Christine
This podcast is produced on the ancestral homeland of the Nooksack and Lummi people. They have been its stewards since time immemorial, respecting the land, river and ocean, with the understanding that everything is connected, related and alive. We acknowledge the elders and their collective and individual plights and achievements. We consider the legacies of violence, displacement, migration and settlement that bring us together today. and we pursue ongoing action to build lasting relationships and grow together so that all may prosper.
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Neil
WCLS in Whatcom County presents Library Stories, a podcast to open your eyes to all the ways your local public libraries matter. Join us as we reveal the power of sharing at the library. I’m your host Neil McKay, Online Experience Coordinator for the Whatcom County Library System, and today…
All right. I’m here again, once again with my boss. I almost said my good boss, like my good friend.
Mary
You have a good boss and a bad boss.
Neil
I’m here today with my boss, Mary Vermillion. How are you doing, Mary?
Mary
I am excellent, Neil. How about you?
Neil
I’m a little chilly today.
Mary
Yeah, it’s the rain is here.
Neil
It’s November. It’s kind of rainy and drizzly, but you know what would help with that?
Mary
A good book.
Neil
Yeah.
Mary
Fireplace? A, I don’t know, Neil.
Neil
Those are all good takes, but I think we need some hot takes.
Mary
Oh, hot takes. Yeah, you’re serving them hot takes like hot cakes.
Neil
That’s right.
Mary
Yeah.
Neil
That’s right. It’s really a popular thing right now just to get people’s hot takes on things. And that’s what we thought we could do today. It was actually your idea to do this, I think.
Mary
Well, yeah, it kind of built off a newsletter that we just sent out recently. We were talking as a staff, I said, you guys, one of the things, we have a really wonderful, wonderful job, right? We get to tell people about the libraries. It’s challenging in this one way. There are so many things to say about the library and the things that you can do with your library card. So, as communicators, we have so much to say and people are getting so much information in their lives that we try to be very thoughtful about how we’re engaging people with library services and encouraging them to use library services. So instead of a fire hose, we’re trying to just be very thoughtful about how we’re sharing that information. And so in the last newsletter we sent out, it was sort of like, hey, it’s the time of year where we’re gathering for all kinds of reasons. And here are things the library can do to help you with your gatherings, whether it’s a box of DVDs sorted by theme or eAudiobooks or cookbooks or, I don’t know, we had a bunch of good stuff in there. And then we kind of thought, well, gosh, this would make a great podcast to go out and ask our co-workers, what do you guys like to tell folks about the library? How do you like to get them to be engaged? And so yeah, this whole idea of a, and you came up with hot takes.
Neil
I came up with the term hot takes because I keep on the pulse of current culture.
Mary
That’s you. You’re hip.
Neil
I’m hip.
Mary
So you went out to the libraries and talked to some people.
Neil
So I went out and talked. Yeah, I had a question in mind. And actually, Mary, you developed this question for me. And it was really, because if you have a good question, then it’s amazing what people will talk about if the question is right. And so the question that we developed was, what do you wish people knew about the library? And we asked staff, but I want to say, I want to say right here at the beginning, and I’m going to say at the end too, you know, for our listeners there, what do you wish people knew about the library? The people who are listening are kind of insiders anyway. If you’re listening to a library podcast, you love libraries.
Mary
And so you’re all in. You’re all in.
Neil
And you know some things. You know some, you have some favorite things about the library that you maybe you should be sharing with other people. When I go out with friends, go out to dinner or go out, you know, to, you know, one of the local establishments, every single time I bring up something about the library, it just kind of happens organically because it’s one of, it’s definitely one of my favorite things that we have in our life.
Mary
Yeah, that’s kind of my hot take. When I’m out and I’m talking to people, it’s like, the hot take is, do you have a library card? Like, why don’t you have a library card, period? And then we can get into all the wonderful things, but there’s still a lot of people out there who just, who don’t have a library card, they haven’t thought about it in a long time. They’re not aware, perhaps, of all of the depth of services that the library has. So, starting with just the, if you don’t have one, we sure wish that you would get one. We can help you with that.
