Borrowed & Returned

It's summer and school's out! No matter what age you are, you can spend your summer at the library with book lists and activities galore. We go over the facts and stats of BPL's popular Culture Pass program, which has helped thousands of New Yorkers visit museums and performance spaces in the city ... for free! Read a transcript of the episode here . More resources: Reserve free pas...

Brooklyn Public Library has been hosting Drag Story Hours since 2016. It's one of our most popular, colorful, and well-attended events for kids. In this episode, we explore why Drag Story Hour is important, and how it’s had to change in recent years in response to an increasingly tense political climate. More resources: June is Pride Month! Celebrate at the Library with crafting, story times,...

Outside of Brooklyn, Arthur Miller's name has largely faded from memory. On this episode, we tell the story of the Black community leader who was killed by NYPD chokehold in 1978, the movement pushed forward as a result of his death, and the ways that Brooklyn Public Library’s Center for Brooklyn History helps to keep the story alive. Further resources: Listen to the " Voices of Crown He...

Listen in on one of BPL's most popular art programs: a theater workshop where, once a week, budding thespians come together to read plays, talk about character motivations, and dig into some surprisingly emotional and political topics. Read a transcript of this episode on our website . Join fellow thespians at Central Library's theater workshop. Or, find a creative writing workshop at br...

We revisit an episode from January 2021 in honor of National Library Workers Day, and ask: what do librarians do all day? When they're not planning programs or working the reference desk, these librarians are also obscure trivia players, birders and ... sword fighters!  Read a transcript here . Have a minute? Vote for Borrowed and Banned in the Webby's! We were nominated for an award in...

Teens and older adults are perhaps the two age groups you might think have the least in common. But a new program at BPL seeks to bring the two generations together ... by having them debate. Read a transcript of this episode on our web page . Resources mentioned on this episode: Learn more about services for older adults at BPL and programs for teens ! Listen to " Bridging the Gap ," a...

Brooklyn has 62 neighborhood libraries, each with a distinct architecture, culture, and soul. To kick off the new season and to celebrate our audio stories coming home to Brooklyn, we'll take a tour of the borough with the help of our neighborhood libraries and some of our stalwart patrons who visited all 62 of them ... in a matter of days! Read a transcript of this episode. Take our Browse t...

Student activists in York, Pennsylvania organized a silent protest when hundreds of books were banned from their classrooms, paving the way for lasting change in their community. In this final episode of the series, we tackle the challenge head-on: from encouraging open dialogue about the books on our shelves to the ongoing work of protecting the freedom to read.  Read the transcript here . Our ca...

Library workers often risk their livelihoods when they speak out against censorship, spurring community members to pick up the fight for intellectual freedom. We tell the story of how one Louisiana parish came together to defend their library amidst book challenges, tip lines, and even sign burning. Read the transcript here . Our call to action for this episode: Find the people in your community w...

Maia Kobabe's debut memoir, Gender Queer , was the most frequently banned book in 2021 and 2022. We talked with em about what it's like to be on the recieving end of so many challenges, and the importance of public libraries. Read the transcript here . More resources: Check out Gender Queer. Find Maia's resources for defending Gender Queer , and eir recent comic about book bans and...

Despite being one of the most frequently banned authors, Toni Morrison’s work has inspired countless others to tell stories outside the mainstream. We take a closer look at Morisson's writing, her legacy, and her impact on the anti-censorship movement. Read the transcript here . Our call to action for this episode: Learn how you can support and defend public libraries at Libraries for the Peo...

George M. Johnson talks about their debut Young Adult memoir All Boys Aren't Blue, the support of their family, their love of Toni Morrison, and the importance of standing against book bans.  Read the transcript here . Resources: Check out All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson .  Read about Johnson's family supporting their book when it was challenged in Glen Ridge, New Jersey....

Our call to action for this episode: Talk about the books that are important to you, even if they aren’t challenged. Stay informed about what books are being challenged in your area by subscribing to Book Riot's Literary Activism Newsletter . Each week, journalist Kelly Jensen writes about the latest in book banning trends, stories, and reports from across the country.  More resources: Read t...

Mike Curato talks about his award-winning graphic novel Flamer , his writing practice, and how it feels to have his story vaulted into national headlines as parents, politicians, and school boards campaign to remove his book from school and library shelves. Read the transcript here . Resources: Check out Flamer from BPL, or other books by Mike Curato . See what books were most frequently challenge...

Over the past few years, school board races have become more heated and more political — and books have become the center of that political storm. We look at what happened in Keller, Texas when an ultra-conservative group took over the school board. You can read a transcript of this episode here . Our call to action for this episode: Find out when the next school board meeting is happening in your...

I t’s an off - week for Borrowed and Banned , but we do have something special to share . We’re doing a collaboration with PRX’s Radiotopia , and they sent along an episode from one of their show s that is really relevant to our series .     This Day in Esoteric Political History is a podcast that tells the story of one moment from US history that took place on a particular day -- and discuss what...

The birth of obscenity laws in the 1870s provides a cautionary tale for the present moment, when far-right conservatives incorrectly label books “sexually explicit” as a way to provoke outrage in communities nationwide. This episode, we delve into the parallels that history can reveal and hear from students in Texas fighting for their freedom to read.  You can read a transcript of this episode her...

When a high school teacher in Norman, Oklahoma shared a QR code with her students that would grant them access to BPL’s digital collection, she took a stand against a restrictive state law. That act of resistance made her first day of school ... also her last.  Our call to action for this episode: Get a library card! Wherever you live, sign up for a library card in person or online. If you're...

Last year, over 2,500 unique titles were challenged in libraries across the country. That’s the highest number in over 20 years. On Borrowed and Banned , we tell the story of America’s ideological war with its bookshelves by talking with the people most impacted: the students on the frontlines, the librarians and teachers whose livelihoods are endangered when they speak up, and the writers whose b...

We’re doing something a little bit different today and sharing an episode from a totally different podcast we love … it’s called Grown ,  and it’s from the Moth .   Grown is all about the experience of growing up. There's conversations, true stories told live, and young people grappling with big questions. Read more about Grown and subscribe at grownpod.com . We hope you enjoy!   About the ep...

Over 14,000 patrons have signed up for their first library card since Jay-Z's exhibit came to Central Library in mid-July. We talk to Brooklynites traveling around the borough to collect all 13 Jay-Z library cards, and ask what The Book of HOV means to them.  Learn more about the exhibit and our signature library cards: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/jay-z-library  

Kesha Powell and Amen Emile have been working at BPL for over 20 years in various roles, from public safety to circulation manager. Thanks to BPL's Pathways to Leadership program—a scholarship and mentorship initiative designed to diversify the field of librarianship—they will soon be fully-certified librarians.  Read the transcript and find further resources here: https://www.bklynlibrary.or...

If you ask Hannah Jean what would be her greatest wish, she will say running Brooklyn Public Library. Last month, she got to do just that.  Read the transcript and check out our book list: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/meet-our-almost-six-year  

Meet the Luddite Club, a group of library-loving, flip-phone-toting teenagers in Brooklyn who come together every week out of a shared sense that social media and smart phones just aren't working for them.  Read the transcript and check out additional resources here: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/teens-are-offline     Listen to Undiscarded: Stories of New York: https://undiscarded.org...

Este episodio es sobre los solicitantes de asilo en la ciudad de Nueva York. Estamos compartiendo estas narrativas personales con la esperanza de que escucharlas devuelva la humanidad a esta crisis.  Para leer el episodio en inglés y más recursos: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/buscando-asilo