Serendipitous discovery: The art library as a place for creative exploration

Integrating library instruction into studio art classes can be challenging for art librarians. While some courses have a research component, and thus a clear need for library instruction, many do not, requiring art librarians to creatively engage art students and faculty to demonstrate the value of the library in studio education. One way art librarians can do this is by encouraging students to see the library as a place for artistic inspiration through serendipitous discovery. But how can art librarians foster the idea of the library as a creative place through instruction? From the 1970s to the present day, studies have shown that artists and art students have a marked preference for browsing the stacks as an information seeking strategy. By aligning browsing with chance as an artistic practice and collaborating with studio art professors, art librarians can create dynamic and impactful learning experiences that lead to exciting outcomes in students’ studio courses. One possibility where serendipitous browsing's potential as a learning outcome can be explored is through the creation of book spine poetry, a found poetry technique where books are arranged so their titles create a poem.