Libraries and museums open doors and offer opportunities to strengthen our communities by creating a culture of understanding and knowledge. They are experiential learning hubs; places to reflect on the past and look to the future, to visit other worlds by collecting, preserving and sharing through objects, books, and experiences. These institutions, and the people that work in them, create safe places for individuals to build capacity to learn, engage, and connect. My aspiration is to continue to build my own capacity to better aid in these processes.

 

The opportunities individuals have learning from one another, regardless of age and ability, is what I love about experiential learning in libraries and museums. I love fostering connections not only between individuals and ideas but between one another to build community. I love moments of discovery when something becomes clear for the first time - that “aha” moment when people use what they learned, and it changes their world, and potentially the world around them. I love being part of that process and leading the way to understanding. These moments can happen anywhere, but I often feel they are the most personal, special, and memorable when they happen in a public library or museum. Access to, and sharing of, information is where sparks happen.

 

I have worked with a full spectrum of patrons from workshops with infants/toddlers and their caretakers, to leading field trips for hundreds of students, to helping a 92-year-old setup email for the first time through various library and museum positions. Informal educators, and the institutions in which they work, play a vital role in helping people develop a joy for learning. In both libraries and museums, educators utilize materials and experiences to engage, teach, and inspire. Museums and libraries touch lives and transform the ways people see the world and each other. Both types of institutions have their individual merits. However, I am determined to showcase how the fields can complement each other and combine in creative ways to provide further access and opportunities for everyone. My goal is to be a leader in merging these worlds and promoting the cross-pollination of learning experiences and opportunities.