Picture a library — hushed, still and filled with studious minds exploring and absorbing all the information their post-secondary education has
bestowed upon them. Now imagine the captivating sounds of spoken word, poetry, a dozen giggling preschoolers and dazzling dancers performing the ABCs.

This past spring, the Queen Elizabeth II Library’s (QEII) innovative Check It Out! Celebrating Culture series brought the library to life by bringing together an interdisciplinary mashup of spoken word, dance, poetry and storytelling all in the pursuit of inventive teaching and learning strategies and community collaboration.

Check It Out! at the QEII began as a pilot project backed by a group of librarians and library administrators who wanted to challenge the preconceived notion of what a modern academic library is and what it does, as well as remind people about its relevant and timeless resources.

“Check It Out! was conceived as a way to highlight our unique materials and expertise,” said Jeannie Bail, information services librarian, QEII Library, and a member of the Check It Out! organizing team. “Keeping in mind Memorial’s Engagement Framework, the element of performance is important, as we want to expose our users to the notion that libraries aren’t just repositories for books, they also function as cultural and community hubs in society.”

With a little help from Memorial’s Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement, the most recent installment of the Check It Out! series — Poetry and Performance: The ABCs of Learning — included the Idealicious dancers, a group of attentive preschoolers from Memorial’s Childcare Centre, a poet, an education librarian, a professor of education and students training to become
teachers. In total, there were more than 60 people in attendance.

“Thanks to the Quick Start Fund we were able to publicize our event to the wider community, as well as pay honorariums to the local dance artists who contributed their time and vision to the event,”  Colleen Quigley, librarian responsible for the
Performing Arts Collection, Archives and Special Collections. “For most people the library is a place for study, dialogue and contemplation. It is also where unexpected intersections happen and we wanted to highlight that particular magic.”

Louise McGillis, associate university librarian, Grenfell Campus, and lead on library public engagement initiatives within Memorial’s libraries, says working with academic and community partners was a primary goal of the program.

“Usually libraries are where researchers begin their work,” she said. “We wanted to host a celebration in the library, which is an ideal location to showcase the products of those research efforts. As well, by including different partners, we were able to highlight in a very tangible and exciting way, the different perspectives and expertise each partner brings to the process.”

Ms. Quigley says Check It Out! is about exploring interdisciplinary expertise, drawing on participants’ strengths and making lasting relationships that connect the libraries’ collections, archival materials and resources with the communities they are about and for which they exist to serve.

“We hope the result will be new and inspired ways of thinking about culture, history, art, research and learning.”