library books

Here are just a few movies and books that you can look forward to in 2024! Is there are release you can't wait to get your hands on? You can make sure the library orders it by putting in a purchase request at the Circulation desk!

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads this is episode 11, The Joy of the Buddy Read; Featuring Ali Oppenlaender and Stephanie Cunningham.

This week’s episode is extra special, because not only do you have Erin and Jillian, but you have the other two members of their Buddy Read Group, Ali and Stef. Together they’re going to be discussing Buddy Reads, what they are and how they work for Jillian, Erin, Ali and Stef.

Even more exciting, this was recorded all in person, so you get the opportunity to peek inside the group and what they’re all about. 

In This Episode:

• The four women check-in with one another to see how their reading lives are going.
• Erin introduces what a buddy read is and where she got the idea to start a buddy read group (aka: Bossy Big Sisters Book Club) of her own.
• Jillian briefly describes the process of how they work their buddy reads.
• As a group, they discuss what they feel are the strengths of the buddy reads group. 
• They also discuss what small changes they’d make to the buddy read process – There aren’t many things they change, though.
• This group has meant so much to each of the woman, they each share how it has positively affected their lives.
• They each share the favorite book they’ve read together so far.
• Next up, they discuss the Hot Take for the week, you’ll need to listen to this episode to hear what their dishing on.
• Finally, they end the show discussing their holds list, what they have waiting and what’s coming up.

Books in This Episode:

• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 
• The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
• All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg
• I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• Drive Your Own Darn Bus! by Julia Kristina
• Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
• One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
• In the Company of Witches by Auralee Wallace
• Wreck the Halls Tessa Bailey
• What Wild women Do by Karma Brown
• Three Holidays & a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin &  Marissa Stapley
• Champions of the Fox by Kevin Sands 

If you enjoyed this episode we would love it if you recommended us to a friend or loved one!  Be sure to take a screenshot and share on Instagram stories, and tag both Jillian (@jillianfindinghappy) and Erin (@medium.lady), or the podcast @mediumladyreads, so that they can reshare the love! 

Thanks for listening and if you enjoyed what you heard, please leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Tune in on November 27th for the next episode of the Medium Lady Reads Podcast.

**Some of the links used in the shownotes are affiliate links. This does not change the cost of the item for you, we just get a small percentage of the cost, that helps us to offset the cost of putting out the podcast.**

Grapevine goes to the polls in a contentious school board election driven by the fight over the role of religion and LGBTQ inclusion in public schools. As the dust settles, Ren reflects on the impact of her mother’s allegations. And, after months of feeling as if she’s had to erase herself, Em Ramser reclaims her voice.

Evangelical activists open a new front in their campaign to impose their version of biblical morality in public schools — at the Texas statehouse. While legislators debate bills requiring the Ten Commandments and banning mention of gender identity in classrooms, three nonbinary students share the trauma they’ve endured at Grapevine High. Meanwhile, a coalition of progressive parents and disillusioned conservatives pledge to retake control of their school system.

Weston Brown, 28, sees a video of his homeschooling mother calling for dozens of books on sexuality and gender to be banned from public schools in another Texas school district. To counter her political activism, Weston publicly shares his story of growing up gay in a fundamentalist Christian family. Feeling pressured by parents and school officials, Em Ramser removes LGBTQ symbols from her classroom and no longer recognizes the teacher she’s become.

Amid a growing anti-trans backlash, Ren devises a plan to get out of Texas — and away from her mother. In Grapevine, Sharla’s claim that teacher Em Ramser “infected” her child with lies about gender triggers online attacks, leading Ramser to consider leaving the profession.

Conservatives are gaining power in Grapevine, fueled by a once-fringe movement that calls on evangelicals to control the seven key “mountains” of American society — including education. A cellphone company with a Christian nationalist agenda heeds that call and sets its sights on winning school board seats in Grapevine, following an example set a year earlier in the neighboring city of Southlake.

CORRECTION (Oct. 4, 2023, 08:40 p.m. ET): A previous version of this episode misstated the amount of money Patriot Mobile Action spent in school board elections in North Texas in spring 2022. It was nearly $500,000, not $600,000.

A mother named Sharla publicly accuses a high school teacher in Grapevine, Texas, of using a graphic novel called “The Prince and the Dressmaker” to convince her child to change genders. Reporters Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia Hylton set out to investigate the allegation. Sharla’s child, Ren, and Ren’s English teacher, Em Ramser, tell them a different story.

Libraries are bastions of knowledge -- but are they also bastions of germs? Short answer: Nope! For the long answer, tune in to this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/used-books-may-be-germy-but-wont-make-you-sick.htm

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Check out the site for some awesome Gen 'S' swag :)

Today Miss Dana has a special guest; Jen from Circulation! They discuss what it's like to be a librarian as well as Jen's favorite fantasy books! Tune in next month to learn more about the behind the scenes at your library!

Miss Dana talks about new fantasy stories and upcoming events at the library! Tune in again on May 20 for another interview with a librarian!

Zakiya Dalila Harris made a firm footprint in 2021 with her NY Times Bestselling debut novel, The Other Black Girl. Reading this book was a whirlwind. This book takes you on a traditional trail of a  black female protagonist to an all-out heart-racing thriller without you even realizing it.

