I first became acquainted with the Algerian born, French novelist
Albert Camus in high school and again in university; reading two of his novels
The Plague (La Peste) and The Stranger (L’Étranger). I did not read them in the
original French, despite my family’s French heritage; my father’s family coming
to Canada from France in 1614. Unfortunately by the time of my high school and
university days in the 1970’s, French in my family had been relegated to the
trash heap of history – to the other or stranger, or even worse, the enemy. Despite
or maybe because of these novels, and my family history, I have always had a
strong interest in French and French culture. It is a culture that, in many ways, is both avant-garde and conservative.
In 1957 Camus gave his final public lecture at the University of
Uppsala, in Sweden. The lecture, entitled “Create Dangerously” speaks to the
social context for art, and the role of the artist of speaking up for those who
cannot.
“To create today is to create dangerously. Any publication is an
act, and that act exposes one to the passions of an age that forgives nothing.
Hence the question is not to find out if this is or is not prejudicial to art.
The question, for all those who cannot live without art and what it signifies,
is merely to find out how, among the police forces of so many ideologies (how
many churches, what solitude!), the strange liberty of creation is possible.”
The idea of creating dangerously is one that captivates my
imagination. We have long celebrated the creative process and at times those
who are the creators. One has only to think of Van Gogh and his Starry Night, Edith Piaf and La Vie en Rose, or Andrew Lloyd Webber
and Phantom of the Opera to be swept
away with the genius of their creative powers. Artists like Picasso with his Guernica, Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei’s Good Fences Make Good Neighbors, and African-American
Kara Walker’s Christ’s Entry in
Journalism all are examples of creating dangerously; pushing both artistic
and societal boundaries.
Creativity and innovation, which often go hand and hand, are ideas
that have made their way into library speak. In the library world we don’t
often think of creativity as being “dangerous” but then again the library
profession is often thought of as being conservative. I would like to issue a
call to “create dangerously” both in the sense that Camus used it to speak up
for those who cannot, but also in the sense of pushing artistic and societal
boundaries.
Can the Library inspire this sort of creativity? Can we inspire
“dangerous creativity”? I hope so. Here are some thoughts to consider.
1. Push the boundaries: The older I
get the more I am willing to push boundaries- to move out of my comfort zone
and try something different. In the library world,
I have been impressed with public libraries who have pushed the boundaries and
helped redefine the library for a new age. These libraries were early to the
table with makerspaces, hackathons, lending things such as power tools and cake
pans.
How might we
push the boundaries in the academic library? Over the past decade or more there
has been a serious discussion on the
future of the academic library or the
transformation of the academic library. As part of this effort library, deans/university librarians tried to
push the boundaries in imaging what the future looked like. Too often we have
looked at our existing libraries and have thought we could change this, and
this, and this, but not that; that one is sacred.
I have been
impressed with the work done by Michael Figueroa, head of ALA’s Center for the
Future of Libraries. Most of the work is very outward focused on major trends
that are transforming society and our communities. A quick glance at the trends
shows categories such as blockchain, connected learning, design thinking,
digital natives, gamification, robots, and sharing economy to name but a few. One
might ask what do these have to do with academic libraries. These are trends
that are changing our culture and our users and their approach to information,
services, and cultural organizations. Pushing the boundaries may vary from
university to university, but some form of trend approach is likely to be
helpful in imaging the future library and creating it dangerously, knowing that
not everyone may be on board.
2. Facilitate startups: A startup
culture is usually associated with business and on a university campus,
associated with the business school. Wikipedia defines a startup as “an
entrepreneurial venture which is a newly emerged business venture that aims to
meet a marketplace need, want or problem by developing a viable business model
around products, services, processes or platforms. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company
Several
phrases jump out at me from the definition: “meet a marketplace need” and
“viable business model”. The startup model is one that I think has application
for the library as we think about new services, new workflows, and new
organizational models. Libraries have historically done a poor job in
identifying a market need based on the
customer, rather we have relied on librarians specifying what users want/need
when in reality we are expressing what librarians need/want. We need to move to
understanding user needs and design or
buy products and services that meet those needs. A startup model or pilot model can provide a framework to bring new
products and services to light – to create dangerously in favor of the users instead
of the librarians.
3. Celebrate failure and success: The
creative process is one that is iterative; meaning there is always a revision
process going on; fixing what didn’t work; learning from the failure or mistake
and going on. Library culture often never gets to this point because of our
penchant to plan any project to perfection. Encourage librarians and library
staff to be experimental and to try new things by creating a culture where it
is okay to try and to fail, and to learn from that failure and to get up and
try again. Often failure teaches us more than success. Building a culture that
celebrates failure and risk-taking in real ways will advance a culture of
innovation.
4. Promote artistic expression: I think
that artists, musicians, dancers, and theatre people often get shortchanged in the library experience. While
libraries certainly provide books,
journals, CD/LPs, films that support the understanding
of these disciplines, we seldom provide an opportunity for these students to
practice their craft. The scholarship these students are learning is the
scholarship of creating and performing. Could
we imagine hosting a small dance performance, or music group, or play, or a
painting/drawing session in the library as a way of showcasing artistic
expression? Perhaps host a poster design contest, or exhibit fine furniture
created by students in an architect/design class. Digital art can be displayed
and campuses who have broad access to programs like the Adobe Creative Suite
can promote use by displaying what students have used the software to create. Smaller
gestures like coloring books, while relieving stress, can also encourage
creativity.
5. Celebrate dissidence and diversity: Libraries
have long thought of themselves as neutral spaces, though some are beginning to
question this as a library value. While we might be neutral in the sense that libraries
strive to provide collections that broadly speak to every idea and group, we
are less neutral in that we celebrate dissidence and diversity. If the Library
is serious about its inclusive mission, then we can celebrate dissidence
through displays and programming that engage today’s students. This celebration
of both historic and current dissidence pushes boundaries and provides a venue
for students to fully engage with controversial issues.
Every
university has a wide variety of student groups that are diverse in their
cultural, ethnic, and political purpose. Partnering with these groups to use
library space for cultural, educational, and political discourse provides an
opportunity to broaden the scope of visible diversity on campus and hopefully
encourage broad and respectful discourse – certainly a skill that universities
want their students to develop.
CREATE DANGEROUSLY – IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE
AND YOUR LIBRARY!
