Check It Out

June is Pride Month! On this month's episode, Kristi, Kari, and Morgan recommend titles in the library's collection that celebrate and elevate LGBTQIA+ voices. 

Interested in learning more about our local LGBTQIA+ community? We recommend starting with the Prairie Pride Coalition. You can find their website here: https://ppc-il.org/main/

• A Study In Honor by Claire O’Dell

• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

• Pulp by Robin Talley

• Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig

May is Mental Health Awareness month and in this our sixty-eighth episode Laura speaks with Normal Police Department Community Services Officer Brad Park and library staff Kristi, Shelby, Lyndsey, and Erin about Mental Health and mental health reads both fiction and nonfiction. Join us as we explore this important issue, settle back, and check it out. Tell us what you think! ask at normalpl dot org

https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Awareness-Month

This sixty-seventh episode of Check It Out is Mari's last. Mari has been our host for over thirty thrilling episodes. Mari passes the torch and talks all things library and all things books. Settle back and check it out.

Today we join Mari as she interviews several library staff about their favorite childhood books. A childhood favorite is a memory that can last a lifetime. We tend to share these most since the stories have stayed with us for so long. We read, and read again, these beloved stories, discovering new meaning and encountering new joys as we do. So sit back, settle in, and check it out.

Mari speaks with Kathleen, Kristi, and Laura about fiction by African American writers, focusing on fiction that explores the lives of Black people in this February 2021 podcast episode.

All of us read and books tell a variety of stories. The best among them will sometimes earn recognition by award. There are awards for all types of books and this month, Mari will speak with Kristi, Kathleen, Morgan, and Britni about some of the best titles that book awards have named over the recent past. Sit back and check it out as we look at award books in this sixty-fourth episode of Check It Out.

Baking food, making gifts, being creative! Jane, Laura, Kristi, and Mari discuss all things creative for December. Sharpen those pencils, get out the knitting needles, sit back, and check it out!

Mari discusses odd titles (and the more odd book covers) of No Reality November with Jane, Kristi, and Laura. Sit back and check it out!

In our sixty first episode, Mari speaks with Kristi and Laura about books to read in this season of change. Falling leaves, crisp mornings, and warm beverages all pair well with a good story. Sit back, settle in, and Check It Out.

• Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang
• Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
• Primates by Jim Ottaviani
• Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis
• The Mars Challenge by Alison Wilgus and Wyeth Yates
• The Way of the House Husband, vol. 1 by Kousuke Oono
• The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown
• Die vol. 1 by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans
• March, books 1, 2, 3 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell