We LOVE the Library

- Hear public comments that were delivered to the July 28 Board of Supervisors meeting by two of your SLO County Library Foundation board members. We were expressing our concern about reduced library budgets and the many reasons for fully funding the SLO County public library system.

- Learn more about LingQ, the unique online language learning program available for use at the Premium level with just your library card. Michelle Haddad returns to the podcast to explain more about this highly customizable language learning system that library card holders can access for free.

- Celebrate some wins and losses in the world of books and libraries, including Roots author Alex Haley, Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid, and Imagination Library Queen Dolly Parton. 

– We’ll discuss community connection and the public library with Rita Casaverde, the Executive Director of the Diversity Coalition. With her young family, Rita visits the library on a weekly basis. Tune in to hear how she probably has more books by and about Gabriel Garcia Marquez than anyone else in SLO County.

– Meet a New York Times best selling author who’s also a member of our SLO County Library Foundation board of directors, Kalyn Josephson. She’s a recent addition to our board and is the youngest board member at this time.

– We’ll also provide a quick recap to the always fun Back to School Extravaganza, which took place at Cuesta College on August 1.

- Learn more about the hyper-local Shell Beach Library, which serves as an important hub for this seaside community. Their building on Leeward Avenue is the oldest one in the SLO County public library system and it’s the only one from which you can see the Pacific Ocean while standing on the front sidewalk. 

- Meet another member of the SLO County Library Foundation board of directors, Kristin Bridgeford. Kristin will explain why she volunteers her time to support the library system through her service with the Library Foundation. We talk about astronauts too!

- Hear a recap of the Young Musicians in the Library collaboration between Festival Mozaic and the SLO County public library system. This program is supported by your Library Foundation.

- Celebrate the anniversary of the successful Apollo 11 mission to the Moon while considering how the public library connects us with issues of human space travel and exploration. Our current NAACP SLO County branch president Barry Stokes studied aerospace engineering in college and speaks with us about Cal Poly graduate and Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover and other topics of interest to us Space Nerds. 

- Meet Claudia Harmon of Beautify Cambria, who partners with the Cambria Library to share information about Dark Sky events. We’ll discuss the power of well-crafted analog information in the library’s display case that draws the attention of patrons and helps them learn more about relevant topics and events. She’ll also talk about why darkness matters for nature and for us. 

- Meet Celeste Royer of Latino Outdoors and learn more about how the public library can co-design events and collections that “fill the gaps” in connecting with a diverse cross section of SLO County residents. 

- We also speak with David McAbee who volunteers with The Literacy Connection, the SLO County library system’s in-house literacy program. He’ll not only tell us about what he loves about libraries but he’ll also provide insight in his experience teaching a writing class at the county jail.

- Finally, we’ll celebrate Juneteenth 2026 with the help of Representative John Lewis, Alex Haley, LeVar Burton, and Toni Morrison. 

- Learn more about the Morro Bay Library, built in 1985. In our conversation with Vickie and Joan of the Friends of the Morro Bay Library, they explain the newly repaired mosaic mural that was installed on the library’s exterior west wall of the library. Did you know that a stylized Halley’s Comet sails across the top of this mural connecting the past, present, and future? It was truly a community effort to build it *and* to bring it back to life, 41 years later. 

- Then, we’ll speak with Linnea Valdivia, Program Manager at the GALA  Pride and Diversity Center in San Luis Obispo. We discuss PRIDE celebrations, LGBTQ+ artists in the library catalog, and public libraries as archives of human experience.

- Finally, we’ll share a quick recap of the Nipomo Library 30th anniversary celebration. We appreciate Jamie Hartshorn, co-president of the Friends of the Nipomo Library, for giving us an impromptu tour of the event. 

- Meet poet Caleb Nichols, our San Luis Obispo County Poet Laureate. Caleb explains how their journey to becoming Poet Laureate of SLO County began at the Atascadero Library. We hope you enjoy this delightful and informative conversation as much as we did. 

- Learn more about the 2026 Summer Reading Program. This year’s theme calls back to the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books that were popular in the 1980s. Participants are encouraged to choose different adventures for Quincy the Quail at each of the 14 libraries along the public library “quail trail.”

- Meet another collection of Library Power Users: Zoey (age 10), her sister Ember (age 7), and their Mom (and our friend) Brianne. These fun folks are heavy users of the adorable Santa Margarita Library. We discuss what they love about the library right before they give me a kids-eye view and tour of their favorite public library space.

- Then, we also speak with supporters of the Nipomo Library which is celebrating its 30th anniversary June 10 from 11 to 1pm. Did you know the idea for the Nipomo Library was hatched by a group of library enthusiasts over a cup of coffee at Jocko’s? Stay tuned to learn more about this charming library and the people who love it.

- We welcome back to the podcast Monique Matta, the Adult Services Coordinating Librarian for the SLO County Library System. We’ll discuss e-books, audiobooks, and other materials in the collections with a particular focus on costs for digital items within the library system. If you have questions about wait lists for digital materials, this segment is for you.

- Then, we’ll recap the 2026 Book of the Year event at Cuesta College, which happened Tuesday April 28. Author Susan Straight wrote the powerful novel Sacrament about a group of ICU nurses, other frontline workers, and their families in California during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss Sacrament with Outreach Coordinator Jackie Kinsey, who also serves on the Book of the Year selection committee, as well as Juliane McAdam, president of the SLO County Library Foundation.

- We discover how the public library collections can help you throw a party. Whether it’s a dance party, dinner party, game night party, live music party, or book club party, the public library has you covered. Local DJ FlutterByCam joins us to suggest some great music you can check out from the library to provide the soundtrack for your own fun get together, including for kid’s parties.

- Meet another member of the San Luis Obispo County Library Foundation board of directors, Charlotte Alexander. We’ll learn more about her role as the Library Foundation’s treasurer as well as her support of the arts and culture in SLO County through her work with her SLO Review project. She’ll explain the donation/bequest process and highlight some major donors to the Library Foundation over the years.