A Glance Back At 2020 At The Mandel Library: Voices From The Stacks Podcast

From the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach:

January 21, 2021

by Kristine

American writer and producer Sidney Sheldon said, "Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life."

Libraries are innovative places that help people at any stage of life reach their goals and realize their dreams. While 2020 was a unique year, libraries have always been creatively pivoting and asking how we can continue to be the heart of the community.

Our library has a great story to tell of how we creatively pivoted to meet the needs of our patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic. The newest episode of the Voices from the Stacks podcast takes a glance on a few of those ways: Grab & Go kits, virtual storytimes, and walk-up pick-up service. In this episode, Kristine and Sophie discuss shifting roles as youth services librarians and how they stayed occupied in a socially distanced world. In the What’s New segment, Emily shares the Winter Reading Program supporting readers of all ages. Children’s Librarian Jeanne talks about how she pivoted from providing traditional in-person storytimes to leveraging technology to take it virtual and also discusses details of Grab & Go kits for children. Circulation assistant Leah shares how patrons responded to walk-up pickup service that was offered on June 29 after the library had been closed since March 19. And, a regular patron for at least 7 years, Kate discusses how librarians and resources offered by the library helped to create an engaging curriculum for her home-schooled family of four. If you want to let us know how we supported you in 2020 and give us ideas on how the Mandel Public Library can support you in 2021 and beyond, we want to hear from you! Reach out to the Voices from the Stacks podcast team by writing to mplpodcast@WPBCitylibrary.org.

2020 involved a lot of sheltering in place for most of us. What kind of things did you do while staying safe at home? An article by Diane J. Cho in People Magazine called “Quarantine Trends: Everything That’s Gone Viral During the Pandemic” has an interesting list of things that went viral like bread baking, puzzles, Dalgona coffee, and tie dye. Any of those sound familiar? We’ve devised a Bingo board that’s very specific to 2020. Let us know how you did. You may get a shout out in the next episode! Pages Javontae and Wendy shared how they did in this episode.

Books, film, and television mentioned include:

Sophie couldn’t put down these two fantasy novels: The Dragon Republic and The Burning God by R.F. Kuang and raved about Elizabeth Acevedo’s latest novel Clap When You Land. While Kristine could not quite finish Pandemic by Sonia Shah last year, she might pick it back up a few years from now. Javontae’s favorite book of the year was The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo and Wendy’s favorites were by Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer.

Like many morbidly curious folks in 2020, Kristine and Sophie watched Contagion, a 2011 film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Kristine comfort-watched her favorite seasons of The Great British Baking Show while Javontae watched American Horror Story and Wendy treated herself to the 2006 film Pride & Prejudice after having read the book and also watched the Japanese anime series One Piece.

Library programs mentioned include:

• Book and Music Festival
• Grab & Go Kits
• Virtual Storytime
• Virtual Elementary Homework Center
• Virtual Teen Homework Center
• Winter Reading

Credits:

Thanks to co-hosts Sophie and producer and audio engineer at Jeremy Mattocks. Thanks also to Emily for bringing us "What’s New" and to our interviewees and contributors: Angela, Kim, Sarah Tara, Jin, Stephen, Ericka, Karen, Antoinette, Faith, Jeanne, Leah, Kate, Javontae, and Wendy.

Music is “Special Place,” “Cake,” “Awakenings,” “Empty Playground,” and “Exactly” by Ketsa, and “Soft Rain” by Glass Boy. Plus audio from jakebagger, EminYILDIRIM, DynamicAlgorhythm, daytripper, digifishmusic, and more via freesound.org. Everything used with permission according to various Creative Commons licenses.

Listen to the episode:

Read the episode transcript

This press release was produced by the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach. The views expressed are the author's own.