Simple in its concept and implementation, the Innovation Incubator allows TLCPL to embrace the concept of continuous improvement in our traditional work and new initiatives. To remove barriers and allow ideas to flow organically, the Innovation Incubator identified three objectives:

1. Collect ideas from all staff levels, evaluate them and implement them quickly and efficiently
2. Create a pathway and repository for feedback, measurement and cultivation of ideas
3. Institutionalize innovation as a cultural value

The Incubator group meets quarterly to discuss ideas submitted by staff. We evaluate each idea anonymously, guided by our strategic plan and current resources, scalability and ease of implementation. We communicate with staff who have submitted the idea, their manager and the library as a whole through our internal website; where we keep track of the ideas, their progress and maintain a repository for future reference.

Initial response to the Innovation Incubator was tempered by undefined expectations. Staff wasn’t sure what this group did or what power the group held. After a year, Incubator submissions increased from 18 in the first quarter to over 50 last quarter. All departments and all levels of staff see the value in the Incubator. Rather than being frustrated with the status quo, staff use the Incubator as an outlet to recommend solutions to shared problems.