Sparta and Black River Falls Public Libraries join forces for library improv staff development day

Sparta and Black River Falls library staffs

How do you begin a sentence with "me?"  That was one of the many questions posed by library staff from Black River Falls Public Library and Sparta Public Library. Sometimes it requires suspending the rules. Through improv games and practice, we explored ways of saying no without saying no, strategies for active listening in public service environments, identifying and using the resources and skills we have to solve problems, and more. Many thanks to the two libraries for hosting, organizing and inviting me. I tell ya, public library folks are doing good and important work. Visit them. Thank them.

MALiA librarians mix it up on the beautiful King University campus in Tennessee

Librarians from the Mid-Atlantic Library Alliance (MALiA) played it SAFE (Suspend judgment, Accept all offers, Focus on the others, Embrace failure) at their annual meeting by playing with improv ideas. Activities focused on exercising spontaneity, active listening, and thinking in unconventional ways. One game -- I call it mashup -- elicited some fun, interesting, and even doable library programming. Each group was given a challenge, something someone cared about, and a special skill (all generated from participants). They then mashed these 3 prompts into a single program or event. The results ranged from entertaining to completely doable. How about enlisting the Weeding King to rid people of their bad habits? Or how about creating an Empathy hotline for people frustrated by their friends' lack of book and film knowledge? What about a library event in which senior citizens create collages of their homes and share their memories? How about a student-run coffee shop teaching students about financial management?
It was a fun day meeting new colleagues and learning about the good and important work they do. Thanks so much, MALiA librarians, for inviting me and for the hospitality!

Library Improv Facebook Group!

Want to shake things up? Get your students, or colleagues, or yourself --  especially yourself -- thinking outside the box? Want to increase your comfort with ambiguity and change? Want to incorporate more fun and joy into your work? Join the libraryimprov facebook group to share ideas and resources on bringing improv techniques and philosophies into the library.

Improv at UW-Eau Claire McIntyre Library's 'Hidden Talent' conference

Recognizing that I am surrounded by talented colleagues with a wide range of interests and skills, I have long thought about having a 'hidden talents' conference -- a day long conference during which library staff would do sessions presenting or teaching or performing or whatever.... This summer it finally happened. We threw our first McIntyre Library Summer Conference. Our eclectic program included belly dancing (yes!) and document design and self defense and blues music and book crafts and cake decorating and pizza and  improv! We had a great time. We all learned and experienced something new and unfamiliar. It was both uplifting and humbling to observe colleagues sharing their passions and abilities. I hold my colleagues in such high esteem, not only for their willingness to share their expertise but also for those who stepped way outside of their comfort zones to attend and participate in the sessions and just go with it and be supportive of each other. Now that's improv!

Game: Anti-strategic plan

As my library embarked on a strategic planning process, there was some skepticism. These endeavors in the past had been painful, tedious and ultimately ineffective. We'd make plans, but then external forces would intervene, there was never any money, and the plan was shelved. This time we are taking a new approach to the plan, and to give everyone an opportunity to vent frustration and skepticism of the past, we included an activity we called the anti-strategic plan: releasing our un-values.

How to play:

• Provide a prompt contrary to your values. Ours was: "The library is a research environment that maintains the exclusive and inaccessible nature of information."
• Have group brainstorm values to support this prompt.

Debrief:

• Talk about the cathartic nature of releasing previous negative experiences and connotations of process.
• Look at how expressing the opposite of what you value can lead to clarifying what you do value

I got several positive comments about this activity after our strategic planning kick-off meeting. And it was a lot of fun. After we got going, it was hard to stop, and it did allow us to confront the negativity head on and move past it.

This idea was inspired by a game in Thiagi's 100 Favorite Games (Sivasailam Thiagarajan), called Double Negatives

We can start a sentence with 'us' but don't ask us to list our favorite books!

When you see 'improv' on a library conference program description, it can be intimidating. But several brave souls on the lovely UW-LaCrosse campus resisted the temptation to bolt and decided to give it a try. And it was fun, wasn't it?! Said one attendee afterwards, who was nervous about her own presentation coming later in the day, "I feel more relaxed, more spontaneous." Following a keynote presentation on building strong teams, we played improv games that help develop some of those characteristics of effective teams: developing trust, a positive and constructive attitude, deep listening, supporting the team, moving beyond conventional thinking and having some fun. Way to go, Wisconsin Library Association Support Staff & Circulation Services Conference attendees! If anyone can start a sentence with the word 'us' under pressure it's these folks. Just please don't ask us to list our favorite books.

