Little Learners Browsing Bins: A Themed Pocket Collection for Ages 4-7

We debuted a new pocket collection at my library this week.

Let me take a step back to start. We’ve been redesigning a space in the youth department designated for children ages 4-7, whom we call “Little Learners,” and their caregivers. The goal of the space is to engage these emerging readers and their families in literacy-positive activities, including reading and hands-on learning.

One of the initiatives for the space, and the one that I’ve helmed, is the creation of a pocket collection: ten themed browsing bins of age-appropriate picture books (YES! Picture books, and nonfiction in picture book format, are wonderful for all ages!). I’ve done theming/organizing of collections before, but the really cool thing about the Little Learners Browsing Bins project is that it was building a pocket collection from scratch. Turns out it’s super gratifying to go through all the steps to create a shiny, accessible new collection.

The first step was deciding on the bin themes. I did some research on libraries that have organized/reorganized their picture book collections into neighborhoods, thinking about what themes recur most and would be most appropriate for ages 4-7. I created a list of about a dozen themes, then shared them in a poll with all the folks at my library who work the youth services desk. My team members were expert at weighing in on themes--they know what types of books families with children this age ask for over and over again, and they have a great sense of what hidden gems in the collection could use more time front-and-center. They voted on preferred themes, including writing in suggestions. A combo of these themes then went to a poll on the library’s Facebook page, which library patrons were able to take. We got some good feedback from the folks who took the public poll, too.

Thus was our set of 10 themes determined--and 10 was the magic number because our new browsing bins would have space for 10 themes (4 “major” double-binned themes, and 6 single-binned themes):

• Award-Winners - titles that have received accolades, with an emphasis on awards recognizing diversity and inclusion 
• Fairy Tales - folk and fairy tales from both multicultural and traditional Western traditions 
• Science - titles that invite scientific interest and inquiry 
• Longer Tales - longer stories told in picture book format (we had previously noted many of these books in our collections with a note reading “Illustrated Fiction” in the MARC record) 
• Dinosaurs - picture books and picture book-format easy nonfiction dealing with dinosaurs as historical creatures and characters in stories 
• Things That Go - books that depict vehicles and transportation 
• Multilingual - titles including multilingual elements, with an emphasis on major languages spoken in the community 
• School Stories - stories about the experience of starting or going to school 
• Animals & Nature - picture books and picture book-format easy nonfiction that portray animals and nature as they are in real life 
• Listen-Along - picture books with musical accompaniment 

Then it was GO TIME for getting books in each theme. With the exception of titles for the Longer Tales and Listen-Along categories, which were culled from our existing collections, the books for the bins were gathered by purchasing brand new copies of great books. I bought one copy of each title for the bins, and the library also owns at least one additional copy of each title housed in our regular stacks. In my purchasing, I prioritized titles that are more recent (think the past few years) as well as titles by, about, and/or featuring diverse persons. Equity is a major goal with this pocket collection.

The library’s access department staff were outstanding in cataloging and preparing these items, and our graphic designer made outstanding icons for each of the themes; each book in the Little Learners Browsing Bins collection has a beautiful spine sticker, with both text and icon, to identify its theme and home. Very simple for both customers and staff.

There are more elements to the redesigned Little Learners area at my library than these Browsing Bins, including interactive panels, circulating Little Learners backpacks for at-home learning, a rotating monthly display, and eventual hands-on activities for children and caregivers to do together. I like to think, however, that the Little Learners Browsing Bins are a cornerstone of this revamped section--something previously not offered by the library, with great books displayed beautifully and in a manner that pre-readers and emerging readers can use effectively.

I so look forward to seeing how this pocket collection is used--and, hopefully, enjoyed--by our 4- to 7-year-olds and their families.

