The Library Pros

In this installment, Chris speaks to Luna Westish , self published author of Meet Me at the Ruins to talk about the journey of self publishing. Luna discusses the process, marketing and even audiobook creation! She touches on the demise of Baker and Taylor, how to get your self published work in libraries and Hoopla!

Lisa Kropp , a friend of the podcast joined the podcast. Lisa has done so many things. She is a Library Journal Mover and Shaker . Director of Lindenhurst Memorial Library . Past New York Library Association president. Advisory Board member of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative . Her expertise in leadership and her knowledge of sustainability seems endless and she joined us to talk about all of...

The podcast returned again to the Long Island Library Resources Council’s Conference on Libraries and the Future. Everyone is talking about AI and change in our field and these next two guests are both on the cutting edge. Dr. Sanda Hirsh, Special Assistant to the Provost for AI Initiatives at San José State University and author of the book i Lbrary 2035: Imagining the Next Generation of Li...

Episode 120! In this episode we speak with Joseph Furnari , Trustee of the Mastics Moriches Shirley Community Library in Shirley New York . Joe speaks about inspiration, life as a Library Trustee, entrepreneurship and inspiration! Joe has many “oars in the water” and shares what his definition of “Community” is along with living in a family connected to libraries!

Madi Mullen from Libro.fm joins the podcast to talk about audiobooks for local bookstores! Libro.fm works with local bookstores to offer audiobooks. Madi talks about the passion behind the project, Libro.fm embraces the local bookstores and their supporters with providing those booksellers with a way to expand their offerings with audiobooks. She also talks about what it is like to be a “Soc...

This installment of the podcast features Kristen Gwinn-Becker from History IT . The fellas speak with Kristen about the love of history, how rare it is to find someone who is a “history nerd” and a “tech nerd” all rolled into one and passion for preservation. Digitization is so much more than documents and even 3D scanning doesn’t involve “scanning” (one o...

In this installment, Chris speaks with Tim Ribaric from Brock Univeristy in Ontario. Tim talks about digital librarianship, whether he sleeps, what a “ Computational Notebook ” is along with working with Google Colab . We also talked about “spark”, bringing the abstract of ideas to life, the “ Software Carpentry Organization “, python for libraries and a wonderf...

In this episode, Chris speaks with Katie Ester , Director of the Shelby Township Library in the suburban Detroit Michigan area along with Dennis Janer from Bluewater Technologies Group . Katie and Dennis talk to us about Shelby’s amazing transformation, what Bluewater is all about (and it is a very unique and creative company), and Magic Book, which is a collaborative product dreamed up by K...

Want to laugh and learn at the same time? Then this is the episode for you. Megan Lot ts, an Art Librarian at Rutgers talks and laughs about so many great things she is doing. She is a Maker, Author, Artist, Librarian and INNOVATOR!! We talk about the “spark”, the concept of “play”, unleashing the concept of play with colleagues and yes, Chris’ favorite concept of &#8...

On this installment, Chris and Bob speak with Beth Bayley from Karger Publishers . Beth joins us from Switzerland to talk about public access to information, Creative Commons Licensing, how librarians can assist in supporting open access, misconceptions about open access and the role artificial intelligence has in open access. Beth was such a good sport and she even shares her earliest memory of t...

In this installment of the podcast, Chris speaks with Jessica Bomarito , Senior Product Manager at Gale part of the Cengage Group . This episode explores a brief overview of what Gale offers the profession including the Gale Literature Resource Center. Chris talks about the evolution of digital literacy information from CD-ROMS to the current mode of access to Gale’s products and Jessica exp...

In this final installment from the conference, Bob speaks with two former guests and friends of the podcast Carol Ann Tack from The Merrick Library and Nick Tanzi , Chair of the committee that puts the conference together and Assistant Director at the South Huntington Public Library. Carol Ann is an amazing readers advisory librarian. She spoke about how she engaged patrons virtually during the pa...

