Recipe for a Thriving Performing Arts Series: Part 1

Recipe for a Thriving Performing Arts Series: Part 1

We’re delighted to welcome Nick Demske back to the Library as Incubator Project for the next installment in his series of posts focusing on process and strategy librarians can use to implement excellent performing arts programs for their communities using a principle we call “Programming as Collection Development.” Nick’s work...
The Past and Future of Paper: A Multi-Library Exhibit

The Past and Future of Paper: A Multi-Library Exhibit

Caelin Ross returns to the site today with a look at a unique multi-library exhibit at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which celebrates Wisconsin’s unique role in the history of papermaking and the wonderful tradition of book art in the area.  Enjoy. ~Erinn by Caelin Ross We handle paper every day...
Featuring: Parachute Poetry Library

Featuring: Parachute Poetry Library

I was so excited to find this press release from poet and writing instructor Amanda Deutch in the inbox a few weeks ago, I simply had to share.  The story of an innovative artist creating a library because there was a need for one would be an inspiration on its...
Discover the Poetry Foundation Library

Discover the Poetry Foundation Library

Devoted readers of the Library as Incubator Project know about how important poetry is to me– both as a poet and as a librarian–so it will be no surprise that I nearly swooned when The Poetry Foundation got in touch to share their library.  Read on to learn more about...
The Peoples' Library: By the People, For the People

The Peoples’ Library: By the People, For the People

by Ryan Claringbole What if you not only could write the books that are checked out in a library by members of your community, but also participate in the construction of that book? The People’s Library, a collaborative project started by Mark Strandquist with Courtney Bowles and Riley Duncan, is allowing...
Parlor Games

Parlor Games

This is the seventh post in a series of features on historic book bindings, written for the Library as Incubator Project by Andrea Reithmayr, Special Collections Librarian and the Rare Book Conservator at the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries. Unless otherwise noted, all bindings pictured are from the University of...
Pack Your Library Card for the Moon! An Update on Brooklyn Public Library's Info Commons

Pack Your Library Card for the Moon! An Update on Brooklyn Public Library’s Info Commons

We’re delighted to welcome Melissa Morrone back to the site to share an update on the multifunctional community Info Commons at Brooklyn Public Library.  Read on to learn more about their exciting resources that support creativity and learning! ~Erinn Pack Your Library Card for the Moon! An Update on Brooklyn...
Featuring: The Australian Poetry Library

Featuring: The Australian Poetry Library

Earlier this year, when we were planning our National Poetry Month lineup, we were delighted to “discover” the Australian Poetry Library– it’s a wonderful resource that provides access to over 42,000 poems by 170 Australian poets.  These works are available online at the Australian Poetry Library website, which is easy...
Digital Exhibition Platforms at Tarrant County College

Digital Exhibition Platforms at Tarrant County College

A theme that keeps cropping up in our library-as-incuabtor world is reuse or repurpose. We see it in popular altered book programs like Austin Public Library’s Recycled Reads program, in the Recycled Holiday Crafts at North Park University, in Mel Kolstad’s collage for the Detritus Project, and many more. Artists, makers, and...
Pages to Projects: Food and Art

Pages to Projects: Food and Art

Our good friend Rebecca Dunn is back on the Library as Incubator Project with another great post in her popular Pages to Projects series! She shares how to incorporate elements of art education and appreciation into storytime; if you’ve been inspired by Rebecca’s projects or have used her storytime plans at your library, share...
Poem in Your Pocket Day at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library System

Poem in Your Pocket Day at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library System

Welcome to National Poem in your Pocket Day!  We’re delighted to welcome Wendy Saz to the site as part of our National Poetry Month line-up.  Wendy is the Branch Manager for Crozet Library in the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library System in Charlottesville, where she launched a Poem in Your Pocket program that...
Latest entries
Sharing the work at your arts-incubating library (Part 1)

Sharing the work at your arts-incubating library (Part 1)

About a year ago, the LaIP co-founders got together with Trent Miller and Jesse Vieau for a talk about an idea for a new Madison Public Library initiative that would offer workshops and programs based on partnerships with community organizations and Madison locals. Their idea blossomed into The Bubbler, a programming model that turns the...
Out of the Archives: Recology's "Art in the Dump" Exhibition at the University of San Francisco's Gleeson Library

