Hamden Library Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is about trees: how they can help us and how we can help them.

First up, Brittany discusses forest bathing with certified forest therapy guide Jesse Bernier of the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library in Madison. Then Matt interviews Diane Hoffman, Susan Neitlich and Kyle Dougherty about the missions of the Hamden Tree Commission and the Hamden Alliance for Trees, and why trees are a crucial part of a town or city’s infrastructure.

Send us Fan Mail

Summer is rapidly coming to a close, so we convened what has become an annual tradition on our podcast, the end of summer roundtable. If you’ve heard any of our previous roundtable episodes, you’ll know what to expect. It’s basically a low-key, casual discussion wherein the podcast team gets together and shares the things we read, watched and did over the past few months. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did making it. 

Send us Fan Mail

It’s summer reading time again and on this episode, Marcy, Eliza, Kacie and Danielle explain how it all works. After we hear from them, Hannah has an announcement about a special project she’s been working on with the Connecticut State Library. 

And since this is a great time of year to get out and enjoy your local parks, Hannah talks with Mike Miller of the Sleeping Giant Park Association about the trail clean up crew. More info is available here: https://sgpa.org/trail-maintenance/

Send us Fan Mail

Matt talks to Recycling Coordinator Joe DeRisi and Chair of the Solid Waste & Recycling Commission Alice Kosowsky. They talk about everything from composting and other ways of recycling food waste to the importance of recycling textiles and lots more. If you’re a Hamden resident, you’re sure to pick up some useful tips, and even if you don’t live in Hamden, you will likely learn something interesting from this interview. Now let’s listen to Matt, Joe and Alice. 

Send us Fan Mail

On this episode we are celebrating National Library Week. This year’s theme is “Find Your Joy,” and Kacie and Eliza are here to tell us all about the many different ways the library can help you do just that.  

In addition, Kacie talks to Pat Sirulnick about the Friends of the Hamden Library and all that they do for us. If you don’t already know, the Friends are absolutely crucial to what we do. If you’re looking for a way to support the library, joining the Friends is a great way to do so. Visit our website for more details.

Send us Fan Mail

When it comes to a subject as broad as poetry, it’s hard to pick one thing to focus on. So we picked a whole bunch. From statistics of who is writing poetry and why, to a staff-wide poetry collaboration, to an infamous poet with a relentless drive to write and recite his creations regardless of how well, or how poorly, they were regarded by the audiences who heard them - this is a conversation that covers a lot of ground. We had lots of fun making this episode and we hope you have fun listening.

Send us Fan Mail

Love is in the air and on the shelves! In this Valentine’s Day episode, Kacie chats with booksellers from two of Connecticut’s romance-only bookstores to rave about all things romance novels. From breaking down stereotypes to sharing can’t-miss love stories, we’re making the case that romance is for everyone.

Big thanks to Sarah and Elizabeth from Montgomery & Taggert and Jenna from Blush Book Lounge for chatting with us this month!  

For more romance novel suggestions, stop in and browse the February book display on the first floor of Miller Library. <3

Send us Fan Mail

This is a special, Matt-centric episode in which podcast team member Matt sits down to talk with host Michael Pierry to talk about New Year’s traditions. And because the only force in the known universe more powerful than one Matt is .. two Matts, Matt interviews Matthew Kerzner, aka Dr. K, to help us all in formulating and following through on our New Year’s resolutions and goals. There are also some book recommendations, of course.

Send us Fan Mail

Enjoy our special end-of-year roundtable discussing our favorite (and least favorite) books and media of 2025 and what we're looking forward to in 2026.

List of books/media discussed:

• Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Summer Hikaru Died, Mokumokuren
• Alchemised, SenLinYu
• The Black Wolf (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #20) & The Gray Wolf (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #19), Louise Penny
• The Office of Historical Corrections, Danielle Evans
• Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
• Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1), Matt Dinniman
• Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
• Atavists: Stories, Lydia Millet
• The Hacienda, Isabel Cañas
• Babel, R.F. Kuang
• The Framed Women of Ardemore House (Ardemore House #1) & The Dead Came To Stay (Aredemore House #2), Brandy Schillace
• Read Between the Lines (Ms. Right #1) & No Rings Attached (Ms. Right #2), Rachel Lacey
• Sky Full of Elephants, Cebo Campbell
• The Spellshop (Spellshop #1) & The Enchanted Greenhouse (Spellshop #2), Sarah Beth Durst
• Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde #1), Heather Fawcett
• The Grace of Wild Things, Heather Fawcett
• A Court of Thorns and Roses (book series), Sarah J. Maas
• Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
• Sunrise on the Reaping, Susan Collins
• People We Meet on Vacation, Emily Henry
• Off-Campus (upcoming TV series based on the book series by Elle Kennedy)
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians (TV series, based on the book series by Rick Riordan)
• Bridgerton (TV series based on the book series by Julia Quinn)
• Vagabond, Tim Curry
• A Monsoon Rising (The Hurricane Wars #2) & The Shattered Tempest (The Hurricane Wars #3), Thea Guanzon
• The Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) & Dead Beat (Alex Stern #3), Leigh Bardugo
• Silo (TV series based on the books Wool, Shift & Dust by Hugh Howey)
• American Girl & Dear America series
• Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure, Lewis Hancox
• Transitions: A Mother's Journey, Élodie Durand
• Hypercapitalism: The Modern Economy, Its Values, and How to Change Them, Larry Gonick & Tim Kasser
• Wish Monster: A Middle Grade Halloween Horror Tale About a Wish-Granting Creature and the Price of Bringing the Dead Back, J. A. White
• Fourth Wing (Empyrean #1) & Iron Flame (Empyrean #2), Rebecca Yarros
• Don’t Trust Fish, Neil Sharpson & Dan Santat
• Flotsam, David Wiesner
• Roxaboxen: A Picture Book About Childhood Imagination and the Transforming Magic of Boxes, Sticks, and Sand for Children, Alice McLerran & Barbara Cooney
• The Wedding People, Alison Espach
• Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby van Pelt
• Untypical, Pete Wharmby
• Silver Elite, Dani Francis
• Three Days in June, Anne Tyler
• Lessons in Magic and Disaster, Charlie Jane Anders
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V. E. Schwab
• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, V. E. Schwab

Send us Fan Mail

Board games and picture books - what do these two things have in common? For one thing, you can find them both at the library. For another, they’re both entertaining for all ages. Engaging with a picture book or playing a game with friends and family members can surprise and delight us with the kind of screen-free joy that many of us don’t get enough of but definitely need. In this episode, Hannah and Matt take you on a journey of exploration into the worlds of picture books and board games, respectively.