For Staff Week 2017, I had the opportunity to co-organize a major team-building event called Library Expo.
One of our managers had attended such an event at Library Archives Canada (LAC) and had been inspired to do something similar for Staff Week. She approached me and pitched me the idea to see if I wanted to help her plan it together. I had often talked about finding new ways of learning what others did at the Library, so I immediately saw the benefit of holding such an event and was grateful to have the opportunity to be involved.
For this event, all employees at the Library were encouraged to represent their services in an old school “science fair”-style Expo. Teams were given a table and a poster board to represent their services and responsibilities at the Library. Teams had two weeks to prepare their boards and think of what they would bring to display on their tables. The idea was to make it a no-technology affair the day of the Expo, and creativity was encouraged.
The event was extremely successful and well-attended, with 13 different teams participating with their unique kiosks. All staff were welcome to come by for a few hours and see the different posters and chat with their fellow coworkers. We even ended up opening the event to students and professors that happened to be in the area and were curious about the event. The posters themselves were wonderful and the emphasis on creativity helped to add an element of fun and gave employees more leeway to inject their own personalities and idiosyncrasies in their creations. For example, one team (St. Paul University) made their poster themed along the lines of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Another (Geographic, Statistical, and Government Information Centre) made theirs look like a large map of Canada with important locations pinned different colours.
The event was a success most of all because it helped us learn new things about our coworkers and better understand each other’s value to the greater Library family.
Here are a few pictures of the event:
