Using our Library Voices

This month on Are You Afraid of the Stacks, Jennifer and Sadina discuss navigating the holidays through horror and exploring stranger danger. Book and Media Mentioned:   12 Terrors of Christmas by John Updike, Illustrations by Edward Gorey The Berenstain Bears Learn about Strangers by Stan & Jan Berenstein   Who’s Bad and Who’s Good, Little Red Riding Hood by Steve Smallman   Disney’s Tangled...

Join librarians, Jennifer, Daniel, Tony, and Margaret, to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of fandoms and the effects they have on modern society.  Host: Jennifer Finch, Spring Branch-Memorial Branch  Participants: Margaret Powell, Katy Branch Daniel Burch, Atascocita Branch Tony Goodwin, Clear Lake-Freeman Branch Music is Scanglobe by Sputnik; link to license:   https://creativecommons....

Honoring Native American Heritage Month with a discussion on The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline of the Georgia Bay Metis Nation of Ontario. Jennifer and Sadina talk about important themes and characters from the book and how they can lead to lifelong lessons at home.   Media Mentioned: The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline Killer of Enemies series by Joseph Bruchac  The Ghost Collector by Allis...

This month, our host Logan Tuttle,  speaks to native Houstonian, award winning young adult fantasy author J.Elle, urban fantasy writer Whit McClendon, and short fiction author Isabel Yap about their writing processes. Then we check in with Darcy and Amy Campbell about how to get your book into the library! Find books from these authors and more on our website at www.hcpl.net/ Follow J.Elle @Author...

 There are groups of devoted library lovers out there working hard to improve libraries for everyone, they raise awareness of the importance of libraries to their communities, raise money to help pay for many programs in the library, and generally act as champions for libraries. These are the Friends of the Library. Our episode celebrates FRIENDS by gathering a group of our SUPER FRIENDS. Join our...

Are You Afraid of the Stacks is a show, where we talk about the spookier side of children’s literature. Librarians Sadina Shawver and Jennifer Nandlal break down the psychology of  horror books  and give a couple recommendations on how scary books, aren't always all about the fright. This month's discussion is all about how horror books can help children, when it comes to recognizing and...

Hello and welcome to another episode of “Using Our Library Voices”. For those of you who like to look at an old tale through a new lens...We have FrankenStory where we dissect  old stories and then reimagine them for modern times. For this episode, we examine the Bride of Frankenstein. Our next segment explores the origins of Zombies  and track their development in our culture through the media in...

Thank you for joining us! This episode of Using our Library Voice, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage month through the colorful and imaginative ways the different cultures are portrayed in literature. We start off with an  "Are you Afraid of the Stacks" segment where Jennifer N. & Sadina, suggest slightly spooky books with Hispanic authors, characters and traditions  for kids. Then we h...

On this 20 years anniversary, we find ourselves reflecting back on September 11th, 2001. Where were you when you heard the news? How did it make you feel? How did it change your life and the lives of those around you? On this special episode of Using Our Library Voices, our Podcast cast recall and remember the event and how it's impacted our lives. Voices in this episode include: John Harrbau...

What do you do when your favorite author, musician, or creator says or does something which turns your stomach?  How do you handle it?  Listen to three Harris County librarians discuss how they approach the pitfalls personally and professionally. Contributors:  Jennifer Finch, Amy Campbell , Melanie Wachsmann For more materials visit: www.hcpl.net/explore Music is Scanglobe by Sputnik; link to lic...

August means back to school for Harris County students and for this episode, we spoke to teens from around Harris County to get an idea of what they're into and how the library has helped them this past year. Stay tuned for another install of our "Are you afraid of the stacks?" segment where librarians, Sadina and Jennifer talk about Wilder Girls by Rory Power , a spooky book that t...

How can the library help you get your creativity flowing ? We'll hear our crafty, fiber artist librarians gab about the resources, books and websites that help them be inspired and create their projects. We'll also check in with our Database Drill to learn more about the Craft and DIY Databases available to our library patrons. If you need more crafting, we have a few suggestions for Cra...

