Overdueing It: The Rhode Island Library Podcast

Be still, and follow the inner journey to fall in love with yourself again. Find inspiration for body, mind, and spirit with guided meditations by Linda Morse.

Linda has been a teacher of yoga, meditation, and breathing techniques for 20 years. She is certified though the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health—a national leader in yoga and mindfulness-based education.

Enjoy this meditation as it suits you—sitting, walking, or lying down with eyes open or closed.

Click here for more meditations by Linda, and visit again to hear new meditations as they are added.

Namaste.

New & Notable Books brings you book recommendations from Rhode Island Librarians. Listen to new reviews every week, and find something wonderful to read.

Adventures on Ice with Mary Anne

• The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice—Crossing Antarctica Alone by Colin O'Brady

• The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander

Lorén Spears, Executive Director of Tomaquag Museum, talks about the tours, programs, classes, workshops, lectures, demonstrations, and more offered by the vibrant and dynamic cultural institution in Exeter, Rhode Island.

Lorén M. Spears, Executive Director

Lorén is not only the executive director of Tomaquag Museum, she is also an educator, activist, author, and Indigenous artist. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1989 and master’s degree from the University of New England with a focus on elementary education. She founded the Nuweetooun School affiliated with the Tomaquag Museum (closed in 2010 due to flooding) and was a teacher in Newport public schools for 12 years. A 2017 winner of the Tom Roberts Prize for Creative Achievement in the Humanities from the Rhode Island Council on the Humanities, she was honored for her “compelling work as an advocate of Indigenous People’s history and cultural heritage in preservation, the arts, and education.” In 2010, Spears was named as one of 11 Extraordinary Women honorees for teaching and education.

Mission Statement

The Mission of Tomaquag Museum is to educate the public and promote thoughtful dialogue regarding Indigenous history, culture, arts, and Mother Earth and connect to Native issues of today.

Vision Statement

Tomaquag Museum envisions its future as an Indigenous Cultural Education destination that engages visitors in thoughtful dialogue that promotes understanding and strives to create experiences that transform people's lives by broadening their perspectives, attitudes, and knowledge of Indigenous Cultures and the interrelationship with the wider world.

Core Values

Tomaquag Museum's Core Values are rooted in our traditional values and philosophy.  They inspire our actions and guide our decisions as we continue to grow and develop our organization.

1. Respect: Fostering trust, collaboration, appreciation, diversity, honor, spirit path

2. Leadership: Promoting integrity, initiative, high standards, self-motivation, inner journey

3. Inclusiveness: Furthering service, sharing resources, flexibility, accessibility, responsiveness, community

4. Knowledge: Promoting curiosity, discovery, teaching, life-long learning, empowerment. Encouraging creativity, rigorous inquiry, analysis, documentation, communication, and upholding ethical standards and Indigenous principles

5. Responsibility: Encouraging legal, ethical and fiscal responsibility; stewardship, accountability, organizational and cultural continuity

Visit Tomaquag Museum at tomaquagmuseum.org.

New & Notable Books brings you book recommendations from Rhode Island Librarians. Listen to new reviews every week, and find something wonderful to read.

Thrilling Page-Turners with Jen

• The Guest List by Lucy Foley

• Survival Instincts by Jen Waite

• The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda

Discover the story of Providence’s legendary Celebrity Club, New England’s first integrated nightclub, with Tom Shaker, co-author of A Treasury of Rhode Island Jazz & Swing Musicians.

Find out about the famous jazz and R&B musicians who played there, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Fats Domino, and hear tales from local musicians and club-goers who saw remarkable shows and became part of the story.

Dr. Tom Shaker is a college professor, a radio DJ, a documentary filmmaker, and an expert on Rhode Island jazz.

His radio show The Soul Serenade, featuring classic soul music from the 1960s and 1970s, airs on WICN on Mondays at 7 p.m.

His award-winning film with Norm Grant Do It, Man! The Story of The Celebrity Club tells the story of the legendary Celebrity Club, the integrated 1950s nightclub in Providence’s Randall Square neighborhood.

His book with Dennis Pratt A Treasury of Rhode Island Jazz & Swing Musicians is a biographical collection of jazz and swing musicians who have played in Rhode Island and a sequel to Who's Who in Rhode Island Jazz: c. 1925-1988 by Rhode Island musicians and historians Lloyd Kaplan and Robert Petteruti.

New & Notable Books brings you book recommendations from Rhode Island Librarians. Listen to new reviews every week, and find something wonderful to read.

Locked Room Mysteries with Mary Anne

• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

• One by One by Ruth Ware

• The Guest List by Lucy Foley

• An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

2020 was a year that brought on the automatic physiological reaction of the fight or flight response in our bodies. This accumulated stress has affected all of us. Patricia McLaughlin is a mindfulness instructor and talks with librarian Jessica D’Avanza about how we can combat this stressor and calm the nervous system through mindfulness.

Patricia answers the questions, “What is mindfulness” and “How can it help me?” She shares tips for ways you can find ease in the world and discover the possibilities that 2021 can offer.

At the end of their conversation, Patricia offers listeners a guided mindfulness exercise. You are invited to stick around and practice what you learn in this episode or come back to the mindfulness exercise at any time you feel it could be helpful.

Patricia McLaughlin, Esq., a professor of law, has been a member of the RI Bar for over 30 years and has held various leadership positions in education. She is a certified yoga teacher and mindfulness instructor who teaches a variety of offerings of in-person classes and online courses in workplace sessions and community settings. She is also a facilitator for Meditate Together, hosted by Mindful Leader, a worldwide program that offers free live group meditation sessions, 24 hours a day, five days a week in an effort to help as many people as possible during these challenging times.

You can contact Patricia at [email protected] or visit her website at amindfulnessjourney.com.

Patricia’s Recommended Books on Mindful Living

Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana

Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Full-Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Coming to Our Senses by Jon Kabat-Zinn (for those looking to go deeper)

New & Notable Books brings you book recommendations from Rhode Island Librarians. Listen to new reviews every week, and find something wonderful to read.

Books You Can’t Put Down with Jen

• More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood by Natasha Gregson Wagner

• Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

• Troop 6000 : The Girl Scout Troop That Began in a Shelter and Inspired the World by Nikita Stewart

Looking for a little positivity to take from 2020? Sarah Bouvier, Communication Manager at the Cranston Public Library, has you covered with the CPL Photoessay, pairing portraits of Cranston community members with something positive that came out of 2020 for them. In this interview, Sarah gives a behind-the-scenes look at the project. You'll also hear the voices of community members sharing their best parts of the past year.

You can see the full CPL 2020 Project on Cranston Public Library's Facebook, Instagram, or by visiting our website at https://cranstonlibrary.org/2020-project.

Special thanks to Avery B, Avery N, Beatrice, Dave, Ed, Jessica, Meri, Robin, and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung for lending their voices to this episode! Theme music for this episode is Get Happy Now by Podington Bear. Rhody Radio is a project of the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services and is made possible by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

New & Notable Books brings you book recommendations from Rhode Island Librarians. Listen to new reviews every week, and find something wonderful to read.

The Natural World with Jessica

• Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World by Kathryn Aalto

• We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer

• A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

• Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer