Sounds from the Shelves

Reader’s Choice

Join us as we talk to Heather Chynoweth about our Reader's Choice program. Get a behind the scenes peek at how books are chosen, and the work that makes the program run.
 
00:00 - Intro00:58 - What is Reader's Choice?02:37 - How are Reader's Choice books chosen?05:12 - Is it Ever Hard to Find Enough Books?07:09 - Two Rounds Each Year08:00 - Do Books That Aren't Picked Stay on the Long List?08:50 - Favorite (and Least Favorite) Selections13:10 - Surprise Winners?15:48 - What Do Patrons Say About It?20:35 - Do you ever root for a book to lose?26:27 - Outro28:05 - Potatoes!

Published Staff

Join us as we talk to some of our talented staff about their creative endeavors. 
 
AJ Irving books:
Dance Like a Leaf
The Wishing Flower
The Bi Book - coming soon!
 
Alesha Adamson books:
The Dark King and the Eternal Dance
The Wolf’s Golden Deception
 
Blake Casselman books:
Devil’s Triangle
Weird Wasatch
Heroic: Tales of the Extraordinary
 
Blake Casselman films:
Kiss the Devil in the Dark
Adopting Trouble
White Wings
Flight from Shadow
Doppelganger
4
Limbo
 
Jared Anjewierdan books:
The Black Chronicles
1 The Long Black
2 Black Holiday
3 Running Black
4 Black Salvage
5 Battles in the Black
6 Homecoming in Black
 
Clockwork Justice Series
1 Penny Dreadful and the Clockwork Copper
 
Planetary Anthology Series: Saturn
Armored  Heart
Keepers of the Wind
 
Jessica Williams
Etsy shop: JessicaSketches
 
Mary Jensen books:
Lifelines: a Poetry Anthology
Chiaroscuro
 
Tales of Tessagonia Series
1 The Blazing Princess
2 Mirror
3 The Princess Test
 
Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Intro
0:00:25 - AJ Irving
0:01:52 - Discovering a passion for picture books
0:02:41 - Creative Process
0:04:46 - Marketing
0:05:48 - Getting published
0:07:15 - Forthcoming book
0:07:56 - Waiting is the Hardest Part
0:08:42 - Reader Reactions
 
0:10:07 - Alesha Adamson
0:12:46 - Accidental Author
0:16:51 - Writing by Hand
0:19:41 - Did you Get a Developmental Edit?
0:22:21 - Self Marketing
0:24:11 - Future Plans
0:24:47 - Seeing Your Art Out There
0:25:45 - Doing All The Things on Your Own
0:26:39 - Making Connections
0:27:53 - Don't Let Your Struggles Hold You Back
 
0:28:50 - Blake Casselman
0:30:14 - Screenwriting
0:32:43 - Comics Spark a Love for Reading
0:39:11 - Learn Screenwriting from a Library Book
0:41:08 - Selling a Screenplay
0:48:22 - Marketing Independent Film
0:50:54 - Indie Horror in Post-Production
 
0:53:49 - Jared Anjewierden
0:56:53 - First Story I Remember Writing
0:57:39 - Let the Character Do What They're Gonna Do
0:58:54 - Publishing Template
1:00:01 - Marketing
1:01:10 - Future Works
1:03:32 - Commas and Spelling and Endings
1:05:39 - A Book Isn't a Book Until It's Read
 
1:07:20 - Jessica Williams
1:08:41 - Sketching Things Out
1:09:50 - Funny Things on the Internet
1:10:40 - Design to Product
1:12:06 - Favorite Fruit
1:12:48 - Marketing Online and IRL
1:13:29 - Ideas for Miles
1:14:22 - Ideas That Don't Work Out
1:15:02 - Make Someone Smile
 
1:15:58 - Mary Jensen
1:17:01 - Something and an Author
1:17:41 - Different Sources of Inspiration
1:18:34 - Learning to Self Publish
1:19:33 - Social Media Marketing
1:20:08 - Ten More Books
1:20:57 - Chiaroscuro
1:21:59 - Finding My Audience
1:22:31 - The Act of Creation
1:23:01 - Outro

Native American Heritage Month

Learn more about the native tribes and Native Americans in Utah, and what you can do to help support them with our guest Jacob Crane.
 
00:00 - Intro00:55 - Tribes in the Salt Lake Area01:34 - Community Advocacy02:23 - How to Support Native American Community03:34 - Recommended Organizations05:12 - Respectful Ways to Engage06:58 - Sovereign Nations09:18 - Building the Realtionship between Tribes and the State14:01 - Recommended Media

Banned Books Week

Join us as we talk to Wanda Huffaker and Katie Wegner about Banned Books Week, book challenges, and what you should know about reconsideration requests.
 
