In Episode 3 I chat with Jennie Rozycki , Library Director at the John G. McCullough Library in North Bennington, VT. Jennie shares the long history of libraries in North Bennington, starting with the "Ladies Lending Library." We chat about the new tool lending library where you can get snowshoes for the winter and fishing poles for the warmer months. Jennie shares more library offerings that the "Tardis-like" library provides including access to over 4,000 digital magazines for library members.
I love hearing about the creativity of library staff and the library community and at the McCullough Library, they took an oversized closet that really wasn't being used and turned it into a small public meeting/study space! The April 2024 newsletter (which anyone can sign up for) lists some fabulous programs coming up for kids and adults.
Jennie likes to read books with satire, fantasy, and a little bit of humor. She talked about books that are great entryways into genre reading. Her first book, Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore is about Milo who keeps getting reincarnated and according to Jennie, he really likes the trip. "It's wild, sweet, and has a big heart."
The next book(s) are the graphic novel series, Saga by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples and Jennie says that if you want Star Wars with a little more magic and a little more wild, you'll love this series. And two more series. The "Wayfarers" series, by Becky Chambers, starting with the book, A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. This is science fiction that depicts a "future that feels very close." I've read the Becky Chambers "Robot" series and it was delightful and charming. I now have the "Wayfarers" series on my TBR list thanks to Jennie's recommendation!
The final series that Jennie shared is "The Locked Tomb" series by Tamsyn Muir, Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and Nona the Ninth. She is so glad that she met Gideon. I always get so excited when I find an older series that I love, because the books have already been written and I can read one book right after another and don't have to wait until the next book in the series is published.
My recommendations for Episode 3 start with Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. It's a cozy fantasy novel about a Cambridge professor who studies faeries and heads to a small village in Scandinavia to uncover more facts about faeries. She is not welcomed with open arms. And heading down a completely different, but maybe not-so-different reading road - I recommend The Curious World of Seahorses: the lore and life of a marine marvel by Till Hein. Did you know that folks used to think that seahorses were dragons from distant lands? This small book is packed with facts and stories about seahorses.
I hope you enjoyed this episode and take some time to explore your local library and other public libraries. If your library doesn't have the books mentioned, they are available through interlibrary loan, just ask your local librarian!
If you're like me, once you borrow and read a book from your library - there are just some books you have to own. I've put links on the books covers to BookShop.org where every purchase helps support a local independent bookstore that you choose.
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