LEGO® PLAY: IMPLEMENTING A CULTURE
OF CREATIVITY & MAKING IN THE
ACADEMIC LIBRARY
MEGAN LOTTS, ART LIBRARIAN
RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
@MCLotts

INTRODUCTION
• Outreach, Engagement, Making, and Creativity & Innovation in
Academic Libraries.
• Creativity & Making can stimulate broader conversations among
patrons and Library employees about the value of the libraries.
• Making spaces can be scholarly, fun, affordable, and a new way
to engage w/patrons and connect to communities.
• I’m trained as a painter & installation artist and I spent many
hours in college working in academic libraries.
@MCLotts

HISTORY OF MAKING-
HTTP://WWW.AMERICANLIBRARIESMAGAZINE.ORG/ARTICLE/MANUFACTURING-MAKERSPACES
• 1873- Gowanda, NY The Gowanda Ladies Social Society formed to quilt, knit, sew, socialist, and talk about
books. In 1877, it became the Ladies Library Association, receiving state library charter in 1900 as the
Gowanda Free Library.
• 1960 Nebraska Library Commission Funded for FY1960 by the Library Services Act of 1956, the Nebraska
Library Commission (then known as the Nebraska Public Library Commission) in Lincoln hosted a variety of
special activities, including creative arts, that were organized by area groups.
• 1976 The tool library The Rebuilding together Central Ohio Tool Library was created by Columbus as the
tool-lending library with a federal community development block grant. In March 2009, Rebuilding together
central ohio took over operation of the library.
• 1979 Merrimack (N.H.) Public Library the newly renovated and expanded Merrimack Public Library opened
with a children’s craft room,
• 2011 Fayetteville (N>Y>) Free Library Makerspace the first 21st century makerspace opened in the
Fayevetteville Free Library. It was the first of its kind in a public library and includes a 3D printer that works
in a mobile capacity.
@MCLotts

MAKERSPACES-
Editorial Board Thoughts: Libraries as Makerspaces? By Tod Coegrove (U of Nevada)
ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/.../3793/pdf
• “making as a gateway to deepen engagement in science and engineering but also art and design.
Makerspaces share some aspects of the shop class, home economics class, the art of studio and
science lab.”
Do Makerspaces Add Value to Libraries? By Janet L. Balas
http://teamhughmanatee.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/do-makerspaces-add-value-to-libraries.pdf
• “Libraries are not just places for quiet study of scholarly materials but they can also be places
where the creation of audio or video presentations can take place. In the case of some extremely
innovative libraries, they can also be places for making actual physical objects.”
@MCLotts

MAKERSPACES-
IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES
Making Things in Academic Library by Maura Smale- 2012 http://acrlog.org/2012/10/16/making-
things-in-academic-libraries/
• “essentially it’s a place for folks to make things, perhaps writing and illustrating a zine, using the open
source Arduino computing platform to program a robot, screen-printing, or creating model houses with a
3D printer. Makerspaces often include tools and equipment that are to expensive or specialized for most
people to have in their homes, as well as provide a gathering place for like-minded hobbyists to create
and collaborate.”
Makerspaces Move into Academic Libraries by Erin Fisher- 2012 http://acrl.ala.org/techconnect/?p=2340
• “Makerspaces emerged around 2005 as an offshoot of the Do-it-Yourself (DIY) movement. A makerspace
often includes a 2-D printer, digital media and fabrication software, tools for welding, woodworking, and
soldering, traditional arts and craft supplies and other electronics”.
• “they provide opportunities for people to learn with their hands”
• “The academic landscape is shifting from a traditional teaching culture to a learning culture. A teaching
culture consists of an expert transferring knowledge to student, whereas a learning culture utilizes active
learning techniques”
@MCLotts

IMPLEMENTING A CULTURE OF CREATIVITY:
POP-UP MAKING SPACES AND
PARTICIPATING EVENTS IN ACADEMIC
LIBRARIES
HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/DOI:10.7282/T3D2208V
@MCLotts

HOLIDAY CARD MAKER SPACE
ALEXANDER LIBRARY- RUTGERS
@MCLotts

EDIBLE BOOKS
SIUC & RUTGERS
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POLYNOMIOGRAPHY
LIBRARY OF SCIENCE & MEDICINE (LSM)- RUTGERS
@MCLotts

POP UP MAKING SPACES
• We are more likely to learn or come back when we are
having FUN!
• Creativity, making, & engagement helps build critical
thinking skills & these are skills that are applicable to
library research.
• Creativity, making, and engagement creates community.
• Cross- Discplinary collaboration is a must.
• Low cost, easy to take up & down, small space to store
@MCLotts