Neil
Okay, that’s good.
Mary
That’s a good hot take. That’s a good one. What’s your hot take?
Neil
Well, my hot, well, gosh. I have 42 hot takes about, what I wish people knew about the library. I always start with talking about the free movies, streaming movies, and video and documentaries on Kanopy, but also the DVDs that we have, the latest movies are available for free through the library. And that’s just movies. There’s Consumer Reports. I looked up things on Consumer Reports just this weekend. So many other things. I was helping someone access the Cascadia Daily News, you know, for free through the library, just like half hour ago. I was helping a patron get on there. There’s just so many services and practical items that we can offer people.
Mary
Right. That’s the cool thing, though, because you gave me a little sneak peek of some of the interviews you’ve done. And we’re talking about tangible things. And a lot of the folks you talk to, the staff people, it’s not the things you can borrow. It’s not the things you can pull off a shelf that they wanted people to know about. So that’s going to be fun to share with people.
Neil
Yeah, it’s more than just stuff.
Mary
It’s community.
Neil
And if you don’t know about it, I would say that you probably know about it if you’re listening here.
Mary
Yeah, most likely. But you could go out and be an advocate for the library.
Neil
If your neighbor doesn’t know about the things that you get to do at the library, tell them.
Mary
Yeah. And that’s, you know, I think one of the reasons we landed on this theme for this time of year is, you know, we are gathering with our friends and family. We’re going to be talking to people about, you know, the things we love and that we want them to know about our lives. And so talking about the library, it’s a great time to do that. It’s also a great time to come to the library, whether you’re planning a gathering with family or friends, or maybe you’ve got a quiet holiday planned. It’s just you and you’re looking for some connection. The library is…
Neil
That’s my dream.
Mary
Yeah. Well, and if you want to make a connection with folks, go to the library because we have some really wonderful programs happening at this time of year. And it’s always a warm and welcoming space, your local library.
Neil
That’s right. That’s right. So, we went out and we talked to some of our staff who they know the things, they know the secrets of the library. And we just asked them, what do you wish people knew about the library? And we asked them to give us their hot takes.
Mary
I can’t wait to hear it.
Neil
All right, let’s just jump into it.
Mary
Let’s do it.
Neil
Okay.
Jehan
Hi, my name is Jehan and I’m from the Island Library.
Neil
All right, Jehan, what’s your hot take?
Jehan
Okay, I think patrons should know about our interlibrary loan. It’s a great, you know, great thing for patrons to know that or be aware that, you know, they have other access to, you know, materials from other libraries.
Wendy
Wendy McLeod. I work for the Lynden Library Branch.
Neil
All right. What’s your hot take?
Wendy
My hot take is here in the Lynden Library, we have four different book groups. So regardless of what type of genre or reading interest you have, we probably have a good book group that would fit your likes. We’ve got our Move, Read and Watch Book Group that kind of does some reading and does some tai chi and watches some video. We’ve got our Horror Book Club that does readings on horror genre. And then we have our Award-Winning Book Club that focuses on award-winning books as their reading group. And we also have Tearing Through the Topics that picks a topic. And we read all sorts of different books, fiction or non-fiction, based off that word prompt. And sometimes have a group come and talk to us about something that’s happening in our community.
Mariya
My name’s Mariya Farmagey. I work at the North Fork Library.
Neil
What’s your hot take?
Mariya
I wish more people knew about our great programming and community gatherings. Our historical programs, music, English classes, just community meetings once a month, all of it.
Erin
Hi, my name’s Erin Suda, and I am at Island Library out on Lummi Island.
Neil
Hi, Erin. What’s your hot take?
Erin
Well, Neil, there’s so many great children’s programs at the library. And so we have school-age programs that happen once a month, and they’re really fun. We just did one called All About Owls, and our kids got to dissect owl pellets here at the library. And it was pretty thrilling. And not only is it for school-aged kids who get to come to the library and learn all kinds of interesting things, but we also have a Teen Corp program that goes along with it. So teens that are interested in helping out the library will come and help library staff pass items out, support the kids with the projects and just be involved in their community in a way that is really beneficial, I think.
