I found the Library as Incubator Project through the daily GOOD newsletter. "Library as Incubator" isn't the most catchy name for a movement/project, but their mission is solid.
The Project highlights the ways that libraries and artists can work together and features:* Visual artists, performing artists, and writers who use libraries in their communities for inspiration, information, and as gallery space * Collections, libraries and library staff that incubate the arts, and the ways that artists can use them effectively * Free-to-share resources for librarians looking to incubate the arts at their libraries * Ideas for artists looking to connect with their communities through library programming
Using the verb "to incubate" is a little awkward. (Definition: "to maintain at a favorable temperature and in other conditions promoting development, as cultures of bacteria or prematurely born infants.") It feels like the jargon from within nonprofit culture, which doesn't always work long-term and tends to abuse perfectly good words. Remember when "synergy" and "paradigm" lost all meaning?
My own nit-picking about word choice aside, the site is a great resource. I didn't fully discover the value of my local library until I realized it's more than just "a place where the books live." For writers and artists, libraries work well to facilitate coworking on the cheap.
