Let’s Get Creative: Arts Education and Public Libraries

Access to the visual and performing arts is important all throughout a person’s life, but especially so in childhood and adolescence. Participation in the arts is associated with a range of positive outcomes, including in the areas of education, civic-mindedness, mental health, and creativity. Unfortunately, many barriers to access are present in the education system as well as society at large, and these are correlated with numerous socioeconomic and demographic factors. In order to facilitate their communities’ access to the benefits conferred by the arts, libraries are positioned as key partners in the arts education process by providing access to arts programming that is both innovative and effective.