Continuing our celebration of PRIDE month, Join us for this special Spinoff episode of Gabbing with the Librarians where we talk about our favorite LGBTQ+ novels and the importance of representation.  Podcasters in this episode: Jennifer Finch , MC Brickell, Jennifer Longoria , Leslie Espinoza  You can find the books discussed at www.hcpl.net Books in our catalog:  Albertalli, B. (2020). Simon vs....

June is PRIDE month and to celebrate Houston PRIDE, we interview with the University of Houston- Special collections-LGBTQ research collection archivists Vince Lee and Marus Jenkins about the work their team has been doing to preserve and showcase Houston's LGBTQ history. Visit the archive here: UH's LGBT History Research Collection We also listen in on a conversation about Dungeons and...

All about the annual summer reading program at Harris county public library! This year we'll be celebrating Tails and Tales, with virtual events, curbside crafts, and author visits all Summer long. Learn how to sign up, log reading to earn prizes and the fantastic virtual and outdoor programs our libraries have in store for our patrons! For more information on the Harris County Summer Reading...

Spring has sprung here in Harris County, and along with the birds twittering, you may have your thoughts turning to poetry for National Poetry Month.  Our Gabbing with the Librarians have you covered.  It is also Autism Acceptance month.  This yearly advocacy month has changed since it began in 1970, and we're honored to have individuals speak with us about awareness and acceptance of Autisti...

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In a continued effort to eradicate racism and hate, we wanted to highlight and celebrate the many cultures, contributions, and perspectives from the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Now more than ever we want to showcase the diversity in our communities and throughout the library system. We kick off this month's episode...

Join librarians Darcy Casavant, Jennifer Finch, and Rebecca Trent for a discussion of their favorite women in history as well as other influential women, both real and fictional. You can be a part of the discussion on poetry by emailing podcast@hcpl.net .  Check out the list of resources below for further information on all the women discussed in today's episode. For Further Reading about: El...

We're showcasing women's history in gaming, leadership, and writing in this month's episode of Using our Library Voices.  Our librarians explore a bit of the history and controversy behind Gamergate, meet children's book author Dr. Raquel Ortiz, and learn about the women-led Craftivism movement within Maker Spaces.  You can find Dr. Raquel Ortiz's books here and please joi...

February  is a month of celebrations, in this episode of Using our Library Voices, we will explore the history and meaning behind the Lunar New Year and the zodiac animals, talk with Houston podcasters, Opinions While Black, about Black History Month, and celebrate love with Bridgerton and unexpected romance book recommendations. Join us for our virtual programs www.hcpl.net/services/virtualprogra...

On this episode of Using Our Library Voices,  librarians talk about ways the different healthy ways we can start 2021. We will chat about the different ways we can all keep on track with bullet journaling and home organization, our predictions for this year and ways you can explore our health databases. Media mentioned in this podcast include: Books to help you start bullet journaling: Getting Thi...

On this episode of Using Our Library Voices,  librarians talk about and explore different holiday traditions. We will chat about favorite books and movies about the holidays, we countdown the best Christmas carols, we learn about Hanukkah from Rabbi Dan and we bring back an old Christmas tradition of ghost stories, with some slightly creepy children's books. With a special bonus storytime of...

This episode of Using our Library Voices,  librarians talk loud and proud about our library, we invite you listen in and learn a bit about the history and services we provide to our communities. Media mentioned in this podcast include: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cochran, Almost an American Girl by Grace Ha, No Pirates Allowed Said Library Lou by Rhonda Gowler Greene Featured staff in this...

Harris County Public Library is Using our Library Voices to give you information about elections and voting in this very special episode of our new podcast. Learn more about and our library services at www.hcpl.net Created by the Podcast Team at the Harris County Public Library. www.hcpl.net Podcast Team Members include: Beth Krippel, John Harbaugh, Mary Mink, Dylan Smith, Sadina Shawver, Alinda M...