“Implementing a Culture of Creativity & Making: the Rutgers University Art Library Lego Playing Station”. Presented at the ARLIS/NA Mountain West virtual conference: Testing the Waters: Experimentation in the Arts and Art Librarianship.

1. IMPLEMENTING A CULTURE OF CREATIVITY & MAKING:
THE RUTGERS UNIVERSITY ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION
MEGAN LOTTS, ART LIBRARIAN
RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY

2. HOW IS ALL BEGAN…
THE I2C2 CONFERENCE IN MANCHESTER, UK
• LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
http://www.seriousplay.com/
• This workshop will involve participants
building models of their work existence and
the challenges we face as we seek to make
our library services more innovative

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGO PLAYING STATION
• Installed in August 2014
• Used existing table in Art Library
• Created signage
• All legos were upcycled for project
• Kerri Sullivan, RU SCI graduate
student and Art Library summer
intern 2014, assisted with publicity,
set up, and making.

4. PRESS
Check out Rutgers Today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZHhlwoy9Yc

5. PRESS

6. BLOCK PARTY
Scarlet Knight Days, models created by library faculty, library staff,
graduate students, and undergrads

7. LEGO CHARACTER CONTEST

8. CROWDSOURCED IMAGES
• Crowdsourcing of images has primarily
been images taken of table on daily basis.
• Plan to run a model making competition
post thanksgiving with incentive
• Most people were more than happy to
allow me to take their picture

9. ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION

10. ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION

11. ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION

12. ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION

13. ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION

14. ART LIBRARY LEGO PLAYING STATION

15. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE EDA COURSE
• Way to connect with Landscape
Architecture Freshman.
• Gets Landscape Architecture
students into the Art Library which is
on a different campus than their
studios.
• Working with Faculty, Students, and
Staff in Landscape Architecture helps
me better understand the needs of
their department.

16. SAS HONORS COLLOQUIUM SECTION 10
• Thank you so much! My partner and I were playing with the legos for at
least two hours. I even snapchatted my lego model to all my friends.

18. COMMENTS
• The Art Library circulation desk received a call
from a woman asking if she could bring her kids
to the Art Library.
• “Would Play Again”
• “A Masterpiece”
• “I love you, thank you”
• “More Legos”
• “ I wish Alexander Library had legos too”
• “THIS IS AWESOME!! Great idea”

19. WHY DOES THE LEGO PLAYING STATION MATTER?
• Opportunity to slow down and have some FUN!
• Opportunity for students to connect with Libraries.
• Opportunity to educate users about the Libraries.
• Opportunity to engage students In a non traditional library setting that’s
active & hands on.
• Active learning builds problem solving skills that are transferable to scholarly
research.

20. Megan Lotts, MFA, M.L.I.S
Art Librarian
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
(848)932-7189
megan.lotts@rutgers.edu
www.meganlotts.com
QUESTIONS

21. WORKS & IMAGES CITED
• Slide one: Evolution of the lego person image http://fabjoueauxlego.com/
• All images taken by Megan Lotts with proper RUL model release protocol.
• Rutgers Today video: http://youtu.be/iZHhlwoy9Yc
• Daily Targum Images taken by Tian Li, Staff Photographer