Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians

April McCloud, Rochester resident, librarian,and author of 2024 sci-fi novel The Switch , visited PCL recently to chat with Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians. Robyn and Jim chatted with April about her book, which is set in a future where bodies can receive bionic upgrades or be swapped out entirely.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians are back with a fresh episode of their podcast! Emily Clasper, the new Director of the Rochester Public Library and Monroe County Library System, dropped by PCL to chat with co-hosts Robyn and Jim about her new position and vision for libraries. 

Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians are back for season four of PCL’s podcast! The latest episode includes a visit from Dan Schneiderman, the Eclipse Partnerships Coordinator for the Rochester Museum & Science Center, who shares details on what to expect from the big day on April 8. Dan is probably the busiest person in Rochester at the moment, but he was able to spare some time with Robyn a...

Richard B. Colón and Quajay Donnell, curators of the Behind the Glass Gallery in The Mercantile-on-Main, visited PCL recently to discuss the art and photography space with Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians! Celebrated street photographers themselves, Richard and Quajay chat with Robyn and Jim about their hopes for the gallery, what guests will find there, and—of course—books that inspire.

Robin L. Flanigan dropped by the Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians’ studio recently to chat with Robyn and Jim about her new book, 100 Things to Do in Rochester Before You Die. They discuss the research and writing process behind the comprehensive guide to Rochester, some of the hidden gems the author discovered around town, and Flanigan’s own reading habits and favorite books.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians return this week with a podcast episode featuring two local book reviewers! Listen as Robyn and Jim interview Pittsford Bookstagrammers Emily Waller and Hannah Ramsey—otherwise known as @emilyisoverbooked and @booksandbitesroc—and get ready to add some titles to your TBR (to be read) list!

Jim, Robyn, and Roberta reunite for another book club episode, this time discussing Susan Orlean's On Animals. They touch on their favorite parts of the book, how Orlean highlighted the relationships that humans have with animals, and how the book reminded them of their own experiences with their beloved critters.

Ravi Mangla, author of The Observant, stopped by PCL recently to chat with Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians about his 2022 novel, his writing style and favorite books, and what the Monroe County Library System has meant to him. The Pittsford native's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Nation, Jacobin, The Kenyon Review, Cincinnati Review, Mid-American Review, Salon, The Paris Revie...

Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 and the soon-to-be-released sequel, Antimatter Blues, stopped by PCL to talk to Jim and Robyn about writing, reading, and having his book made into a movie starring Robert Pattinson and directed by Bong Joon Ho, the director of the Academy Award-winning film Parasite.

Artist and community advocate Taurus Savant dropped by PCL to chat with Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians! Taurus, who will perform at PCL on Feb. 25, talks with Robyn and Jim about his music and its origins, the inspiration for his art, and his favorite books and reading experiences.

This week on Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians, Robyn and Jim welcome Calvin Eaton—the Gluten Free Chef and founder of 540WMain, Inc.—to the podcast! Together, they discuss the beginnings of Calvin's gluten-free journey, his work with the grassroots community space that is 540WMain, and his favorite books and authors!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians are back! Robyn and Jim kick off season three by interviewing Francesca Padilla, the ROC-based author of 2022's What's Coming to Me, a much-celebrated debut described as a poignant and thrilling contemporary YA novel about grief, anger, and fighting for what you deserve.

On this episode, Jim and Robyn are joined by Eboni Jones, Curator of Interpretive Resources at the Charlotte Whitney Allen Library at the Memorial Art Gallery. They touch on what the job of a museum librarian is like, what unexpected items are in the library at the MAG, and how to access all of what the MAG has to offer.

On the heels of the Eisner Award nominations, Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians are back to talk all things graphic novels! Jason Poole, outreach coordinator at the Webster Public Library and a past Eisner judge, stops by to share his expertise on the subject with Robyn and Jim.

Rhonda Rossman, Penfield Public Library director (and former director of the Pittsford Community Library!), stops by to chat with Robyn and Jim about summer books, Summer Reading, and what kind of reader she is.

Emily Hessney Lynch, MCLS trustee, writer, and owner of Serve Me the Sky Digital, joins Jim and Robyn to talk social media, what it's like to be a member of the MCLS Board of Trustees, and (of course) books!

George Rollie Adams, author and President & CEO Emeritus of The Strong museum, sat down with Jim and Robyn to discuss his career, what is was like to grow up in the segregated south, and how his childhood and career influenced his writing. Learn more about his books and his remarkable path to becoming a novelist at PCL on Thursday, June 2nd at 7PM.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians are back at it with another book club! This time they're talking about To Paradise , the follow-up novel to Hanya Yanagihara's 2015 epic masterpiece, A Little Life . Tune in to hear all of the hot takes and strong opinions Jim, Robyn, and special guest Roberta the Page have to share about Yanagihara's captivating journey through time.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians are back at the microphone again this week, and to celebrate National Library Week they chat with Patty Uttaro, the Director of the Monroe County Library System and the Rochester Public Library! It's a conversation centered on our local libraries, with a focus on the present and an eye toward the future. Plus they get to talk about what Patty loves to read!

It's officially Oscars Season, which means your friendly neighborhood librarians Robyn and Jim are talkin' movies! They sat down with The Little Theatre's Scott Pukos, host of the Movies and a Microphone podcast, about all the nominated movies they liked, loved, and hated.

This week, Jim and Robyn are joined by Democrat and Chronicle reporter Justin Murphy. They discuss the history of school segregation in Rochester, what the current state of RCSD is, and what the future of education looks like in Rochester. Murphy's new book, Your Children Are Very Greatly In Danger , will be available on March 15.

This episode, Jim and Robyn are joined by their favorite book club buddy, Roberta the page, as well as first-time guest Laura, PCL's teen and tech librarian! They have a conversation on book banning, the book  Gender Queer  by Maia Kobabe, and the importance of being able to access information. Hang around until the end of the episode to hear a recommendation from Adrian, PCL's...

Jim and Robyn talk books, public art, and the In This Moment  chapbook series with Quajay Donnell, who was named a runner up in the Best Ambassador category of CITY Newspaper's 2021 Best of Rochester poll . Stick around to the end for a recommendation from a new staff member and for all the details on our next episode.

In this episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians , Jim and Robyn talk to  Democrat and Chronicle  reporter Gary Craig about  The Prison Guard's Daughter: My Journey Through the Ashes of Attica , which he recently co-authored with Deanne Quinn Miller. They discuss the 1971 riot at Attica Prison, Deanne's experience being the daughter of one of the guards who was murdered, and...

In this episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians, Jim and Robyn talk to Pittsford's own Kevin Beckford. They discuss the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., how Beckford hopes Dr. King's dream will continue to manifest throughout future generations, and why he created and continues to champion the Town of Pittsford's MLK Living the Dream series. Stick around to the end of this episode fo...