In this first episode, Dana, our club founder, and her guest co-host, Mirlande, discuss Nella and Hazel working together as two black women in a predominantly white publishing firm, and the ups and downs Nella experiences as a result of "the other black girl."

Link to the book: https://amzn.to/3xmhCxl

The interview mentioned in the show between Zakiya Harriss and Brit Bennett: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/5184389278267-quarantine-session-67-zakiya-dalila-harris-brit-bennett

Check out our website and signup for our newsletter over at: knitandlit.com

Stay connected with us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/knit_and_lit/

April is National Humor Month! Miss Dana shares some awful library jokes and some excellent humorous reads! 

This month Miss Dana interviews herself to show the behind the scenes of her job. She also talks about some upcoming 2022 releases that she's looking forward to!

Dungeons and Dragons @MCPL sign up

In an effort to make the end of 2020 as joyful as possible, I couldn't think of a better guest than Susan Adrian. She's one of the first kt literary clients I ever met, and she is always so kind, warm, and generous.

Susan is the author of the Middle Grade books NUTCRACKED and FOREVER NEVERLAND, and the YA book TUNNEL VISION. She is a 4th-generation Californian who somehow stumbled into living in Montana. She danced in a ballet company and worked in the fields of exotic pet-sitting, clothes-schlepping, and bookstore management. She’s settled in, mostly, as a scientific editor. When she’s not with her family, she keeps busy researching crazy stuff, traveling, and writing more books.

Susan's website: www.susanadrian.net  

Susan's socials:  Twitter and Instagram

You can find us at ktliterary.com and on Twitter and Instagram.

Showing some love to the kids in our lives with these fine kids approved recommendations:
"The Adventures of Spiderman" by Michael Teitelbaum
"Bad Seed" by Jory John
"The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles" by Julie Andrews
"My First Big Book of Animals" by Cathrine D Hughes
"Nibbles" by Emma Yarlett
"Owl Diaries" by Rebecca Elliot
"Bad Guys" by Aaron Blabey
"The Babysitters Club" by Reina Talgemeier
"Amelia Rules!" by Jimmy Gownley
"The Hobbit" by J R R Tolkien
"Enders Game" by Orson Scott Card
"Track Series" by Jason Reynolds
"Percy Jackson" by Rick Riordan
"Charlotte's Web" by E B White
"A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park
"GUTS" by Reina Talgemeier
"There's a Boy In The Girls' Bathroom" bu Louis Sachar
"Mother Daughter Book Club" by Heather Vogel Frederick
"Wings of Fire" by Tui T Sutherland

In this episode, host and former librarian, Courtni Norman, discusses the Dewey Decimal System and provides a guide to finding the Decimal Numbers for books about true crime, the afterlife, historic architecture, and various topics that Haunted and Historic listeners would be interested in.

Part 1 of Episode 4 surveys the lives of Thomas Jefferson and William Clark prior to the expedition. We actually note an earlier attempt by Jefferson and friends arrange an expedition between the Mississippi and the Pacific while he was living in France, as U.S. Minister (Ambassador) to France.

Part 2 takes a look at what happened to Meriwether Lewis after the Expedition, then follows the history of Clark's son and grandson, both named after Meriwether Lewis. That history of that namesake leads to an institution and an event that is part of modern America today.

In Part 3, Lena gets called to a hastily assembled choir practice, so Ole delivers the books from Lena's sister in St. Paul to the library. In the process, he befriends the librarian's grandson, and makes a new friend.

Today Maria sits down with David Reynolds. David is the professional learning director at the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) and the director of the Impact Project. He retired from the public school system where he served as a teacher, an assistant principal and a principal. Today, the focus of his work at PAGE is on developing and strengthening classroom, school, and district practices to ensure that all decisions are made for the benefit of students and learning and that all of our work leads to adult and student engagement. David takes us through his learning journey from devouring books in the Free Public Library in Louisville, Kentucky and later on majoring in Industrial Arts in college. He talks about how his curiosity and commitment to learning has guided his career and led him to a broad range of roles and experiences in the public school system and today, at PAGE where he brings together the community of educators and guides to lead students how to learn. David is also the host of the podcast “Lead - Learn - Change”. A truly engaged conversation!

Production team:

Host : Maria Xenidou

Producer: Julie-Roxane Krikorian

Introduction Voice: David Bourne

Contact us:

impactlearningpodcast@gmail.com

Music credits:

Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals

Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks

Mentioned in this episode

David Reynolds on LinkedIn
Lead, learn, change: the Podcast
His Email: leadlearnchange@icloud.com

Listen to this episode and explore:

David’s childhood: reading books and enjoying being a kid (3:20)

His Industrial Arts major and the start of his teaching path (7:05)

The beginning of his career as a teacher (11:44)

The overnight change David had to adapt to and what he learnt during this time (15:08)

Becoming an assistant principal and a principal (21:38)

Joining the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) (30:18)

The Impact Project (40:19)

How PAGE supports and guides the community for educators (43:07)

His podcasting journey (54:43)

“Teachers Matter” (58:48)