Creativity shines at library

Today the Herald launches a new monthly column by Baldwin Public Library director Elizabeth Olesh. Olesh will write about new initiatives and projects at the library as well as available books and materials.

At the Baldwin Public Library, 2016 is the Year of Creativity.

Creativity is a set of skills that can be honed through practice. This year, we’ll invite you to take part in a number of activities designed to help you flex your creative muscles. For example:

Join our new coloring club for adults (look for it once per month on a Saturday). No registration is necessary — just drop by.

We’re offering free coloring pages every day at the Reference Desk. If you forgot your colored pencils, you can borrow ours.

Our new Imagination Station program provides a series of creative activities, such as painting and playing with sand, designed for kids ages 2 to 5 on Saturdays; the next series takes place in April.

Thanks to a grant from the American Library Association and Disney, fourth-graders will have the opportunity to create a collaborative book of poetry and art this spring. The program will be led by an artist.

Come participate in our interactive displays near the Children’s Room — kids of all ages are welcome to join the fun; the display changes each month.

Of course, the library also offers a wide range of materials on creativity. Here are a couple of my favorite books on the topic.

99 Keys to a Creative Life: Spiritual, Intuitive, and Awareness Practices for Personal Fulfillment by Melissa Harris.

This volume, perfectly sized to keep close in your bag, includes a range of exercises that tap into different aspects of creativity. Whether you are looking for a physical practice, such as deep breathing, or something more cerebral, such as dream work, it’s all here. You can work through the book methodically or just pick a task – it works fine either way.

The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman.

Have you ever heard of Jay DeFeo, an artist who spent nine years working obsessively on a giant painting that eventually weighed one ton? Neither had I before I read this remarkable book of essays on the visual arts. By the way, if you want to see DeFeo’s painting, it’s called The Rose and it’s on view at the Whitney.

Want to share the titles of your favorite books on creativity? Tweet us: @BaldwinLibNY

Elizabeth Olesh is the director of the Baldwin Public Library.