Hamden Library Podcast

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This episode is dedicated to YOU and your library card. In a special in-depth interview, our Head of Borrower Services discusses the amazing things you can do with your Hamden library card. TJ also mentions some services we offer at the library, even if you don’t have a card.

Also includes a quiz show segment all about banned books, in celebration of Banned Books Week, currently in progress (Oct. 5-11). Libraries believe in the freedom to read, and that includes the freedom to listen, learn and discover new things - about the world, about other people, and about yourself. Enjoy!

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Hamden Library Podcast team members Hannah, Eliza, Matt, Rebecca and Michael discuss their summer reading.

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In this episode, children's librarian Kacie chats with Daron, a professor and reading specialist about reading aloud to older kids. Did you know that research shows some clear - and surprising! - benefits to continuing to read aloud to kids as they grow up? Daron and Kacie share some tips, tricks, and strategies for selecting appealing books for all ages as well as some of their favorite titles! For a full list of books mentioned, click here.  

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To mark this Juneteenth, Mike spoke with Hamden Black History Committee members Deborah Moxam and Evans Simmons about what the Committee does for the community as well as the library’s upcoming Juneteenth Read-In. Mike also talked to author Jill Marie Snyder about her research into the lives of Black Americans, both pre- and post-Civil War.

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In honor of Pride month, our new podcast team member, Eliza, recorded a couple of great interviews with two members of the LGBTQ+ community, Tony Ferraiolo and Jillian Celentano. Tony and Jillian are both very engaging, dynamic speakers, and I hope that you get as much out of listening to them as I did.

CW: Suicide, gender dysphoria

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It's almost summer reading time already! Jenny and Matt, along with some help from other staff members, explain how we can all participate and have fun leveling up at the library this summer and beyond.

This episode also goes above and beyond summer reading with some insider information to help you become library super users! We've gathered some tips you can use to get more out of your visits to the Hamden Public Library.

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This is the second episode of the podcast in April, because... well, we just couldn’t stop ourselves! Spring is here and it’s time for many of us to start working on our gardens, if we haven’t already. To give us all some tips and ideas, Ryan talked to two Master Gardeners who are also Master Composters, Diane Dynia and Wes Meeker. In addition, Matt spoke with Theresa McCabe, President of the Spring Glen Gardening Club and Lyn Baumgartner, the Beautification Coordinator for the Town of Hamden. Whether you’re a new gardener or someone with more experience, we hope this episode inspires you and makes you curious to try some new things in your vegetable or flower garden, both this season and beyond.

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This month we are celebrating National Poetry Month. In addition to our staff reading some of their favorite poems and our interview with Franz Douskey, the Hamden poet laureate, one of our patrons was kind enough to call in and read two of her original poems. 

 We also have a fun little quiz segment entitled “Taylor or Edgar” in which Kacie read me a series of short excerpts and I had to guess whether it was written by Taylor Swift or Edgar Allan Poe.  

This has been a real labor of love for me and has turned out to be, I think, possibly my favorite episode that we’ve ever done. Of course, I was an English major so I’m a little biased, but I hope you enjoy it as well! - Mike

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This episode is centered on winter. Our roving correspondent, Matt, asked our staff to tell us their favorite things about the season. Then Dave reads a poem by Robert Frost. And finally we wrap things up by talking about our favorite books, movies and anything else from 2024. Matt also discusses seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition that can affect many people at this time of year.

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Four librarians, one table, lots of horror books (and movies)! Find out what Ryan, Jenny, Matt, and Mike think will scare your socks off this Halloween season.