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Should public libraries be homes for ingenuity?

31.12.2008
Helene Blowers is the Digital Initiatives Librarian for the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Columbus, Ohio. I follow her because of the vibrancy of her thinking and ideas. She recently gave a talk at the , in Boulder, Colorado.

She's talking about playfulness and creativity and public libraries. Her talk got me thinking a lot about this and related topics. And in my wondering I asked myself these questions: What is the connection between creativity and playfulness? And then what is the connection between creativity and ingenuity? And then what is the connection between ingenuity and public libraries?

Public libraries are about books, right? Yes, books. And something other than books, too. Public libraries are physical homes for the human imagination. The human imagination is represented physically in books, but also in the things we build and make. The media we make. The contraptions we devise. The songs we compose. The art we make.

Traditionally, we haven't thought of public libraries as "houses of ingenuity," but maybe that's the direction in which they're headed. Maybe people will start heading over to the public library because they've been wondering about something. And they want to talk to a library staffer who is good at soldering, or is good at or is handy at prototyping, or who likes to build , or has incredible talent at , or who is excellent at

Maybe ingenuity belongs in public libaries. And guess what? Ingenuity doesn't go home on Fridays at 6 pm. Ingenuity stays up late Friday evening and way into Saturday morning because ingenuity is so close to getting it right. Ingenuity is working with neighbors in a community building in a way that's never been done before. Figuring things out, solving problems, bringing value to each other via a process. Within a library. Via a process.

And ingenuity is intergenerational, because the kids always have the best ideas. And the kids learn to listen and respect one another, because that is ingenuity's way. And some teenager mutters to her friend on her way to school, "There is no place I'd rather be than at the public library. No place. If I could move in there, I would." And she's carrying a wrench in her hands when she says this. On her tee-shirt is the question: "What do you know about Nikola Tesla?"