The Revolution Will Need To Be Maintained: Wrestling with Innovation in Library Practice

A revolution is often described, in retrospect, as a leap forward for a group or a society. A revolution is innovative in that it offers that group or society new ways to think and act. In libraries, there is significant pressure to innovate as seen in myriad think pieces, educational technology offerings, and institutional strategic plans. However what is often missed is the endless cycle of maintenance required to remain innovative. What is considered innovative at any given time is definedby a particular context (e.g. social, historical, economic) and/or application (e.g. electricity as power for light bulbs or the electric chair) . Contexts and applications evolve, demanding additional innovation. Maintaining this effort over time requires considerable human labor. This labor is often invisible, and cycles back on us in unexpected ways. This recognition frames innovation as  a complicating force, rather than a saving one.

This session will introduce a schema, informed by critical pedagogy, that reframes innovation and maintenance practices within the library. The schema--comprised of the elements of relationships, energy and resources, and framed by vision--aims to make visible the often overlooked labor of maintenance that is necessary to support innovation.  We will explore whether maintenance is shaped by your vision for library services or is innovation driving what and how you will maintain? Unpacking these elements through a discussion of the schema will offer an opportunity to explore the interdependent relationship of maintenance and innovation. This presentation will also address how the pursuit of innovation is made possible by the library’s infrastructure, what Susan Leigh Starr refers to as the “wires, standards and settings.”

Drawing from examples as wide-ranging as the world of viral videos to discovery layer services, this presentation will recognize and situate some key examples of innovative practices and concepts in libraries' technologies, pedagogies, services, and collections. As libraries continue to navigate new services, such as social media, as well as traditional services, such as reference, they find themselves enmeshed in cycles of innovation requiring ongoing energy, relationships and resources. Through the introduction of the schema, this presentation will engage participants in considering how the revolution of innovation is maintained through the work of students, staff and faculty in the library.

In libraries, there is significant pressure to innovate. What is often missed is the endless cycle of maintenance required to remain innovative. Maintaining this effort over time requires considerable human labor. This session will introduce a schema, informed by critical pedagogy, that reframes innovation and maintenance practices within the library.