Fond du Lac: Birthplace of Baroque Philosophy

You had to be there. Fortunately, staff from University of Wisconsin Colleges were there. Staff development day was full of laughs, spontaneous thinking, active listening and the power of stories. Thanks for inviting me and for being such an enthusiastic group!

Baroque philosophy is born in Fond du Lac

Students also engage in some improvising in the library

Students at UW-Eau Claire take advantage of 24-hour access to McIntyre Library during finals week. They improvise their own campsite -- or should we call it a 'cramsite?' I love that they take ownership of the space and make it their own.

Improv and authentic discussion in the library classroom

Thanks to The Innovative Library Classroom Conference organizers for the opportunity to present, and the attendees for attending my session. We applied improv techniques to the art and practice of leading meaningful classroom discussions. We talked about how to build trust with your audience (students); structure questions to encourage learning and reflection in students; follow up on initial responses to get students thinking more deeply; and deal with that awkward silence that sometimes happens -- taking into account that in library instruction we often have very little time to work with. Attendees were good sports, volunteering right off the bat to engage in improv activities, and sharing valuable insights throughout. For more on my session, see slides.

50+ librarians get their improv on at Library Collective 2016

There's something special happening at the Library Collective conference. Designed to be interactive, intimate, and inexpensive, this conference hits the mark. After a plenary session of boardgames with several new librarian friends, we did some library improv. We established ground rules:
Suspend judgment
Accept offers
Focus on the other
Embrace failure
and then launched into a rollicking round of Yes, And. A round of 7 things inspired librarians to use this game to help students generate keywords. Good sports played Good, Bad and Ugly, bravely playing with the outer limits of what's appropriate to get a sense of what's important and as catharsis. So much fun! So many good insights. And so many new friends. Thanks for playing!

Game: Mash up

Looking for connections is fundamental to what we do in libraries: we connect questions to answers, patrons to resources, information literacy to the curriculum, ideas to other ideas, disciplines to other disciplines.... Sometimes unlikely connections can result is something new and wonderful. This game helps us practice making connections that aren't obvious, and expands our creative thinking that can help with planning.

How to play:

• Groups of 3-4
• Each group member names a favorite thing. This can be wide open, or you can give it parameters, such as a favorite activity or food. 
• The group then selects at least 2 things names and mashes them into a new library service, event or product.
• Each group prepares a one-minute presentation selling the director, the board or the public on the new idea. 

Variations

• Have each group member name a problem as well as a thing. The mashup has to solve the problem.

Game: Good Bad and Ugly

Ideas for what to do can come from articulating what not to do, from exploring the unacceptable or the edge of acceptable, or from exploring another point of view. This game of role playing frees participants to do just that, by acknowledging accepted practice or behavior and by turning it upside down and playing devil's advocate...or worse.

How to play:

• 3 players and a facilitator. The 3 players choose their roles, "good," "bad," and "ugly." They will be playing members of a panel of "experts." They can be seated or standing in front of the room. The facilitator asks the audience for a suggestion of a gathering, meeting, conference or forum of some sort. Or for a specific training or teaching situation, the facilitator provides the context.
• Facilitator can begin be asking the panel a question. First "good" will respond with a reasonable answer. "Bad" will follow, offering advice that is, well, not so good. And "Ugly" will follow with a response that is pretty awful advice.

Examples:

• For training purposes, the panel might be experts on customer service or dealing with difficult patrons. The panel might be library experts responding to questions in a faculty forum, student senate, library board, city forum, accreditation board, etc.
• Facilitator: Panelists, please tell me what you see as the cornerstone of good public service.
  Good: I believe that good customer service stems from respect...
  Bad: Really, you just want to get the customer in and out quickly with no embarrassing public displays...
  Ugly: People need to be loved, so hug everyone who enters, whether they want it or not... If they seem uncomfortable you just need to hug them longer...

Notes:

• Make sure you have established ground rules that make this a trusting and safe place, to explore the taboo and have fun.

Improv for a cold day at Mt. Horeb Public Library

Thanks to the staff at Mt. Horeb Public Library for inviting me to be a part of your inservice day. I appreciated your willingness to suspend judgment, take some chances, be supportive and have some fun! You all can be good and bad and downright ugly (you know who you are...), and the people of Mt. Horeb are lucky to have you.

Wisconsin Library Association librarians nail the "Yes, and!"

Thank you to the librarians who attended "Yes, And: Improvising Your Way to A More Creative and Positive Library" at the Wisconsin Library Association 2015 conference. It was your willingness to suspend judgment, take a risk, be a little silly and play along that made the session work. Several of you stopped me afterwards to ask if I'd be willing to do a workshop at your library. Why, yes. I would. I believe in the value of play. It helps ignite that passion that keynote speaker Jay Tanner was talking about. And even in the short time we had together, and through the few games we played together, you were generating new and exciting ideas. Congratulations to those of you who were nervous about attending, but did anyway. You were all improv stars!

