“Experience Can Diminish Our Imagination” was one of Trevor Noah’s phrases that resonated with me during his interview yesterday at the Opening General Session with past ALA president Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada. Noah explained he felt that adults still have imagination, but we choose to spend it on how quickly we can find a faster way to drive home after work rather than let it wander as children can. I might add I think it is also easy for the mundane to sneak into our adult work lives unless we are careful.
Noah’s New Book
Noah shared how his soon-to-be-released (October 2024) children’s picture book Into the Uncut Grass allowed him to use his imagination to create a new story rather than just rely on real life memories as he did with Born a Crime: Stories from Growing up in South Africa. He shares his desire to write a children’s book here on X. His thoughts on creativity made me pause; how can we all bring more creativity into our lives?
So How Do We Foster Creativity?
This issue of how to bring more creativity into our adult lives rattled around in my brain all afternoon. How was I diminishing my own imagination as an adult in my professional and personal life? Was I fostering my own sons’ imaginations at home? How could I tap into that joy and playfulness that I had as a child as Noah had? How could I use this information to become a better librarian?
Turns out there are ways we can recapture our imagination as adults:
“7 Simple Yet Effective Ways to Jump-Start Your Imagination” (Psychology Today)
And, as professional librarians, we can also actively work to infuse imagination into our practice:
Fostering Wonder: Librarians Can Help Sustain This Vital Aspect of Learning (School Library Journal)
Cultivating Creativity (American Libraries)
Creative Teaching and Teaching Creativity: How to Foster Creativity in the Classroom (American Psychology Association’s Psych Learning Curve)
Gratitude, Trevor
Thank you, Trevor, for reminding me to foster my imagination and to never give up looking for the joy in life. I am inspired to create time to be playful, to be in nature, and to be curious with my own imagination. I want to carry this practice of cultivating creativity over to time with my own sons and into my library. I can’t wait to read your new book.
“There is no place I know that compares to pure imagination.”
-Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Conference blogger, Sci Fi fan and lover of anything outdoors, Amy Power Labson is a Teacher Librarian in Elk Grove Unified School District near Sacramento. She is grateful for the learning opportunities conferences bring and is looking forward to returning to San Diego’s beauty.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.