BOOK: Immersive play / 2015 Library Innovation Toolkit

[Matt Finch]

The American Library Association's 2015 Library Innovation Toolkit has just been published.

I co-wrote the chapter on working with children and young people, "Monsters, Rockets, and Baby Racers", with Tracie Mauro of Australia's Parkes Library.

We focussed on library programs which draw on pop culture, multimedia, and immersive play to engage children and young people. We were inspired by British professor Jackie Marsh's vision of pop culture as children's folk culture. By giving participants the opportunity to step into the world of a story, our roleplay approach offers a creative way of engaging with the media on students' own terms.

The activities work equally well outside of the library, and have been trialled in schools and museum settings too.

We share the principles underpinning national-award-winning youth library programs like:

• Big Box Battle - monsters vs. robots
• Curating urban myths
• Book publishing for teens
• Time travel in the library 
• Zombie siege - video of the 2013 event, plus a report on the original 2012 project including "how-to" PDF 

You'll also find other great articles from librarians and educators around the world, on everything from library comics festivals to new ways of using digital media.

Check out the Library Innovation Toolkit now.