Play with the Slinky: Learning to Lead Collaboration Through a State-wide Training Project Aimed at Grants for Community Partnerships

How can training develop the philosophical commitment that library staff members need to successfully lead collaborative projects? How does conversation as a training model and play as an activity shape the collaborative learning process? How do we stimulate libraries and library staff to assume leadership roles in community building? This article is a study of a statewide training process designed to create opportunities for librarians to learn to lead collaborative community projects. It highlights the content, exercises, and methods used to stimulate learning. The workshops were facilitated as models of collaboration, and play, as well as sites of conversation about collaborative philosophy and techniques