Hereās where Iām at with my Spatial Poetry explorations. I started out wanting to find some historical maps of Sparta, Missouri that might be detailed enough to indicate the history of streets/street names for a street renaming exercise. I was able to find some historical maps from the US Geological Survey (https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/) that covered our county (Christian County). In most of the maps Sparta was in the very bottom corner and there wasnāt much detail. I also couldnāt turn up much information on the background of street names. Whereas in other towns, itās common for streets to be named after significant people, most of the local streets in Sparta come from food/trees. This is kind of interesting in its own way, but I thought Iād try another direction.
I donāt live in Sparta and Iāve only worked in the library here for about a year, so I have a different relationship to this āspaceā than my patrons who live here. I donāt have a personal history with streets/places to inform my making/facilitating. One place in Sparta aside from the library I do feel connected to, is the local park where I sometimes take my lunch break. I thought this would be a good place to start some map experimenting. I started out wanting to create my own, very objective/precise map of the walking path, but my method (counting concrete squares) proved to be more complicated and not very spatially accurate. It was still interesting and I added some words as an attempt at poetryā¦
As I was looking through some local history resources, I read about the significance of the Frisco railroad in the growth of Sparta. I found some maps of this railroad line and used one to make another example. I used the graphite transfer paper to get the path of the railroad line onto the graph paper. Iād never used graphite transfer before but the simplicity and possibilities really blew my mind so Iām definitely going to incorporate this into my library program. In this process I discovered https://www.abandonedrails.com/, which I thought others might find useful.
For another exploration, I wanted to try something very different and decided on a āfantasy mapā remix, like these I found in some YA books.
I used the website Inkarnate.com to make a fantasy map based on the floor plan of my library. I know fantasy books and D+D are popular among some teen patrons so I thought this might grab their attention. I like this idea of encouraging imaginary map making.
I thought my first few examples were enjoyable in different ways, but Iād like to try a few more examples that might be a little more varied. Iām excited to see what others are up to for some inspiration! My plan is to implement this as a passive program in the library teen area. Weāve got a whiteboard and tables where I usually leave out passive interactive things like origami/coloring pages/Take and Makes. Iād like to set it up so thereās two components: one where you can make something at the library and leave it behind for others to add onto/remix, and then also a take-home kit with supplies and prompts for individual making. Iām thinking about some kind of collaborative, exquisite corpse-style zine but I havenāt really fleshed this out yetā¦ I think the take-home kits appeal more to some teens but others are more interested in things to do while theyāre hanging out at the library, so Iām hoping the combination will help me reach a wider audience.
My next step will be to work on a guide to include with the take-home kits. I want to include instructions on how to use the graphite transfer paper, how to find/create maps online (including the fantasy map creator Inkarnate), and some local history along the lines of the Frisco railroad info. My guide will either be a separate supplement to the PLIX zine, or I might remix the PLIX zine with some of my own ideas.