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Debut collection for the Little Learners Browsing Bins at Skokie Public Library (we’ll keep adding new titles as excellent choices are published):

Award-Winners:

1. Princesses on the Run by Smiljana Coh
2. Part-time Princess by Deborah Underwood
3. Red Kite, Blue Kite by Ji-Li Jiang
4. Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss
5. Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light by Tim Tingle
6. A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant
7. Back to Front and Upside Down! by Claire Alexander
8. Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales
9. Firebird by Misty Copeland
10. Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me by Daniel Beaty
11. Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue
12. Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
13. One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo
14. Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
15. Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
16. A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Erin Stead
17. The Three Pigs by David Wiesner
18. So, You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George
19. Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
20. Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
21. Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say
22. Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
23. Grandma's Gift by Eric Velasquez
24. The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon
25. A Coyote Solstice Tale by Thomas King
26. Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt's Treasured Books by Susan L. Roth
27. The House Baba Built: An Artists' Childhood in China
28. Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji by F. Zia
29. Zephyr Takes Flight by Steven Light
30. Here Come the Girl Scouts! by Shana Corey
31. Molly, by Golly! by Dianne Ochiltree
32. Once a Mouse by Marcia Brown
33. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
34. May I Bring a Friend? by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers
35. The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship by Arthur Ransome
36. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
37. Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall
38. Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
39. Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman
40. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

Fairy Tales:

1. Walt Disney's Cinderella by Cynthia Rylant
2. The ABC of Fantastic Princes by Willy Puchner
3. Aladdin by Giada Francia
4. Beauty and the Beast by Giada Francia
5. Cinderella by Giada Francia
6. Little Red Riding Hood by Giada Francia
7. Rapunzel by Giada Francia
8. Sleeping Beauty by Giada Francia
9. The Little Mermaid by Giada Francia
10. Snow White by Giada Francia
11. Little Red Riding Hood by Jerry Pinkney
12. Precious and the Boo Hug by Pat McKissack
13. Hansel and Gretel by Rachel Isadora
14. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal by Paul Fleischman
15. The Tale of the Firebird by Gennadii Spirin
16. Goldy Luck and the Tree Pandas by Natasha Yim
17. Rumpelstiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky
18. Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco
19. Town Mouse Country Mouse by Jan Brett
20. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
21. Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
22. The Girl of the Wish Garden by Uma Krishnaswami
23. Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look
24. Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin
25. Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble
26. Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote by Duncan Tonatiuh
27. One Grain of Rice by Demi
28. Ganesha's Sweet Tooth by Emily Haynes
29. Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer
30. The Contest by Nonny Hogrogian
31. The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton
32. Juan Bobo Goes to Work by Marisa Montes
33. Just a Minute by Yuyi Morales
34. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
35. Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
36. It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach
37. The Emperor and the Kite by Jane Yolen
38. Ten Big Toes and a Prince's Nose by Nancy Gow
39. Lon Po Po by Ed Young
40. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe

Science:

1. Look Up! Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer by Robert Burleigh
2. The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins
3. Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola
4. Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette Leblanc Cate
5. The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton
6. Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos by Stephanie Roth Sisson
7. Light is All Around Us by Wendy Pfeffer
8. What Happens to Our Trash? by D.J. Ward
9. Secrets of the Seasons: Orbiting the Sun in Our Backyard by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
10. Lookin' for Light: Science Adventures with Manny the Origami Moth by Eric Braun
11. Simply Sound: Science Adventures with Jasper the Origami Bat by Eric Braun
12. Plant Part Smarts: Science Adventures with Charlie the Origami Bee by Eric Braun
13. Rainbows Never End: And Other Fun Facts by Laura Lyn DiSiena
14. Saturn Could Sail: And Other Fun Facts by Laura Lyn DiSiena
15. What is the Water Cycle? by Ellen Lawrence
16. What are Rocks Made Of? by Ellen Lawrence
17. How Are Rain, Snow, and Hail Alike? by Ellen Lawrence
18. What is Weather? by Ellen Lawrence
19. What is Climate? by Ellen Lawrence
20. What are Clouds? by Ellen Lawrence
21. Volcano Wakes Up! by Lisa Westberg Peters
22. The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top: A Book About Volcanoes by Joanna Cole
23. The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow by Joanna Cole
24. How Many Planets Circle the Sun? by Mary Kay Carson
25. A Trip into Space: An Adventure to the International Space Station by Lori Haskins Houran
26. You Can't Ride a Bicycle to the Moon! by Harriet Ziefert
27. Gravity by Jason Chin
28. Pluto's Secret: An Icy World's Tale of Discovery by Margaret A. Weitekamp
29. It's Raining! by Gail Gibbons
30. It's Snowing! by Gail Gibbons
31. Clouds by Anne Rockwell
32. Energy Makes Things Happen by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
33. Sounds All Around by Wendy Pfeffer
34. What Makes a Magnet? by Franklyn Mansfield Branley
35. What's Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
36. My Five Senses by Aliki
37. Forces Make Things Move by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
38. The Human Body by Jon Richards
39. Volcanoes by Seymour Simon
40. No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart

Longer Tales:

1. Hope Springs by Eric Walters
2. Dancers of the World by Aurelia Hardy
3. Harlem Renaissance Party by Faith Ringgold
4. Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
5. Goin' Someplace Special by Patricia McKissack
6. Lost + Found by Shaun Tan
7. January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco
8. A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson
9. Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy
10. Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin A. Ramsey
11. Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek by Deborah Hopkinson
12. Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China by Deborah Noyes
13. Black Dog by Levi Pinfold
14. The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman
15. Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng
16. The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
17. The Man in the Moon by William Joyce
18. Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet
19. Who Stole Mona Lisa? by Ruthie Knapp
20. Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson
21. Henry and the Kite Dragon by Bruce Edward Hall
22. A Packet of Seeds by Deborah Hopkinson
23. Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett
24. Jack and the Giant Barbecue by Eric A. Kimmel
25. When Grandmama Sings by Margaree King Mitchell
26. The Beautiful Lady by Pat Mora
27. The House at the End of Ladybug Lane by Elise Primavera
28. The Odious Ogre by Norton Juster
29. Stand Straight, Ella Kate by Kate Klise
30. The Django by Levi Pinfold
31. The Girl Who Wanted to Dance by Amy Ehrlich
32. Naming Liberty by Jane Yolen
33. The Flying Bed by Nancy Willard
34. Pancakes for Supper! by Anne Isaacs
35. Wings by Christopher Myers
36. The Yellow Star by Carmen Agra Deedy

Dinosaurs:

1. My Dinosaur is More Awesome! by Simon Coster
2. Brontorina by James Howe
3. When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach
4. Tea Rex by Molly Idle
5. Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
6. Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems
7. Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
8. Dino Pets by Lynn Plourde
9. If Dinosaurs Live in My Town by Marianne Plumridge
10. Dig Those Dinosaurs by Lori Haskins Houran
11. How Big Were Dinosaurs? by Lita Judge
12. Amazing Giant Dinosaurs by DK
13. Why Did T. Rex Have Such Short Arms? by Melissa Stewart
14. If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur by Linda Bailey
15. Are the Dinosaurs Dead, Dad? by Julie Middleton
16. Bang! Boom! Roar! A Busy Crew of Dinosaurs by Nate Evans
17. Camp Rex by Molly Idle
18. The Three Triceratops Tuff by Stephen Shaskan
19. Suppose You Meet a Dinosaur by Judy Sierra
20. Dinosaur vs. the Library by Bob Shea

Things That Go:

1. The Too Little Fire Engine by Jane Flory
2. Construction by Sally Sutton
3. The Village Garage by G. Brian Karas
4. Machines Go To Work in the City by William Low
5. Everything Goes By Sea by Brian Biggs
6. Everything Goes in the Air by Brian Biggs
7. Everything Goes on Land by Brian Biggs
8. Moonshot by Brian Floca
9. The Glorious Flight by Alice Provensen
10. Locomotive by Brian Floca
11. Backhoe Joe by Lori Alexander
12. Night Light by Nicholas Blechman
13. Digger, Dozer, Dumper by Hope Vestergaard
14. Planes, Trains, and Cars by Simon Abbott
15. Supertruck by Stephen Savage
16. The Tweedles Go Electric by Monica Kulling
17. The Fire Station by Robert Munsch
18. Number One Sam by Greg Pizzoli
19. Earth Space Moon Base by Ben Joel Price
20. Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper

Multilingual:

1. Maria Had a Little Llama / María Tenía Una Llamita by Angela Dominguez
2. Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children's Day-Book Day / Celebremos El Día de los Niños-El Día de los Libros by Pat Mora
3. Gracias / Thanks by Pat Mora
4. Count Me In! A Parade of Mexican Folk Art Numbers in English and Spanish by Cynthia Weill
5. Alicia's Fruity Drinks / Las Aguas Frescas De Alicia by Lupe Ruiz-Flores
6. Healthy Foods from A to Z / Comida Sana de la A a la Z by Stephanie Maze
7. Grandma's Chocolate / El Chocolate de Abuelita by Mara Price
8. Movi la Mano / I Moved My Hand by Jorge Lujan
9. La Florecita de la Maleza / The Little Weed Flower by Vicky Whipple
10. Little Crow to the Rescue / El Cuervito al Rescate by Elizabeth Cummins Munoz
11. Playing Lotería / El Juego De La Lotería Mexicana by Rene Colato Lainez
12. Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! / Preparate, Kindergarten! Alla Voy by Nancy Carlson
13. Mirror / (Arabic) by Jeannie Baker
14. Time to Pray / (Arabic) by Maha Addasi
15. Waiting for Mama / (Korean) by Tae-joon Lee

School Stories:

1. Lizzie and the Last Day of School by Trinka Hakes Noble
2. Planet Kindergarten by Sue Ganz-Schmitt
3. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
4. The New Girl...And Me by Jacqui Robbins
5. Follow the Line to School by Laura Ljungkvist
6. The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
7. My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay by Cari Best
8. Miss Brooks' Story Nook by Barbara Bottner
9. Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio
10. The Best Thing About Kindergarten by Jennifer Lloyd
11. The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus
12. Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten by Toni Buzzeo
13. Kindergarten Diary by Antoinette Portis
14. Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
15. Rocking in My School Shoes by Eric Litwin
16. A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech
17. Preschool Time by Mij Kelly
18. The Night Before Preschool by Natasha Wing
19. Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison
20. Miss Nelson is Missing by Henry Allard

Animals & Nature:

1. Little Puffin's First Flight by Jonathan London
2. My Spring Robin by Anne Rockwell
3. My Garden by Kevin Henkes
4. Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner
5. Neighborhood Sharks Katherine Roy
6. Whale Trails, Before and Now by Lesa Cline-Ransome
7. Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth
8. These Bees Count! by Alison Formento
9. Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid
10. Plant a Little Seed by Bonnie Christensen
11. Awesome Autumn by Bruce Goldstone
12. Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
13. Time to Eat by Steve Jenkins
14. Time to Sleep by Steve Jenkins
15. Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea by Steve Jenkins
16. How Do You Know It's Winter? by Ruth Owen
17. Shaping Up Summer by Lizann Flatt
18. Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman
19. The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry
20. At This Very Moment by Jim Arnosky

Listen-Along:

1. The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket
2. Pictures at an Exhibition by Anna Hartwell Celenza
3. Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Anna Hartwell Celenza
4. Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite by Anna Hartwell Celenza
5. Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue by Anna Hartwell Celenza
6. Bach's Goldberg Variations by Anna Hartwell Celenza
7. The Heroic Symphony by Anna Hartwell Celenza
8. Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf by Peter Malone

Meteorites! Fun Hands-On Science

Due to a scheduling hiccup, I filled in this past weekend for our regular monthly Fun with Science program. Usually, the program is helmed by a professor from the physics and astronomy department at Northwestern University. It's a popular program--we regularly max out our registration limit of 30 2nd-5th graders--so I didn't want to cancel. Instead, I stepped in to talk about meteorites with some hands-on activities.

First we talked about some of the terminology and the life cycle of these space rocks. What's an asteroid versus a meteoroid versus a meteor versus a meteorite? I put together a simple deck of slides with images to accompany this discussion, and I made sure to ask lots of open-ended questions to get kids thinking critically about our topic and also about their own previous knowledge. We talked a little about how scientists observe meteorite specimens, too, before launching into our first hands-on component...

Observing meteorite specimens! For this activity, I got 6 different types of fun size candy bars. I cut each bar in half to give a clear cross-section of the inside, then put each piece in a labeled plastic baggie. Each type of specimen was numbered so kids could keep track of their progress in observing meteorites.

I created a meteorite observation log with space for kids to sketch what they saw as well as use words to describe the specimens. I prompted them to look for layers and patterns, and describe what they found. Once it became evident that the specimens were really chocolate, the kids then wanted to hypothesize what type of candy bar each specimen was based on their observations. All in all, quite similar to observing rock specimens before submitting samples to formal tests (except, usually, no one asks if they can eat a rock).

Then we reconvened to talk a bit about craters. We compared evidence of meteorite impacts on the moon with those on earth, talking about atmospheres and weathering and erosion. The sample crater images I showed (all from NASA) depicted craters on earth that have become less and less visible over time, culminating in a seafloor scan of the Chicxulub--otherwise known as the crater formed by the meteorite impact that caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and other living things on earth at the time.

We did our final hands-on activity to demonstrate how meteorite impacts create craters. I had an aluminum baking tin filled with flour, as well as a golf ball, and kids took turns dropping or tossing the golf ball into the flour from different angles to see the types of impacts they made. The flour easily allowed craters to form, creating a great visual--especially in the instances when the force of the impact caused "earth" (flour) to scatter up and away from the impact point. The kids enjoyed the activity, both as a scientific demonstration and as an excuse to get a bit messy. (I would recommend doing this particular activity with a second set of helping hands, or a very orderly line, as there's always at least one kid who would like to just dig their hands into the flour if allowed.)

We wrapped up from there, with kids who attended alone rejoining their parents outside the room. All in all, our 50-minute science excursion was fun and, hopefully, informative for the kids. The professor will be back next month, but an interlude about meteorites can make for a good substitute.

The slides I created are below.

Let's Get Together, Better: Rethinking Collaboration at SXSWedu 2015

Until Thursday afternoon, my coworker Vanessa and I were in Austin, Texas, for the South by Southwest Education Conference, SXSWedu. Vanessa and my supervisor had submitted a proposal for a Core Conversation way back when, but due to my supervisor's being on maternity leave, I stepped in. Our topic was collaborations, and doing them better, so I was excited to co-facilitate the session and get to enjoy the rest of the conference besides.

So, collaborations. That's a topic we talk about all the time, right? Probably true, but especially since moving to Skokie and seeing how they do things with an entire department dedicated to community engagement, and with some of the reading I've been doing on my own, I'm recognizing that collaborations can be so much more than they typically are for public libraries and other community partners with education, literacy, etc. as an aim.

That's where Vanessa, the library's graphic designer, comes in. Vanessa has experience with design thinking; originally developed in the design world, it's a process for creating innovative ideas and for solving problems creatively. (For great info on design thinking as it pertains to libraries, check out the new Design Thinking for Libraries toolkit from IDEO.) Design thinking offers a framework of stepping back and thinking much more broadly and deeply than we might be used to doing.

How does that apply to collaborations, you ask? Well, consider a pretty typical collaboration between a public library and a school. The public library contacts the school and says, "Hey! We have this great storytime/tour/booktalk/etc. We can bring it to you!" And the school, if the timeline works, says, "Great!" Henceforth, both public library and school consider one another partners and/or collaborators.

While bringing a library service more squarely to a school audience is certainly a great thing, it's a pretty superficial partnership. Neither partner is really doing anything that they hadn't done before. Collaborations can go deeper to incur more impact.

Vanessa gave a brief introduction to design thinking, which ultimately allowed us to lay out a process for more transformative collaborations. Consider it a five-step process, if you will.

Rethinking Collaboration: A Primer Drawing from Design Thinking

Step One: Find the Right People

     I would venture to say that we've all been in a meeting at one point or another where the thought crossed our minds that "the people who really should be at this meeting aren't here." Or, conversely, you've heard about a meeting with a potential collaborator after the fact and thought, "I wish I had been there!" Having the right people at the table is integral for transformative collaborations to get started.

