Today we are joined by Alex Giannini (Manager of Experiential Learning) and Cody Daigle-Orians (Programming and Events) of Westport Library in Westport, Connecticut. They’re proving that libraries aren’t full of dust, stacks, and unimaginative academics anymore. They’ve come from different backgrounds to team up and help people of all ages collaborate, learn, write, and publish their creative works.

* Brian recommends using your friends as shark chum.

* Watch 30 Rock, Penny Dreadful, and Archer

* Created the WestportWRITES program which is gearing up for a literary festival in October 2018

* Alex writes Non-Fiction, Children’s books (Sarah Faire and the House at the End of the World), horror and will soon begin the novel titled “Coconut Crabs, Haunted Farms, and the Titanic”

* Cody designs cool events for the public to come to the library and experience new things. He is a playwright and has started returning to fiction with horror stories.

* Alex started in publishing as an editor and then wound up working for WWE on their website, learning the digital landscape. He heard about a job opening at Westport Library and was delighted to see that libraries had turned into something very hands-on and exciting from the dusty stacks he remembered from grade school.

* Cody started as a HS theater teacher then shifted to a teaching-artist while he tried out acting and play writing, then worked as a performing arts agent, and a journalist. When he moved to Connecticut he began working in arts programming and heard about a job posting at Westport Library.

* Neither has a library sciences degree, despite what you may have heard about what is required to get involved with library career paths.

* “The library is everywhere and everywhere is the library.” Libraries have changed and today they have so much more to offer than most people realize.

* Westport Library is renovating to create two different libraries in one: quiet spaces for books and stacks and studying and the main floor above is being transformed into a community cultural center / performance space / workshop center. Conference spaces for people to come in, record, create, and collaborate. It’s a college campus style experience without the rent of studio space.

* Teenagers want the tactile experience of a printed book more than most people would imagine.

* 7th Annual Maker Faire: the library’s resident makers were working on their projects in the public eye, showing off how they worked as they created the pieces they displayed at the faire.

* STEAM library – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math

* WestportWRITES: Learn, then go do to build proficiency. Flash fiction challenges, collaborative challenges, process of creating a book for their writers.

* Story Starters: Free App on your iPad to build LEGOs then photograph them into comic panels and overlay with digital text and effects.

* Staples High School and Classical Studies Academy works with WestportWRITES to bring in professionals to share the writing and production experience with the students to get them excited about creation.

* Makers are excited to share how they do what they do and that’s brought into the WestportWRITES program to share an experience with everyone and leave a memorable impression on those involved in the program.

* Show me the thing you made, then take a piece of it and show me how to make it.

* Yes you wanna show the nuts and bolts of how it’s done but you also want to show that it’s a thing you can take out into the world and use going forward.

* You learn from mistakes, not from hearing about the ideal way to do things.

* Alex and Cody seek out mentors to come speak based on what they want to learn or get help with, rather than whoever is local or available.