Out of the Archives: Recology’s “Art in the Dump” Exhibition at the University of San Francisco’s Gleeson Library

This article originally appeared on the Library as Incubator Project on May 24, 2012. We’re excited to feature this partnership between an academic library and the innovative Recology Artist-in-Residence program. Many thanks to Shawn Calhoun, Head of Access Services, Library Outreach, and Assessment at the University of San Francisco’s Gleeson Library, for sharing this wonderful project....
The Donald Angus Collection at the University of Hawaii-Manoa

The Donald Angus Collection at the University of Hawaii-Manoa

by Laura Damon-Moore Last week I took advantage of my day off to walk through the Olbrich Botanical Gardens here in Madison. I brought my little travel paint set with me and spent some time sketching the daffodils and tulips found in this “living library.” I’m really drawn to botanical charts and illustrations, especially as...
Linkubator Sunday Roundup | Week of May 6 - 12

Linkubator Sunday Roundup | Week of May 6 – 12

Happy Sunday, dear readers!  Believe it or not, we find we’re running a bit dry for feature articles in the next few months.  Could you help us out and submit your work?  Library arts programming, artists using libraries, unique ways that libraries and the arts interact – we want to see it all!  Click here...
Paints to Puddings at Parkes Library, Australia

Paints to Puddings at Parkes Library, Australia

Something that happens to me on a regular basis with this project is that I hear about program ideas and immediately think, oh my goodness, I have to replicate that or do something similar at my library/in my art-making practice/etc. When our friend Matt Finch (you remember him, from the Zombies in the Library storytelling event) put...
Linkubator Sunday Roundup | Week of April 29 - May 5

Linkubator Sunday Roundup | Week of April 29 – May 5

Hello hello, dear friends!  ’Tis the season for everyone to be hard at work, and here at the LaIP, we’re in the same boat!  Here are some of our best and favorite links of the week, from us and others. New on the website this week: We’ve been doing a little housekeeping this week.  Laura...
Featuring: Provincetown Public Press

Featuring: Provincetown Public Press

Exciting things are happening at the crossroads of self-publishing and libraries lately!  We’re fascinated with the ways that libraries are working to help their communities create content, not just consume it– and how they’re collecting that content, too!  This week, we chatted with Matt Clark, Director of Marketing and Program Development at Provincetown Public Library...
Welcoming Ryan Claringbole to the LaIP!

Welcoming Ryan Claringbole to the LaIP!

It is my pleasure to announce that the Library as Incubator Project is expanding to include Ryan Claringbole, who joins the team as a feature writer/future @IArtLibraries social media handler. We first connected with Ryan on Twitter (catch him @LibrarianRy) last year and it’s great to be able to work with him in person now...
National Poetry Month 2013 Wrap-up

National Poetry Month 2013 Wrap-up

Thanks for joining us this year for National Poetry Month!  All April, we shared wonderful stories from poets, libraries, and arts organizations about the power and meaning of the written word, and the ways in which it can connect communities and enrich our lives. You don’t have to be a poet or even a literature...
Book update: April

Book update: April

In case you missed our big news post at the end of March, the Library as Incubator Project team is hard at work on a book! We’re teaming up with Coffee House Press (a lovely little publishing house in Minneapolis) to bring you The Library as Incubator Project’s Guide to the Artist’s Library: A workbook for creative...
Linkubator Sunday Roundup | Week of April 22 - 28

Linkubator Sunday Roundup | Week of April 22 – 28

Well, I daresay that spring is actually on its way!  Apologies to you loyal followers in the Southern Hemisphere – it’s been a loooooong winter, and we just can’t keep silent!   New on the website this week: Westport Public Library hosted a Mini Maker Faire this past weekend, but we got the inside scoop...
Featuring:  The Gaus Poetry Collection at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Featuring: The Gaus Poetry Collection at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

We welcome Caelin Ross back to the site today to share a profile on a unique poetry and literature collection in an academic library.  The Gaus Collection at College Library pulls together over 2,000 volumes in a unique research setting that underscores the importance of art and art appreciation to critical thinking and interdisciplinary education....