The Library Pros

Lara Marshall, Manager of the Hillingdon Borough of the London Public Library joined the podcast via Google Hangouts to talk about Hillingdon and the exciting things happening with coding and the Culture Bite Festival which is now a monthly occurrence. We had LOTS of laughs talking about all the wonderful things happening at Hillingdon! Lara Marshall Twitter Hillingdon Instagram Hillingdon Faceboo...

Rocco Cassano, Assistant Director at the East Meadow Public Library and Joe Perito, the resident Information Technology guru joined the podcast via Google Hangouts (thank goodness we received a reprieve from Google keeping it alive!). We spoke to Rocco about what he has seen in his long career in Libraryland and we spoke to both about their tech innovations, including the LISA System, which is a p...

The podcast went on the road to the Brentwood Public Library to talk to some amazing friends. Tara Kohles, Head of Youth Services, Michele Nevola, Teen Librarian, Maggie Utset, Head of Publicity and Outreach and Andres Posada Youth Services Clerk all welcomed us to Brentwood to talk about the Average Brentwood Teens podcast and how it has affected the lives of the teens that participate in it. We...

We were excited to have on Maxine Bleiweis, retired Director of the Westport Library in Westport Connecticut. We learn about how the “Library of Things” got its start in the 1970’s, and how it evolved at Westport into arguably one of the first (if not the first) makerspaces in the United States. Although retired from her job as Director of the Westport Library, she also is a cons...

In this episode we again head to Ontario virtually and speak with Linda Hazzan who is the Director of Communications, Programming and Customer Engagement at the Toronto Public Library. Linda spoke to the guys about marketing, reaching beyond the everyday library user and the Bridge Technology Services Assessment Toolkit which is a customizable web-based solution for libraries to capture and analyz...

Tyler Byrd is the host of the podcast “ Library Figures ” a great podcast about libraries and marketing (something that some libraries are great at and others not so much). Tyler is also the owner of Meet Piola , a web development company that helps libraries enhance their digitial content by building a digital branch. Tyler was a great guest talking everything library marketing. Give...

Charles Guarria is a professor at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus. Charles has a had a varied career that took him to Lehman Brothers and Long Island University’s Acquisition Department. Charles started writing a research piece on California’s Proposition 13 from the 1970’s. Why is this so relevant in the 21st Century? This proposition severely restricted funding t...

Here in Part 2, we continue the conversation with Dr. Lambert Shell, Stacey Smith-Brown, Kaysha Watson-Phillips, Carol Gilliam, Michelle Samuel, Salamah Mullen and my “on the spot” co-host for the day Syntychia Kendrick-Samuel. We continue the conversation about being a librarian of color here on Long Island. Much of the conversation will resinate no matter where you are from. The pane...

This is a very special episode of the podcast. Chris traveled to the Roosevelt Public Library to speak to a panel of library professionals about their passion and what it is like today to be a librarian of color on Long Island. We spoke to Dr. Lambert Shell, the Director of the Roosevelt Public Library, Stacey Smith-Brown, Assistant Director of the Roosevelt Free Library, Kaysha Watson-Phillips, w...

Assistant Director Jen Barth and Children’s Librarian Laura Lintz are from the Henrietta Public Library in Henrietta, New York (just south of Rochester). Jen and Laura joined us via Google Hangouts and although we were having some WiFi issues on both ends, we had a great time talking about how libraries can brand themselves and how to push out the message in the branding via social media. Th...

Chris and Bob take the show on the road and visit with the awesome librarians at the Uniondale Public Library in Uniondale, New York. We spoke with Syntychia Kendrick-Samuel & Amanda Borgia from the Teen Department, Michelle Minervini, Deborah Kinirons & James Grzybowski from Children’s, Valerie French & Robert Weissfrom the Adult Department. We covered a lot of ground. Uniondale...

Here is Suffolk County, New York, we have the Suffolk Cooperative Libray System which provides many services for the member libraries of the county. We were fortunate enough to have Derek Ivie and Darla Salva Cruz visit the podcast. Derek & Darla, as they are more affectionately known, provide services to children and teen departments for libraries of Suffolk. One of the biggest events that th...

