Erinn Batykefer's Blog, page 5

Curious and Curiouser: Eye-Popping Exhibition Demos

by Rebecca Hopman

One of the most popular cases in the Curious and Curiouser exhibition at the Rakow Library revolves around glass eyes, and it’s easy to see why. People are fascinated by eyes – real or fake. Our case includes several eye-catching advertisements and a box with samples of glass eyes at each stage of the prosthetic-making process.

We paired several of the Rakow Library’s glass eye advertisements with a box of glass eyes at different stages of the prosthetic-making process.

We’r...

#IArtLibraries | Tiny Library Concerts at the Collegiate School

This post originally appeared on the Library as Incubator Project in 2012.

The Library as Incubator Project is pleased to feature Tiny Library Concerts, submitted by Allen Chamberlain, librarian at the Reed-Gumenick Library at the Collegiate School, a private K-12 school in Richmond, Virginia.  Tiny Library Concerts seems to be a prime example of how students and school librarians can work together to create creative and popular arts programming in a school environment.   Allen describes the...

#IArtLibraries: Featuring: Charles Bane

This post originally appeared on the Library as Incubator Project in June 2014.

Today I’m pleased to welcome Charles Bane, Jr. to the Library as Incubator Project. Mr. Bane is a poet whose work is influenced by literature, and for whom libraries have played an important role in the inspiration for and promotion of his poetry. Enjoy! ~ Laura

Library as Incubator Project (LAIP): Please introduce yourself; tell us who you are, and what sort of creative work you make, and how you got started maki...

DIALOGUE at the Cleveland Public Library

by Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster

commissioned by LAND studio, Cleveland, OH

Photos by: Bob Perkoski, Coryn Kempster, John Theobald

In a time of political and social disunity, Dialogue, a temporary art installation in the Cleveland Public Library’s Eastman Reading Garden, brings together both friends and strangers. With their new public artwork, artists Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster hope to spark conversation outside the boundaries of individual comfort zones.  Dialogue’s brightly colo...

#IArtLibraries | Get It Loud In Libraries – Amplifying Everything We Have Got

This post originally appeared on the Library as Incubator Project in January 2012.

by Stewart Parsons, Get It Loud In Libraries Manager, Lancashire County Council.

Kitty, Daisy, and Lewis plays Lancaster Library. Photo courtesy of Get it Loud in Libraries.

Libraries are utterly thrilling places. At least they ought to be. They should wow the pants off people. All that free stuff. All that culture.  All that poetry to woo the ladies, and knowledge to make your way in the world. What’s not to l...

#IArtLibraries | Make It @ Your Library: a maker resource with librarians in mind

This post originally appeared on the Library as Incubator Project in November 2013.

by Katie Behrens

I was so excited this summer at ALA 2013 to hear that Instructables, a maker-themed online database/website, was going to be “pairing up” with librarians to sift and winnow the best maker projects for libraries.  That project is now online for all to enjoy at Make It @ Your Library!  Make It @ Your Library grew out of an IMLS grant-funded library program (ILEAD USA), with “the intention of he...

Late @ the Library: Ultimate Maker Party

by Ann Miller, Makerspace Coordinator at Mead Public Library

Imagine a gorgeous Friday evening in July.  You’ve just finished your long work week, and you are ready to mingle with friends and relax.  Where do you go?

To our complete delight, the answer turned out to be Mead Public Library.  For months we planned our first adults-only, after hours program.  We set a steep attendance goal for ourselves of 50-100 participants, and we acknowledged that starting on a Friday night in summer was a h...

Curious and Curiouser: Romance in the Glasshouse

by Rebecca Hopman

The Rakow Research Library’s current exhibition, Curious and Curiouser: Surprising Finds from the Rakow Library, explores themes of surprise, curiosity, and inspiration in the library. One of our main goals for the exhibition was to show the many ways the Rakow Library has been used as an incubator, and to inspire visitors to see it as a place they can be creative.

Many people who visit the Library expect to find scholarly and technical information, but few realize that we a...

#IArtLibraries | Music History: The Chuck Brown /Go-Go Archive at DC Public Library

This post originally appeared on the Library as Incubator Project in August 2012.

by Erinn Batykefer

As any music buff knows, a light went out this past May when Chuck Brown, the “godfather of Go-go,” died at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 75.  Go-go is something of a DC phenomenon; the genre developed in the 70s and has evolved into a hip-shaking blend of funk, R&B, and early hip-hop that relies on jam grooves and call-and-response vocals, with notable artists like The Young Senators,...

Strictly Analog | Developing a Gaming Program at your Library

by Kristy Bowen

Gaming and libraries are often a perfect match.  As community gathering spots, libraries offer ample opportunities for members to come together, both for social interaction and intellectual stimulation.  Resources and collections fill a great supporting role for games like trivia nights and scavenger hunts.   In addition, collections of circulating games, be they analog or digital, can be quite popular, and offer users access to materials they might not have at home.  Analog g...