Circulating Ideas

Guest host Troy Swanson chats with Nora Wiltse, school librarian at Chicago Public Schools, about the current state of librarians in Chicago Public Schools, the impactful role that librarians play in education, her involvement with the Chicago Teachers Union’s efforts in advocating for better resources and support for schools, including through collective bargaining, and CTU’s broader social justice initiatives.

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Nora Wiltse has been a school librarian with Chicago Public Schools since 2003. After 20 years in K to 8th grade elementary schools, she now works at King College Prep High School in the Kenwood neighborhood. Since 2012, Nora has advocated against the rapid loss of librarians in the Chicago Public Schools district. She is the chair of the Chicago Teachers Union Librarian Committee and a member of the 2024 contract bargaining team. Nora hopes to gain more job security for all librarians, as well as more librarian positions, in the next union contract.  You can email her at [email protected]. You can follow CTU’s Librarian Committee on Instagram or X @ctulibrarians. 

Troy A. Swanson is Teaching & Learning Librarian and Library Department Chair at Moraine Valley Community College. Troy is the author or editor of several books and articles including his book Knowledge as a Feeling: How Neuroscience and Psychology Impact Human Information Behavior was published by Rowman & Littlefield. His Ph.D. research focused on the management of technology policy in higher education. He served on ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Task Force which issued the Framework for Information Literacy in 2016.  Over his tenure as a librarian and educator, Troy has won his campus’ Master Teacher and Innovation of the Year awards, as well as the Proquest Innovation in College Librarianship award from ACRL. Additionally, he serves as Legislative Chair for Cook County College Teachers Union which serves 5,000 community college employees.

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Steve chats with Madeline Martin, author of The Booklover’s Library, about the inspiration and research behind her latest novel, set in a unique library during World War II, and the emotional ties between the characters and books. Later, Rebecca Vnuk from Library Reads and Yaika Sabat from Novelist return to the Circ Desk to recommend read-alikes for book-themed novels, highlighting the enduring appeal of stories about books and libraries.

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Madeline Martin is a New York Times, USA TODAY, and international bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance with books that have been translated into over twenty different languages. 

SHOW NOTES:

The Booklover’s Library
Library Reads
Novelist
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Steve chats with Amanda Jones, school librarian and author of That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America, about her path to librarianship, her harrowing experience after speaking out against censorship at a public library board meeting and the aftermath, and her determination to stand up for what’s right.

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Amanda Jones has been an educator for 22 years and is the President of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians. She was the 2021 School Library Journal Co-Librarian of the Year, 2021 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, and 2020 Louisiana School Librarian of the Year. Amanda is a sought-after keynote speaker at national and international conferences. Amanda co-founded the Livingston Parish Library Alliance to defeat censorship attempts in her community and is a founding member of the Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship, which fights against censorship efforts across the state. She lives in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.

SHOW NOTES:

That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America
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Guest host Troy Swanson chats with Wayne Bivens-Tatum, author of Libraries and the Enlightenment and Virtue Information Literacy, about the concept of “information anarchy,” the relevance of cultivating intellectual virtues like open-mindedness, intellectual humility, and epistemic justice to thrive in today’s complex information landscape, and integrating virtue ethics and Buddhist mindfulness practices to improve information literacy and ultimately achieve a well-lived life.

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Wayne Bivens-Tatum is the Librarian for Philosophy, Religion, and Anthropology at the Princeton University Library. He has taught academic writing at the University of Illinois and Princeton University and courses on librarianship for the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences and Rutgers University’s Department of Library and Information Science. He currently teaches college English classes to incarcerated students in New Jersey state prisons as a volunteer with Princeton’s Prison Teaching Initiative. He’s published two books, Libraries and the Enlightenment and Virtue Information Literacy, both with Library Juice Press.

SHOW NOTES:

Libraries and the Enlightenment
Virtue Information Literacy
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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Brian Freeman, author of THE BOURNE SHADOW and four previous Bourne novels, about his early experiences with libraries, the impact of Ludlum’s work on his work, and how he aims to modernize Jason Bourne while staying true to the original character. And in our final visit (for now!) to The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika chat about Freeman’s work, page-to-screen adaptations, and cinematic novels!

