Multnomah County Library Podcasts

Volunteers with the library’s Visiting Voices program recognize that the joy of reading never diminishes with age. Armed with a stimulating variety of reading material from poems to novels, volunteers read to a group of elders at Portland area assisted care facilities. Reading sessions are weekly and typically range from 30-45 minutes. Hear a short passage from a reading session conducted by June Fleming, a 15-year veteran volunteer.

Gift People is a program of recorded conversations with civically engaged older adults, sponsored by Library Outreach Services, Life by Design NW and the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by Oregon State Library.

Yellowstone Moran;painting the American West By Lita Judge

Tom Moran had never ridden a horse or slept under the stars before, but the paintings he created on his journey from city boy to seasoned explorer would lead to the founding of America's first national park.

Audience: Kids

Trickster Native American tales a Graphic Collection Compiled and Edited by Matt Dembicki

Meet the trickster, a crafty creature or being who disrupts the order of things, often humiliating others and sometimes himself in the process. Whether a coyote or rabbit, raccoon or raven, tricksters use cunning to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief.

Audience: Kids and Teens

Nothing by Janne Teller

When thirteen-year-old Pierre Anthon leaves school to sit in a plum tree and train for becoming part of nothing, his seventh grade classmates set out on a desperate quest for the meaning of life. If you had to sacrifice something meaningful to you to prove life had meaning, what would you give up? Your pet? Your little finger? What might your friends make you sacrifice?

Like The Lord of the Flies or The Lottery, this book questions what happens when control goes out of control.

Target Audience: Teen

Bad News for Outlaws: the Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshall by Vanda Micheaux Nelson

This biography profiles the life of Bass Reeves, a former slave who was recruited as a deputy United States Marshal in the area that was to become Oklahoma.

Target audience: Children

Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor

In Fayette, South Carolina, the highlight of Popeye's summer is learning vocabulary words with his grandmother until a motor home gets stuck nearby and Elvis, the oldest boy living inside, joins Popeye in finding the source of strange boats floating down the creek.

Target Audience: Children

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

Target Audience: Children

Steph Miller, Central librarian and coordinator of the John Adams Unbound exhibit, and William C. Stack, educator and historian, share opening remarks about John Adams and the exhibit.

More information about the exhibit and additional resources can be found at www.multcolib.org/events/collins/adams.html.

Every student knows that Americans fought with the British in the War of Independence in 1776 and again in 1812. What few realize is that the United States almost went to war with Britain over Oregon. Oregon was a hot topic during the nineteenth century because of its seemingly endless riches, vastness, beauty, and potential for exploitation. In this program, Robert Hamm will share primary sources - newspapers, woodcuts, accurate and inaccurate maps, and early photographs - from the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Lewis and Clark Exposition. In the U.S. Bank Room

Change a challenging work environment to one that is more positive. Speaker Tonya Booker shows you how!

Recorded May 13, 2010