Game: Synchronized Speaking

The abilities to listen carefully, to both lead and follow, and to read other people, are important in so many aspects of librarianship. In reference and instruction, in being a valuable team member, in supervising others... It's hard to think of an aspect of our work where such skills are not an asset. This simple game offers the opportunity to practice these skills.

How to play

Three or more players. Two players will be identified as the synchronized speaker. Their role is to answer questions or tell a story in one voice, with no prior planning. Other players can ask questions or offer a prompt to get a story going. Questions should move beyond those of a yes/no nature.

• Example:
  Player one: Please tell me what interests you about this job
  Players 2 and 3 extemporaneously answer the question in unison

Game: Yes, and

The improv philosophy is one of accepting what's offered to you and building on it. In improv, it means whatever is said or offered by another player is the new reality. Knowing that whatever is said or done will be met with acceptance is the liberating feature that allows people to take chances, stretch their thinking, and be in the moment. "Yes, and" is not so much about agreeing, but rather acknowledging and accepting what is offered and moving things forward. This game helps build trust, confidence, collaboration and a positive environment. Imagine using "Yes, and" in a planning meeting. Oh, the possibilities. Try using "yes, and" in response to student comments in classroom discussions or colleague contributions in meetings. This affirming response encourages them flesh out and expand their ideas.

How to play

• One player makes a statement. Every subsequent statement begins with an enthusiastic "Yes, and" . The starting statement doesn't have to be library related, but it can be. This game can be played among partners, or among larger groups. In groups, players can take turns sequentially, or they can stand in a circle and make eye contact with another person in the circle indicating that that person will go next, or people can call out responses randomly. For extra energy, have the entire group chime in on the "Yes, ands"

• Example
  1st player: There's a pingpong table in the library
  Group: YES,AND...2nd player: it's so popular we have lines of people waiting to playGroup: YES,AND...3rd player: we decided to spend our entire book budget on pingpong ballsGroup: YES,AND...4th player: the room where we store all the balls has become a ball pit
  Group: YES,AND...
  5th player: we started charging admission to this room Group: YES,AND...6th player: it's solved our budget crisis.

• Variation
  You could pair this exercise with a similar "Yes, but" exercise to compare what happens and how it makes people feel.

Game: Keyword Taboo

Here's a little game to play with your students to get them thinking about alternative keywords.

How to play

• Librarian asks a student to share her research topic with the class. As the student describes it, the librarian writes on the board the key words that the student uses. Now the librarian asks the class to generate a list of words to use in researching this topic. But this time they cannot use any of the words written on the board.

• Example
  Student: I'm researching pay to play and college athletes.
  [Librarian writes pay-to-play college athletes on the board]
  Librarian: What words can we use to get at this topic without using the words on the board?
  Class: Sports athletics compensation higher education NCAA
• Variation
  Have students work in pairs or small groups, sharing topics, writing down "taboo" words, and listing alternative keywords.

Game: New Choice

Reference work requires the ability to change course or strategy on the spot. We are constantly responding to questions and situations that are unique and therefore impossible to prepare for. When one approach doesn't pan out, we need to be able to try something different. 

Teaching always involves an element of improv. But library teaching often has an extra dose, because librarians often teach at the request of another instructor, but have little to no control over student preparation, class culture, research topics, etc. When a librarian plans a lesson based on the premise that students will have identified research topics, but the students show up without yet having thought about research topics, the librarian has to change course. This is a game that hones .

Planning involves creative thinking in exploring new possibilities, stretching ourselves beyond the obvious choices, and considering alternatives.

New choice helps hone librarian's ability to change course on a dime and move beyond the obvious.

 How to play

• Three players.

• Two players are given a situation. It doesn't have to be library related, but it can be. They begin acting out a scene. The third player is the caller.  During the scene, the caller can occasionally call out "New choice," requiring the player to back up to the last verbal choice made and try a new one.

• Example
  Scenario: two students meeting in the library. As the scene develops, it appears that one is attracted to the other...
  Player one: Do you have a piece of paper I can borrow?
  Player two: I do, but you'll have to leave collateral
  Caller: New choice!
  Player two: I do, but it has my name and phone number written on it
  [scene continues until the caller calls "New choice" again]

• Variation
  In addition to verbal choices, the caller can ask for new choices in movement or sound effects by calling out "New choice sound effect," or "New choice movement."