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It’s been over a decade since Nash Rollins recruited a brilliant, talented, but disaffected young man named David Webb to join Treadstone. Webb became the agent known as Cain–and later took on the identity of Jason Bourne.

That violent winter–which included Cain’s first mission for Treadstone–was also a story of betrayal in ways that David never knew. So after the injury that erased Bourne’s whole life, Nash lied about the circumstances of David’s recruitment to Treadstone. He was afraid that learning the truth might drive Bourne out of the agency forever.

But now, when Bourne meets a woman who recognizes him as David Webb, the secrets of those days begin to come out and Bourne is forced to confront the dangerous ghosts of a past he doesn’t even remember.

SHOW NOTES:

The Bourne Shadow
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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with librarian Eva Jurczyk, author of That Night in the Library, about her unique journey from a bibliographer’s kid to a renowned author, the inspiration behind her gripping mystery novels, and the intersection of librarianship and fiction writing. Over on The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika discuss dark academia, locked room mysteries, and their read-alikes for That Night in the Library!

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Eva Jurczyk was born in a mining town in Poland and wound up halfway around the world in a Canadian city that often masquerades as New York in the movies. As her day job, she buys books, building library collections for the University of Toronto Libraries. She travels to Paris whenever the wind is good but currently lives with her husband, son, and collections of books in Toronto, Canada.

SHOW NOTES:

That Night in the Library
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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Gwenda Bond about her career journey, her fascination with heist stories, her experiences with licensed content, including writing for Lois Lane and Stranger Things, her approach to magic in storytelling, and the vibrant writing community she’s fostering in Lexington, Kentucky. And on The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika find interesting read-alikes for the Frame-Up and discuss new exciting new subgenre of romantasy!

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Gwenda Bond is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the first official Stranger Things novel, Suspicious Minds, as well as the Match Made in Hell, Lois Lane, and Cirque American series. She lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with a veritable zoo of adorable doggos and queenly cats. She writes a regular newsletter, Dear Reader, available on Substack.

SHOW NOTES:

The Frame-Up
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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Andy Runton, creator of the graphic novel series Owly, about how libraries influenced his work and life, the origins of Owly, the process of converting the series from black and white to color, and advice for educators and librarians on how to use Owly in their teaching. And on The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika discuss graphic novels and why Library Reads solely focuses on titles for adults.

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Andy Runton has always loved to draw and always loved comics. After college and a career in corporate America, he finally followed his heart, started drawing comics, graphic novels, and children’s books, and he hasn’t looked back since. In 2001 he created the all-ages series of graphic novels, Owly, which features a kind-hearted little owl who’s always searching for new friends and adventure. The Owly series has earned praise from fans and critics alike, winning multiple awards including the Harvey Award, two Ignatz Awards, the 2006 Eisner Award for “Best Publication for a Younger Audience,” and many others. He currently reside in the greater-Atlanta area where he works full-time as a cartoonist!

SHOW NOTES:

Owly: Tiny Tales
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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Jessie Rosen, author of the new book, The Heirloom, about the profound impact libraries have had on her life, the inspiration behind her novel, and how her personal experiences and superstitions shaped her writing. At the Circ Desk Rebecca and Yaika discuss how “women’s fiction” has morphed from “chick lit” to “relationship fiction.”

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Jessie Rosen got her start with the award-winning blog 20-Nothings and has sold original television projects to ABC, CBS, Warner Bros., and Netflix. Her live storytelling show Sunday Night Sex Talks was featured on The Bachelorette. She lives in Los Angeles.

SHOW NOTES:

The Heirloom
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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with A. J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Constitutionally, about his fascinating, immersive journey of living strictly by the U. S. Constitution, delve into the contrasts between originalism and living constitutionalism, and provides insightful commentary on how the founding document shapes modern-day America. And on The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika talk about the readers’ advisory challenges for non-fiction titles!

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A.J. Jacobs is a journalist, lecturer, and human guinea pig who has written four bestselling books—including Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically—that blend memoir, science, humor, and a dash of self-help. A contributor to NPR, The New York Times, and Esquire, among other media outlets, Jacobs lives in New York City with his family.

SHOW NOTES:

The Year of Living Constitutionally
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