Joining Chris and Bob via Google Hangouts, Leah Hamilton, Executive Director of the Phelps Library which is located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. Leah is a leader in maker tech and STEAM in the state and we were fortunate to speak with her about Phelps STEAM Initiative,  Finger Lakes Makerfest , We also discussed bridging the technical skills gap . Learn about 1+2+7 and the needs of the...

Joining us in the Booth for this episode is Lisa Zuena, Librarian at the Massapequa Public Library. Lisa is a Young Adult Librarian and host/creator of the ‘Pequa Podcast. This podcast is so much fun to listen to because it is written and performed by the teens from Massapequa. Lisa speaks to us about how the podcast came about and about its unique format. Chris and Lisa get geeky talking ab...

In this episode we were fortunate to have live in studio, Dr. Matt Finch who is a library consultant. Matt spoke at the Suffolk Cooperative Library System earlier that day and joined Chris and Bob at The Booth at the Sachem Public Library. Matt spoke on so many issues in “Libraryland” and shared his experiences with libraries from all over the world. So make a bit of tea and relax as M...

This final part of the episode allowed Chris to speak exclusively with Beth Lathrop from the Strong National Museum of Play. We find out more about the library, it’s collection and take a trip down memory lane as Chris tried to wrap his head around how awesome the museum is. Learn about the Toy Hall of Fame, pinball, gaming systems and the vast print collection of catalogs that the museum ho...

In Part 2, Chris speaks with Jill Hurst Wahl, a professor at Syracuse University’s iSchool and Producer of the podcast T is for Training, along with Carl Gouveia, Director of the Seymour Library in Brockport, New York and Beth Lathrop, the Director of Libraries at the Strong National Museum of Play. Each shares their feelings about the NYLA conference. Jill talks about some of the amazing th...

Chris attended the New York Library Association (NYLA) Conference in Rochester, New York.  NYLA allowed Chris to set up and podcast. There were so many interesting guests, that we had to split this episode into 3 parts.  The first of the three has guests Barron Angell, Librarian and Program Coordinator for Teen Programs from the Florida Public Library in Florida New York along with Melis...

Michelle Arbuckle joined Chris and Bob via Google Hangouts from Toronto, Ontario! Michelle is the Director of Member Engagement and Education at the Ontario Library Association and co-host of the podcast “Libraryland Loves”. She is involved in planning conferences for their members. She spoke about the top skills ALL librarians need to know!! So have a laugh with Chris, Bob and Michell...

Chris and Bob reached around to the other side of the globe to speak to the third of our “Awesome Sallys”.  Sally Pewhairangi joined us from New Zealand via Google Hangouts.  Sally  has worn many hats in “Libraryland” and is now has a website thelibraryboss.com that is her way of sharing her experiences and gives librarians the tools to embrace digital sources and literacy....

Chris and Bob were invited back to the Long Island Library Resources Council Annual Conference on Libraries and the Future. This is their 27th year holding this conference for the libraries of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, on Long Island.  We had 8 guests appear with us either talking about their libraries or about the importance of libraries in the future.  Keep an ear out as we will have some of...

Mary Glendening, Director of the Middletown Free Library joined Chris and Bob to talk libraries and makerspaces (is it one word or two?) .  The Middletown Free Library is located just outside of Philadelphia and has a great makerspace that doesn’t just focus on the high tech end of making.  We even talk about attracting adults to the makerspace.  Chris and Mary get a little geeky talking abo...

Well, this happened!  Our 50th episode.  Nobody thought we would make it this far and here we are.  So to completely turn things on their ear, we have flipped the script and asked Sally Turbitt from TurbittNDuck podcasting fame to turn the tables on Chris and Bob and ask them the questions that you, the listener submitted on Facebook and Twitter.  Sally even tortures the boys with the 032 list!! ...

Nancy Evans, Head of Young Adult Services at the Levittown Public Library and 2017 Mover and Shaker came to The Booth and spoke with Chris about her innovative program Strong Girls School.  This program empowers teen girls and Nancy talks about her inspiration for the program and how it came from a simple writing program.  The program has been powerful enough to impact the lives of the girls who a...

Chris sat down with Laura Solomon, Library Services Manager at  Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN).  Laura has been involved to provide services to libraries all over Ohio, from tech support to broadband connections to rural libraries.  She is also the Web Developer for OPLIN.  We talk about social media do’s and don’ts and along with her experiences as web manager. https:...