Our interactive session will focus on how to build a culture of innovation at your organization. We will provide an overview of frameworks that support innovation and will look at their applications to libraries. We will share some of the proven strategies we have used at Western Libraries in our goal to provide relevant, user-centred library services to our community. We will also discuss practical approaches that you can implement in your pursuit of inspiring innovation at your organization.

In the second half of the session, we will be taking a deeper look at one strategy in inspiring innovation: using the art of trendwatching to look beyond the library at customer service trends from various service industries. After our exploration, we will discuss strategies for translating these customer service trends to library services.

Key outcomes:

• Learn about various frameworks that support innovation within an organization

• Be equipped with strategies that will inspire innovation in the development and enhancement of library services

• Learn how to navigate new and innovative trends and discover how to think critically about their potential applications to library services