Marty Jimmy
Marty Jimmy from the Deming Library.
Neil
All right, Marty, what’s your hot take?
Marty Jimmy
My hot take is the historic sections at the libraries, there’s so much history, and I wish more people would come and look through them because there’s just so much in there for everybody across the board and I think it’s amazing.
Maddy
Okay, I’m Maddy Mercer, and I work up at the Blaine Library.
Neil
And what’s your hot take?
Maddy
My hot take is that most people don’t know that they get $7 worth of free printing a week, so that’s good for 70 black and white pages and 14 pages in color. And more often than not, people are shocked when they ask how much they owe, and we’re like, it’s free.
Jake
Hi, my name is Jake Johnson from the Lynden Branch. I’m a Public Services Attendant.
Neil
All right, Jake, what’s your hot take?
Jake
Right here at the Lynden Library, we have coffee and tea for everyone in the morning, starting at about 9 o’clock and then running till the afternoon around 2. We have a good selection of tea and coffee for people to just enjoy. And it just comes courtesy of our friends group. And if you like what we’re serving up, you can make a donation to the same place we put money for books and items that the friends are selling.
Shelly
I’m Shelly from Ferndale.
Neil
And what’s your hot take?
Shelly
Libraries are a great way to test out video games before you buy them. You can check out a Switch game or a PlayStation game and see whether you like it before you dump 80 bucks on it.
Neil
What’s your favorite video game?
Shelly
That’s a tough one. I’m a big fan of Animal Crossing. I’m so excited for the new update coming out.
Neil
All right, and we’re going to have it here, right?
Shelly
I think so. I’m excited.
Paul
Hey, I’m Paul from the Everson and Sumas Libraries, and I would like people to know that we can help them digitize their memories, whether it’s VHS or 8 millimeter film, Super 8, maybe that old audio cassette or their little kids singing in the musical back in the day. Come check it out. It’s a new service for us, and we’re looking forward to helping people capture those old memories that they can’t hear or see anymore.
Neil
What about slides? What about photos?
Paul
Yeah, so two of our branches have scanners, and we can absolutely help with that kind of stuff. You got some box of old media. Pick a few of your favorites out, bring them on, and we’ll see what we can figure out.
Evelyn
Hi, my name’s Evelyn. I’m at Ferndale. Yo soy hola soy Evelyn. Yo trabajo la biblioteca de Ferndale.
Neil
All right, what’s your hot take, Evelyn?
Evelyn
We have a Spanish hotline that our patrons can call. Y tenenos una linea telefonica Espanol. Si tienes preguntas hablar.
Mary
Okay, my name is Mary Anderson. I’m with the South Whatcom branch. And the things that I’m super excited about that we offer at Whatcom County is that we offer Discover Passes that you can check out for three weeks at a time. We offer ukuleles that you can check out and learn how to play. We offer board games and puzzles and adult coloring books. We offer American Girl dolls and boy dolls as well. And in fact, one of our little patrons checked out 10 of them and had a marriage between one of the girl dolls and one of the boy dolls. And then all of the other dolls were guests at this wedding and they took pictures and it was so cute.
Katrina
Hi, I’m Katrina Carraba from the Deming Library.
Neil
All right, Katrina, what’s your hot take?
Katrina
That the library, the Deming Library, is the place to meet your friends. Maybe you didn’t realize it, but if you come in here, you’ll probably see a friend or you’ll make a friend. Since I’ve been here this afternoon, I have seen friends and then watched people meet their friends here at the library just spontaneously. And that’s just so much joy in that, especially in our rural community where we’re kind of like separate and in our cars or in our homes. And then you come to this space and like, wow, I haven’t seen you in such a long time. It’s so great to see you at the library and then all this talking and chatting and like catching up right there momentarily. It’s just, it’s just really special.