     What that means is that you want the people with both the passion and the capacity to act sitting at the table. That may mean you have to rethink your obvious choices for potential partners; for example, if the school principal is spread to thin, then they shouldn't probably be at the collaboration table. Their staff should absolutely fill them in on everything after the fact, but they're probably not the best in-meeting choice. The people you do want are those people who are intimately familiar with an issue or cause within the organization. They bring the background knowledge and contextual knowledge, and more than likely they agree to sit at the table because they care. A lot. Meaningful collaborations need people who have that passion and are willing to funnel it into action, even though that process will take time and work.

Step Two: Be Open

     You know everything you think you know about that organization with whom you want to partner? Forget it. Do not bring preconceptions to your meeting. This can be hard for a lot of people, especially in situations in which the parties pursuing a new collaboration have worked together before. But think of it this way: If you're a public library, do you think the school truly understands everything you're trying to do, and capable of doing? And vice versa? No. We do a whole lot that they couldn't possibly know about. But if everyone goes to the meeting with a set idea of who does what and what folks can contribute, it automatically starts to limit all the things you could come up with together. So be totally open to the fact that you just don't know, and that you're at the table, at least in part, to learn.

Step Three: Start with Questions

     Vanessa gives the best hypothetical for this step. Imagine your library or department wants a new logo, and you go to a graphic designer. The graphic designer shouldn't just say, "Great! You're a library! I know what a library is. I got this," and then send you mock-up logos in a few weeks. A great graphic designer is first going to ask you a ton of questions. About the library's history. About the people who work there. About the people who use library services. About service philosophy. Etc. etc. etc. All. The. Questions. Only then, with lots of contextual information and an idea of the vision of the library, will the designer get to the drawing board.

     The best question to include: What do you want to see in your community?

     By starting with lots of questions, you're doing two things: first, really amassing deep context for a potential partner and their goals; and second, breaking the superficial discussion barrier that can manifest in lots of meeting scenarios. Frankly, we're not always good about talking about ourselves; or, conversely, we assume that the person we're talking to already knows a lot about us. Both of these things lead to undertaking of valuable information about vision, services, mission, everything. By asking lots of question, and listening actively, we truly learn about what a fellow community organization is hoping to do.

Step Four: Share Your Plan

     After you've asked lots and lots of questions and listened thoughtfully to the answers, it's time for you and your organization to share your plan; that is, your vision, mission, goals, and services. This step is vital, because it is where all parties at the table can start to identify overlap. This overlap is the sweet spot for creating a transformative collaboration.

     If, in the course of question-asking and plan-sharing, you determine that you do not currently share any common goals for the community you and the other organization both serve, the time is probably not right for pursing a collaborative project. That's not a bad thing--in fact, it's far better to recognize that now is not the time before pouring lots of resources into a project that will have middling buy-in. Talk about how you can promote one another's services to your respective audiences, shake hands, and make sure to set up another meeting for six months down the line to see if shifts in goals have creating space for a collaboration at that point.

     And if you do find overlap? That means you two are not just driving on the same road headed for the same destination. It means you're in the same vehicle, truly moving together. That's a transformative collaboration.

Step Five: How Might We...?

     Once you've identified that, yes, there is a community need that we both have the resources and passion to aim to address, it's time to get thinking. It's time to ask, "How might we accomplish this mutually-agreed-upon thing that our community needs to be better?" Maybe this starts at the same meeting and everyone brainstorms ideas. Maybe you make plans to reconvene after everyone has had some time to think and will bring their own ideas (called "brainswarming," and arguably more productive than everyone-at-the-table-shares-ideas-live brainstorming). Either way, it's time to finally get to that stage where more traditional, yet ultimately superficial, partnerships start: the "I can bring this to the table" stage. You guys all know how to take it from here.

~~*~~

So that's what Vanessa and I talked about at SXSWedu: rethinking collaborations using design thinking, or taking a couple of steps backward in our usual partnership process so that we can try to do something truly transformative. Our complete slides from the session are below, and I want to particularly point you to the resources we include at the end in case you're looking for more information on this process, etc.

Schools and Libraries Together: Rethinking Learning SXSWedu 2015 from Amy Koester

There was great audience participation and sharing at our session, too, with plenty of great ideas and collaboration troubleshooting tips flying across the room. It's our hope that, the next time you think, "Hey, we might be able to work with those folks next door," you have a toolkit to do so as productively as possible.