Best of Core Forum: Leading for Creativity; Habits and Practices to Shape the Work Environment

Description: While many associate creativity with individual work in the fine arts, creativity–the development of a valuable new product, idea, or problem solution–is vital to innovation, solving problems, and facilitating change. While some elements of creativity are dependent on a person’s inherent interests and abilities, creativity is significantly influenced by a person’s context. In other words, an individual’s creativity largely depends on whether their environment supports creative work. Creativity is constantly demanded of libraries as they face challenges and bans, technological changes, and fluctuations in the characteristics and interests of their user populations. While the value of creativity may seem obvious, the practices needed to cultivate it in the workplace are less understood. This presentation will draw on both quantitative and qualitative data collected by the presenter from academic library staff and leaders over the last several years to identify barriers that both library staff and leaders face when trying to cultivate a creative work environment. It will then provide attendees with specific strategies that can contribute to a work environment that encourages creativity among employees while countering destructive environmental elements that can contribute to bullying, low morale, and burnout.

This webinar was previously presented in-person as a session at the 2024 Core Forum. We are hosting this webinar, with the session adapted and presented live as a virtual event, to extend its reach.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the webinar, attendees will be able to:

• Identify the positive and negative ways work environment influences employees;
• Describe work environment elements that both inhibit and encourage creativity; and
• Apply specific strategies to influence the work environment in ways that support creativity and minimize harm.

Who Should Attend: Library staff with management and leadership responsibilities or aspirations.

Presenters:

Nancy Falciani-White (she/her) is Professor and Library Director at Randoph-Macon College in Ashland, VA. She has worked at liberal arts colleges for over 20 years, and has been researching creativity in libraries since 2017. She has written Creativity: A Toolkit for Academic Libraries (ACRL, 2021) and “Conditions for Creativity and Innovation in the Work Environment of Academic Libraries in the United States and Canada” (Journal of Library Administration, 2024), and has led several presentations and webinars on this topic. She has an MSLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an EdD in Instructional Technology from Northern Illinois University, and is currently servicing as Vice President of the Virginia Library Association.

Tech Requirements