Candice
My name is Candice Moriarty. I drive the bookmobile and I also do outreach services.
Neil
All right, Candice, what’s your hot take?
Candice
Lists. When you go to our website and you search for a book or maybe a subject, it’s the default setting is keyword. And if you switch that over to list, you can find lists that either staff or patrons have made. You can look up specific subjects, for example, like pioneers or Oregon Trail or Western expansion, or you could do…
Neil
Is that what’s on your mind right now, is Western expansion?
Candice
Yes, I recently looked that up for a patron, but you could have books about pets or books about raising teenagers or…
Neil
Cookbooks.
Candice
And cookbooks, yeah. You could have Mediterranean or Paleo or just dessert, things like that. It’s really, really handy. I use it all the time.
Neil
All sorts of things. Okay, great. That’s a good tip.
Claire
My name is Claire McElroy and I am the Adult Programming Coordinator for the Whatcom County Library System.
Neil
All right, Claire, what’s your hot take?
Claire
My hot take is that I never knew about the Surprise Selection program that you can participate in with the Whatcom County Libraries. And this is a fantastic program wherein quarterly you can receive a book that you’re not expecting that someone has picked out just for you based on a questionnaire that you fill out on our website about your likes, dislikes, kind of your reading habits. And they look at that form, you’re assigned a selector, a surprise selector, and then they pick out four times a year a book that they think you will love based on the information that you provide. And so quarterly, I receive a book that’s beautifully wrapped. It’s got a little band around it. has a bookmark in it that has comparable titles that I could further my reading with. And it’s just lovely. It’s like getting a little birthday present four times a year.
Neil
So you’re saying that you go onto our website, wcls.org, and you find the surprise selection form and you fill it out. And then someone, who are these people who are selecting these books for you?
Claire
Well, that’s kind of a lovely mystery about it all. You do learn the first name of your selector, but really it’s almost like having a book angel or fairy who’s kind of looking out for you and picking out books for you that you, they think that you will enjoy.
Neil
And then they, so they pick out a book based on some questions that you answered in the form, and then they send it out to you. How often?
Claire
Quarterly, every four months.
Neil
Wow.
Claire
That’s amazing.
Neil
Wait a minute. Quarterly is every three months.
Claire
Excuse me. Everything. Listen, math is not why I was hired.
Neil
Maybe they’ll select some math books for you.
Claire
I’m going to go on the list feature at wcls.org and look up lists of math books to help strengthen my math abilities because apparently they need some help.
Neil
Apparently, but it hasn’t slowed you down so far. So, okay, well, that’s great. Thanks, Claire. This has been illuminating.
Claire
Yeah.
Devin
Hi, I’m Devin. I’m from the Deming Library.
Neil
All right, Devin. What’s your hot take?
Devin
My hot take is that the books and our materials are not the best part of the library.
Neil
What’s the best part?
Devin
I think the people in the community is the best part. Since I started working here, I’ve just realized that, like, this is a great community spot, and it’s a great place to meet people and connect with others and just, like, I don’t think books are the best part. I think the people are.
Neil
That’s great, that brought tears to my eyes.
Well friends, that’s our show for today. I hope you enjoyed listening to our library staff, Wendy, Mariya, Marty, Maddy, Jake, Shelley, Paul, Evelyn, Katrina, Candice, Claire, Mary, Erin, Jehan and Devin, my coworkers and friends, giving their hot takes on what they want you to know about the library. I’d love to hear from you too! – what are your hot takes? What do you wish everyone knew about the library. Email me at neil.mckay@wcls.org or write me a postcard or talk to one of your library friends or send a carrier pigeon or put an ad in the newspaper and let me know what the best thing about the library is that you want people to know.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank my boss, Mary Vermillion, who routinely sends me out on these adventures to gather the stories of the library.
To quote Robin Williams in the Dead Poets Society: “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.”
We are changing the world, friends. Until next time, this is Neil McKay saying, carpe diem, seize the day.