think librarians are missing is that they're not producing a series of books based on the kids' stories - Tales from the Story Jar. But Imaginon has only been open since October, 2005, so perhaps that will come in time as the stories accumulate.
ImaginOn is not just about children's imagination. It's an extraordinary act of imagination by librarians, theatre staff, architects, and outstandingly generous donors (Joe and Joan Martin). Yes, it helped that the library and theatre had a lot of money to work with. But the reason they had the money is that they were willing to re-think, amplify, and collaborate on everything they did, willing to draw on each partner's strengths in order to create an experience children and teens would treasure.
It seems to me that the lesson for other librarians from ImaginOn and other amazing library buildings (the Cerritos Library <http://www.ci.cerritos.ca.us/library/photos/library.html> and the Southfield Public Library <http://www.sfldlib.org/pages/visit/vtour.asp>, for instance) is to think bigger and think differently.
Because what these visionary librarians have shown is that if people trust your ability to pull it off, money follows imagination.
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COOL QUOTE:
Humans have extreme difficulty in actually seeing a comparative difference of less than 15%. I once read that research shows that when we see the light from 100 candles, we don’t see a difference in brightness until 115 candles are lit. Interesting - I understand that the same thing is true of sound volume, color variation, and other matters of human perception. Indeed, in job evaluation systems, jobs are not considered sufficiently different until there is a 12.5-15% difference in the job’s points. So, what I have learned here is that innovation needs to be sufficiently different from what was there before for humans (users) to see the difference.
Stephen Abram. SirsiOneSource: 32 Tips To Inspire Innovation for You and Your LIbrary, Part I, http://www.imakenews.com/sirsi/e_article000423643.cfm?x=b4TcM1g,b2rpmkgK,w
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