New Peoria Public Library program uses play to help spark innovation, creativity

Elise Zwicky for Chronicle Media
Leisl Prentice (left) and Amanda Doyle, reference librarians at the Peoria Public Library, play a game of Battleship during the first session of a new program they’ve created called Play to Innovate that’s designed to help adults be more creative at their jobs. (Photo by Elise Zwicky)

Leisl Prentice (left) and Amanda Doyle, reference librarians at the Peoria Public Library, play a game of Battleship during the first session of a new program they’ve created called Play to Innovate that’s designed to help adults be more creative at their jobs. (Photo by Elise Zwicky)

Amanda Doyle and Liesl Prentice are hoping a playful new program they’ve created at the Peoria Public Library will spark imagination and innovation for area workers.

The two reference librarians have put together a five-month program called “Play to Innovate” that will meet monthly through May at various library branches. The programs are all free and don’t require pre-registration.

“I’ve been reading about studies that show how a little bit of downtime at work can help adults become more creative and excited about their work projects,” said Doyle, a reference assistant at the library’s McClure Branch. “So I thought of this idea of play to innovate to hopefully spark that.”

Prentice, a librarian in the reference department at the Main Branch downtown, said the program fills a need she’s seen for more lighthearted adult programming. “I think there are a lot of adults who would like to do these more fun kind of programs, and I don’t know if there’s been a lot of space to do them,” she said.

Play to Innovate sessions: (all meet from 3 to 4:30)

Feb. 13: Strategy and Problem Solving at the Main Library

March 13: Upscale Arts at the Lakeview Branch

April 9: Sensory Mode at the McClure Branch

May 8: Vision and Innovation at the Lincoln Branch

Play to Innovate will feature a different theme each month, from strategy and problem solving to vision and innovation.

“It’s open to working adults of any age, whether they’re 25 or 55,” Doyle said. “We’re hoping something within the various themes will trigger an idea that they can take to their job and maybe come up with a great new invention or something.”

Doyle and Prentice purposely scheduled the programs from 3 to 4:30 on both Saturdays and Sundays, knowing that many adults have family obligations on weekend mornings. People can benefit by attending any or all of the programs, Doyle said.

Maggie Thomas of Peoria said the timing and intriguing title of the first program, Gaming, last week prompted her to check it out.

“I saw it in the paper, and I didn’t know if it meant playing games or gambling,” Thomas said with a laugh. “I’m always looking for interesting things to do, and most things take place in the mornings when I work, so this caught my eye.”

Another woman attending the session who asked that her name not be used said curiosity about “the creative thinking” part inspired her to attend.

“My sister and I go to estate sales and garage sales and we redo furniture, so I’m interested in things that spark that creativity,” said the woman, who retired recently from Caterpillar.

Winter weather conditions on the day of the first session may have contributed to a low turnout, but those who attended had fun playing a variety of board games on display in the meeting room.

Thomas, who played Scrabble with the Caterpillar retiree, said she finds playing games to be a relaxing outlet and thought it could spark someone’s imagination.

“Not only is it making your brain work, but you’re communicating with someone else,” she said.

After explaining the concept, Doyle and Prentice sat down to play Battleship near the other participants. Doyle said they’ll be more hands-on at some of the other sessions, such as

Strategy and Problem Solving, which meets from 3 to 4:30 Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Main Library downtown.

“It will be sort of like what you might do on a corporate retreat,” Doyle said. “We’ll have a group teamwork setup for solving problems and that type of thing. We’ll be more hands-on working with the groups, depending on whether we have one team or three teams.”

The program continues from 3 to 4:30 Saturday, March 13, with an Upscale Arts theme at the Lakeview Branch. “We’ll have painting, coloring, drawing, any kind of art we can think of. Maybe something artistic will be a pull for some adults where maybe the strategy session wouldn’t be,” Doyle said.

“We tried to pick five very different broad topics, so if one month doesn’t seem like what you’re geared for, you can come to another one you think you will enjoy that may help you unlock that creativity,” she added.

The next session will be Sensory Mode on Saturday, April 9, at the McClure Branch.

“Sensory mode will deal with the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. We thought we’d do the thing where you blindfold someone, and they have to go through and feel or smell various things, because usually when one of your senses is taken away, the other senses are very much heightened,” Doyle said. “We’re going to try to heighten the other senses while doing activities.”

The final session will be Vision and Innovation from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 8, at the Lincoln Branch.

“A popular thing to do these days is to make a vision board,” Doyle said. “You think of what you want for your future and where you would like to see yourself and the world in five years. We’ll help people create a vision board to show what that looks like.”

Doyle said she hopes participants will glean from the sessions that “innovation and starting a new idea don’t have to be hard work or a scary process. Something as simple as playing and thinking in a fun way can lead to new ideas.”

She also hopes people will learn that the library does offer these type of programs.  

“We’re not just the traditional books, movies and history programs,” she said. “We like to have fun, and we like to be innovative ourselves and offer unique programs like this. The more they’re attended and the better they’re attended, the more we can branch out in offering these types of things.”

For more information about the Play to Innovate program, call the Peoria Public Library at (309) 497-2000.

–New program uses play to help spark innovation, creativity–