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.