00:00 - Intro00:45 - Read This!06:17 - Katie Wegner and Wanda Huffaker07:16 - Banned Books Week08:09 - Banned vs. Challenged09:23 - Why are books challenged?11:00 - Reconsideration Committee14:50 - How many reconsideration requests do we receive?16:28 - Reconsideration criteria19:23 - Where do these criteria come from?21:41 - Do you think it's important to fight against banning books?26:54 - Let Freedom Read30:37 - Favorite Banned or Challenged Books35:36 - Final Thoughts: Read What You Choose40:59 - Outro

Summer Interns

Come hear about the experience of some of our Summer Interns: the highs, the lows and everything in between.
00:00 - Intro00:54 - Meet Our Teen Interns02:00 - How Did You Find Out About the Intern Program?04:22 - Why Did You Want to Work at the Library?05:44 - Are You Interested in the Library as a Career Now?07:17 - Was Your Internship What You Expected?08:33 - Internship Highlights12:07 - Good Experiences13:35 - Advice for Future Interns16:05 - What Surprised You?17:11 - What Should Library Patrons Know About Libraries?19:09 - Book Recommendations21:25 - Outro

The Dog Days of Summer

Join us as we talk to Susan Hamada from Utah Pet Partners about reading to dogs, and our Read to a Dog Program.
0:00 - Intro0:31 - Read This5:48 - Susan Hamada - Utah Pet Partners6:59 - Read With Me7:43 - Pet Therapy Training8:41 - How Does Reading to a Dog Help?9:38 - What About Different Animals?11:37 - Memories of Program Highlights14:26 - How Can I Participate?16:56 - Outro

Zines

Join us to learn all about Zines. What are they? Where can you find them? Do you want to make your own? Find out all about it here!
 
0:00 - Intro1:22 - Read This4:54 - What is a zine?8:09 - What is some of the history of zines?12:20 - Examples of zines13:36 - What is the zine community like in Utah?17:05 - What type of person makes zines?19:27 - Online zines25:21 - Where can I find zines?32:07 - What do you love about zines?37:57 - Do you have a favorite zine that you have made?40:55 - How do you sell zines?44:11 - Favorite zine-related books47:39 - Kearns Zine Club48:52 - Trading zines51:49 - Outro

Pride Month

Join us as we talk with our special guest, Kat Zimmerman, about Pride Month and all things pride related.
 
00:00 – Intro
00:25 – Read This with Cynthia Hinckley and Tami Austin
Cynthia’s Reccomendations:
For Young Kids:
My Own Way: Celebrating Gender Freedom for Kids by Joana Estrela
True You: A Gender Journey by Gwen Agna and Shelley Rotner
Ho’onani: Hula Warrior by Heather Gale
For older Kids:
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith
Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino
Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff
Tami’s Reccomendations:
For Teens:
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
Project Nought by Chelsey Furedi
The Pride Guide: A Guide to Sexual and Social Health for LGBTQ Youth by Jo Langford
For Adults:
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
She/He/They/Me: For the Sisters Misters & Binary Resisters by Robyn Ryle
My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson
12:03 – Kat Zimmerman Introduction
12:47 – What should everyone know about Pride Month?
14:22 – History of Pride Month
16:27 – LGBTQ2IA+ letter meanings
17:34 – Who can celebrate Pride Month
19:56 – How allies can support the queer community
22:58 – Being queer in the library
25:11 – The Rainbow Alliance at the Kearns branch
30:13 – Advice for starting a QSA
33:18 – Favorite Queer books, authors, and other media
Check Please! By Ngozi Ukazu
Icebreaker by A. L. Graziadei
Magical Boy by The Kao
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell
Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
But I’m a Cheerleader – Movie
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once – Movie
Keith Haring – Artist
Sasha Velour – Drag Queen
Sasha Colby – Drag Queen
Ru Paul’s Drag Race – TV Show
What We Do in the Shadows – TV Show
Our Flag Means Death – TV Show
42:56 – Wrap up and outro

Marketing at the Library

This month we’re talking to Jeff Buydos of our library marketing department about what they do and why they do it. We also had some bonus questions for Jeff, an avid mountain biker, about National Bike Month!0:00-0:22: Intro0:22-0:45: Intro to Jeff Buydos0:45-4:52: The job of a library marketing team4:52-7:00: How is the marketing team made up? Who does what?7:00-10:45: The importance of marketing in libraries10:45-15:40: How has library marketing changed?15:40-18:50: A typical day in the life of Jeff18:50-22:10: Favorite parts of the job22:10-26:16: Favorite system events: 80s Prom, Mardi Gras, Star Party26:16-30:50: How the County Library’s marketing has changed30:50-34:01: Craziest request through social media34:01-35:44: Last thoughts on marketing35:44-41:41: It’s Bike Month! Tell us about your bike experience41:41-43:01: Outro 

Poetry Month

Celebrate National Poetry Month with us as we welcome local poets Wynter Storm and Rees Sweeten to talk about the magic of poetry!
 
0:00-0:28: Intro0:28-6:45: Read This!6:45-9:35: Introduction to our guests, Wynter Storm and Rees Sweeten9:35-12:30: Why is poetry so important to people?12:30-20:05: Favorite poems to share20:05-24:40: Favorite poets24:40-29:40: Is poetry hard to get into?29:40-31:22: The Utah poetry scene31:22-40:23: How does a slam poetry competition work?40:23-45:12: How can people participate in your events?45:12-46:29: Outro