Create Dangerously: Can the academic library inspire creativity?

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!