In part II, Bob sits down with Dr. Kathi Inman Berens and Dr. Rachel Noorda from Portland State University . Kathi and Rachel speak about their presentation regarding Millennials and Generation Z, how they cope with the flood of information they have at their disposal, the challenges that presents and how it effects their reading habits. They explore the rise of graphic novel popularity within tho...

The Podcast was happy to be invited back to the Long Island Library Resources Council’s Conference on Libraries and the Future. This is the first part of our conversation with amazing library related professionals talking about their presentations and how they work with libraries. In Part 1 Bob is joined by Joanna Christodoulou , Director of the BEAM Lab and is a professor at Harvard Medical...

In this installment of the podcast, Chris sits down with Kelly Harris , Director of the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor, New York. Kelly talks about so many important topics including what Association Libraries are and their funding, unintended barriers to library service, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the library world, attracting people of color to the library profession,...

In this installment of the podcast, Chris sits down with Dr. Betsy Cauble, retired Social Worker and professor at Kansas State University. Chris and Betsy discuss the social work profession, training for social workers specifically working in libraries, assisting homeless that frequent our facilities, a “day in the life” of a social worker and the efficacy of having social work students interning...

In this installment of the TLP, Chris has a chat with Trina Leigh Walker and Zindzi Cresswell covering library consultancy. Thanks to Matt Finch for connecting us all. It starts with the proper way to pronounce “ Carnegie ” (yes, Chris gets it wrong), working in the information world, and how important a strategic plan is. Continuing with the idea of that strategic plan, how does any p...

Chris had the opportunity to converse with Essraa Nawar , Assistant Dean for Library DEI Initiatives and Development, recognized in Forbes Arab American Heritage, Top 40 Women of Egypt, 125 Most Influential People in OC, and Women of Influence in O.C. Top 30 Egyptian Women Abroad. Essraa delves into unconventional perspectives on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), underscores the significance...

On this installment of the podcast, Chris speaks with the founder and President of Hoopla Digital, Jeff Jankowski. Jeff talks about Hoopla’s birth with Midwest Tapes, his origin story along with how Hoopla curates and optimizes their products along with digital equity and so much more!

Download What an amazing time with Melissa Taylor , Manager of the Center for Innovation at the Fayetteville Public Library in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Melissa shares about her corporate sponsorships with Walmart, JB Hunt and Tyson foods. Chris and Bob learned about all of the offerings in this beautiful facility and how Melissa keeps it all running, how it was started, the various spaces they have...

In this installment, the fellas were lucky enough to have Aaron Whitfield on the podcast. Aaron spoke about all Aaron has accomplished in his time in Libraryland along with being a BIPOC and what that is like in todays world. He also talks about the importance of “MU FA LI” in his life, his writing and music. Aaron talks about the power of positive work culture, his love of Mark Lomax...

Joining Chris and Bob is David Ecker from Stony Brook University. Dave is a repeat guest and its always great to speak to him. Dave spoke about being library “technologists”, time management for managers, how AI can help makerspaces and that dirty world in Libraryland “CHANGE”. Dave has a new book out entitled Leadership Takes Courage: How to Master Leadership and how to fo...

Joining Chris and Bob on the pod is Temara Hajjat Gastroenterologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and co host of the Bowel Sounds Podcast . Temara spoke with the fellas about what its like to go to medical school, the spark that started the podcast, the targeted listenership, the formula for the pod along with talking about Harvard Medical School’s certificate program in Media and...

This is really cool LOCAL episode for our friends on Long Island but also a great inspirational episode for everyone. Joining the podcast is Lilly Kiel from the Cutchogue/New Suffolk Free Library , Steven Alcalde from the Rogers Memorial Library and Anthony Giansante from the John Jermain Memorial Library to talk about the tech challenges working on the “East End” of Long Island (get y...

In part 2 of this special episode, Chris and Bob were joined by Alice Knapp , Director of the Ferguson Library in Stamford , Connecticut, Scott Jarzombek , Director of the Fairfield Library in Fairfield , Connecticut, Kate Byroade Director of the Cragin Colchester Library in Colchester , Connecticut and Scott Brill , Director of the Derby Public Library , in Derby Connecticut. The discussion conti...