LEGO® PLAY: IMPLEMENTING A CULTURE
OF CREATIVITY & MAKING IN THE
ACADEMIC LIBRARY
HTTP://DX.DOI.ORG/DOI:10.7282/T3C53NJD
@MCLotts

HOW THIS ALL BEGAN…
THE I2C2 CONFERENCE IN MANCHESTER,
UK
• LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
http://www.seriousplay.com/
• This workshop involved participants
building models about their work
existence and the challenges we
face as we seek to make our
library services more innovative
@MCLotts

IMPLEMENTATION
• Installed in August 2014
• Used existing table in Art
Library
• Created signage
• All Legos were upcycled for
project
@MCLotts

PRESS
Check out Rutgers Today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZHhlwoy9Yc
@MCLotts

PRESS
@MCLotts

BLOCK PARTY
Scarlet Knight Days, models created by library faculty, library staff,
graduate students, and undergrads
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LEGO CHARACTER CONTEST
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@MCLotts

CREATE YOUR IDEAL LIBRARY CONTEST
@MCLotts
Mason Gross Printmaking class.

SAS HONORS COLLOQUIUM
SECTION 10
• Thank you so much! My partner and I were playing with the legos
for at least two hours. I even snapchatted my lego model to all my
friends.
@MCLotts

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
EDA COURSE
• Way to connect with Landscape
Architecture Freshman.
• Gets Landscape Architecture
students into the Art Library
which is on a different campus
than their studios.
• Working with Faculty, Students,
and Staff in Landscape
Architecture helps me better
understand the needs of their
department.
@MCLotts

LEGO WORKSHOPS
RUL FACULTY & STAFF
• Team building & learning hands on
• Creative thinking about library resources & spaces
@MCLotts

ACADEMIC COACHES
RUTGERS LEARNING CENTERS
• In January 2015, team building lego workshop with 6 Academic
Coaches for a Lego workshop including an introduction to the library
& Info Literacy skills
@MCLotts

RUTGERS DAY
BUILDING KNOWLEDGE THROUGH IMAGINATION
@MCLotts

COMMENTS
@MCLotts
Comments from collection box between Aug. 12th, 2014- Jan. 12th, 2015

CROWDSOURCED IMAGES
• Crowdsourcing of images has primarily
been images taken of table on daily
basis.
• Most people were more than happy to
allow me to take their picture
• I’m concerned I choose the wrong social
media platform.
@MCLotts

ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION
@MCLotts

ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION
@MCLotts

ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION
@MCLotts

ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION
@MCLotts

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT
• We are more likely to learn or come back when we are having
FUN!
• Creativity, making, & engagement helps build critical thinking skills
& these are skills that are applicable to library reseach.
• Creativity, making, and engagement creates community.
• Making with others can be inspiring.
• All people have a voice & want to be heard.
• There’s a lots of ways to make or create scholarship.
@MCLotts

ASSESSMENT
• Documentation- Analyze the images
• Surveys
• Monitor the Facebook page for “Lego”
• Observation & stories
• Counting reference questions
@MCLotts

HOW CAN YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN..
• You don’t need any money to create Lego Playing Station but you will
need Legos & a table (or any making events for that matter)
• Marketing & Outreach.
• Cross-disciplinary collaboration is good.
• Incentives can help.
@MCLotts

CONCLUSION
• Art Library Lego playing station has explored &
expanded conventional research functions of an
academic library through encouraging creative and
problem solving techniques associated with Art & Design.
• Legos can be an international 3-Dimensional language
that uses hands on active learning to communicate and
build critical thinking skills, as well as an activity that
makes people happy.
@MCLotts

CONCLUSION
• Art Library Lego Playing station has been a catalyst for
building bridges and making connections with students,
faculty and staff on the RU campuses, which has led to a
greater understanding of the possibilities of an Academic
Research Library and how the act of making and
implementating a culture of creativity can influence
library patrons.
@MCLotts

FINAL THOUGHT
One of the most interesting parts of this project is coming
into the Art Library every day to see what has transpired
at the table. Some days it appears that a group of
grubby young children have been let loose at the table
and Legos strewn everywhere, including the floor. Other
days the author finds elaborate models that tell stories
about the students, their lives, their imaginations, and their
dreams.
@MCLotts

QUESTIONS
Megan Lotts, MFA, M.L.I.S
Art Librarian
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
(848)932-7189
megan.lotts@rutgers.edu
www.meganlotts.com
link to work in RUcore
http://soar.libraries.rutgers.edu/bib/Mega
n_Lotts/
like the Rutgers Art Library facebook page
at www.facebook.com/rutgersartlibrary
@MCLotts