Something Borrowed

Greetings, architects of anticipation and forward-thinking dreamers! Last week, we welcomed and cultivated our sense of anticipation, discovering how the "thrill of the almost" can be a fantastic springboard for creativity. What did you discover when you turned your wait time into create time? Did you design a "pre-moment" playlist using your favorite bands from high school? What kinds of happy accidents did you stumble across on your alternative Google map? Whatever you made, I hope you saved enough space to look forward to another friendly nudge toward a more creative day.

This week, we're checking out an object cherished by readers: a library book—or any borrowed book you might have on hand. For many, books are precious, meant to be preserved—especially those pristine dust jackets, just in case the author achieves fame (or infamy!) one day. So, no cutting, gluing or permanent alterations this week! Our mission is to engage creatively with these borrowed treasures in a way that ensures they can be returned to their shelves just as they were found.

Do you know the feeling of having several books going at once? It can be quite a juggling act keeping track of them all! Sometimes, I'll rediscover a library book months after borrowing it, tucked away in an unexpected spot, like the bag I used once then left in my trunk. Thank goodness the Riverside Public Library eliminated book fines a few years ago—a true blessing for those of us with a scattered reading habit!

Whether your books come from one of our local libraries, a curated Little Free Library, or a friend's collection, they all offer a unique, temporary relationship that can spark inspiration. Let's explore the creative potential of these shared literary treasures without leaving a trace. Now, let’s translate our borrowed reads into muses, celebrating their presence in our lives before they move on to their next reader. There’s no limit to how many of the following nudges you can stuff into your book bag:

1. Judge a Book (Visual & Narrative): Forget text, focus on its cover design. What does the imagery, typography and color palette tell you about the book's contents? Take a photograph of the cover in an interesting, context-rich setting (e.g., reflecting a window, placed next to a relevant object). Then write a very short flash fiction story (100-150 words) inspired solely by your photograph and the cover, without reading the synopsis or any of the actual book.

2. Structural Statements (Spatial & Conceptual): Books, with their rigid spines and uniform pages, are natural building blocks. Arrange one or more library books to create a temporary, non-permanent structure. This could be a small tower, a "roof" over a small toy, or an abstract sculpture. Photograph your creation from an interesting angle. Reflect on what the structure represents—perhaps balance, knowledge, escape, or even the weight of stories themselves.

3. Bibliographic Soundscape (Sound & Imagination): Imagine the sounds of your chosen book you appreciate. Is it the quiet rustle of turning pages, the solid thump of it being placed on a table, the little beep when you scan the barcode at checkout? Or perhaps the imagined sounds of its narrative arc? Create a short audio recording (using everyday sounds or your voice) or a written descriptive passage that captures the soundscape of your book.

4. The Spine Poem (Visual & Literary): Gather a small collection of library books with interesting titles on their spines. Arrange them side by side on a shelf or table. Look for how the titles might connect or juxtapose to form a surprising "spine poem" or a thought-provoking sequence. Bonus points if you do this inside a library.

5. Journey of a Book (Conceptual & Empathetic): Write a 50-word bio for a library book, from its creation to its current moment with you, perhaps anticipating its future adventures after you return it. I became a constant reader in the 1980s. I remember when library books had a list of who checked out the book before you, usually on a label inside the cover. For some reason, I was curious about who checked out “my” book and when. Imagine the journey your specific library book has taken. Who were its previous readers? What kind of homes has it visited? What experiences might it have "witnessed" or inspired?

Today, let's embrace the temporary companionship of a library book as a source of inspiration. By engaging with these shared public, free resources creatively and respectfully, we not only nurture our own imaginations but also honor the enduring magic of the written word, ready to be passed along to the next curious reader. How will your borrowed book inspire you before it finds its way back to the shelf?

This column was written with the help of Google’s Gemini Advanced, a powerful generative AI writing tool.