This spring, the Massachusetts Library Series (MLS) is hosting three MLS Member Webinars! MLS member library staff will share their knowledge and expertise about their selected topics for their fellow library colleagues.
This season, we’re spotlighting the presenters by sharing how their backgrounds connect to their chosen topics.
In today’s blog, learn more about creating an accessible creative writing group program from Kaye M. H. Crawford, an assistant reference librarian at the Parker Memorial Library of Dracut!
Be sure to also register for Kaye’s webinar: Creative Writing for All: Crafting a Community-Based Writing Group
What is your name and position, the name of your library, and the community/communities your library serve(s)?
Kaye M. H. Crawford: I’m Kaye M. H. Crawford (they/them), an assistant reference librarian at the Parker Memorial Library of Dracut, a suburban farming town in the Greater Lowell area. We’re a proud member of the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC)! We serve Dracut — my hometown of about 37,000 residents — and our surrounding neighbors in the valley.
What is your webinar about?
Crawford: My webinar is about creating an accessible creative writing group program with some tools and tips I’ve learned through my formal creative writing undergraduate and graduate studies. My presentation will provide the framework and insights I’ve gained stewarding the Writing Group program here at the Parker Memorial Library of Dracut.
What is your background in creative writing? Why are you passionate about it?
Crawford: “Writer” has been a part of my identity since I wrote my first short story in the third grade (thanks, Mrs. Baker), and it has guided my higher education journey — first undergraduate writing studies at Ithaca College, and then the graduate creative writing program at SUNY Binghamton.
My love of storytelling and the written word spurred me to pursue writing professionally, which continues to this day. My experiences in collegiate writing workshops were positive and helpful. However, the crushing student debt (even with scholarships) haunts me; I do not fault anyone who cannot pursue creative writing academically as I did.
Therein lies the seed of this webinar — my utter disdain for the socioeconomic barriers preventing the pursuit of creative writing for the average person. Telling stories is as ancient as humanity, and using text to tell those stories is a many thousands of years old tradition. Access to a creative community to hone one’s writing deserves to be accessible to all.
Why did you decide to host an MLS member webinar?
Crawford: The webinar I will be hosting has been adapted from my initial 2025 MVLC Innovation Expo presentation. A webinar format presented an opportunity for my work to have greater accessibility and reach.
I was inspired to apply to host an MLS Member Webinar so I can share what I’ve learned with the greater librarians of the Commonwealth. I will always take any chance I have to help support the grand diversity of writers in our myriad communities!
Do you have any advice for other library workers who may be interested in learning more about creative writing/programming? Do you recommend any resources for further learning?
Crawford: First, I fully encourage anyone to try out creative writing for themselves, whether that’s poetry, flash fiction, memoir, essay, or a whole mystery novel! Freewriting, in particular, is an excellent practice to stretch the creative writing muscle (and push aside that pesky inner editor).
Second, I have a few recommended readings to learn more about the writing process which informs how best to support a writing community: “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” by Stephen King; “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott; and “The Writing Life” by Annie Dillard. The magazine Poets & Writers often has excellent articles, and it covers a wide range of topics relevant to creative writers in community with one another.
Lastly, a caution: the fervent corporate push for large language models, commonly referred to as generative AI, bears no concern for the deleterious effects on education, copyright, or the writing process itself. Writing is an art, and art is a human practice.
Always approach claims from the tech industry with a healthy dose of skepticism. Supporting human writers — from the young amateur to the old professional — is vital to protecting the craft of written storytelling!
