In April 2024 I was awarded the opportunity to attend the ARLIS/NA (Art Libraries Society of North America) conference in Pittsburgh, PA. This annual event fosters excellence in art and design librarianship and image management. The purpose of this conference was to bring together visual art information specialists with the goal of developing a creative network for the exchange of knowledge, skills and collaboration. Typical attendees included public and academic art librarians, archivists, visual resource professionals, artists, curators and educators. In my position as a Fine Arts librarian, practicing visual artist and previous Montessori educator, this conference offered me multiple ways to expand my offerings to our patrons. I gained new knowledge through presentations, workshops, roundtable discussions and tours.
One of my responsibilities as a public librarian is to offer programming. One of my favorite offerings is a series titled, Art Materials 'Petting Zoo'. During these events patrons have the opportunity to experience different art mediums that match the current month’s theme. I provide a hands-on introduction to each art medium, and assist participants while they experiment with the materials, tools, and techniques. For example, if the program focus was on drawing, there would be multiple stations set up with different drawing utensils. The options could include charcoal pencils, watercolor pencils, conte pencils, etc. These workshops offer our patrons the chance to see, handle, and explore a variety of materials that they may not be normally exposed to or can afford the hefty price that typically accompanies art supplies.
While I was at the conference I attended a lecture on haptic learning. This learning style is a hands-on approach that involves the sense of touch and movement. Individuals who learn best through haptic style prefer to actively participate in the learning process by touching or manipulating objects to understand the concepts. This sounded similar to what I was already offering my patrons. With these ideas in mind I’ve started to create passive programs for our department. I will develop monthly displays that include serving trays that will hold tactile materials for customers to pick up in their hands. The following examples are geared towards art and music but you could create anything that was a good match for your space.
Examples:
Examples:
National Embroidery Month: A completed embroidery sample wheel in a hoop that customers can feel the different stitches and fabrics
National Braille Literacy Month: Borrow books / materials (do they have sheet music?) from Library for the Blind and Print Disabled so patrons can feel the pages
Architecture Month: samples of building materials that patrons can hold in hand (ie. wood, clay, steel, bamboo, concrete, etc.) Consider reaching out to Max Pollock with Reclaimed Wood. Reclaimed Brick. Salvage. (brickandboard.com) to borrow salvaged materials from Baltimore homes
