JoCoLibrary Uncovered

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

It’s National Preparedness Month which is an observance each September to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time. So, get prepared:

1. Get informed (we suggest registering at NotifyJoCo for emergency alerts.)
2. Make a plan
3. Assemble a Kit
4. Maintain your kit

And, make sure there's a good book in that kit! Can we suggest a Post-apocalyptic fiction title?

We welcome back Gregg Winsor and friends to take a deep-dive into Post-apocalyptic fiction—a subgenre of science fiction where some disaster has occurred, and we discover IF the characters were … prepared.

Our Recommendations:  
Charles’ Choices: The Passage by Justin Cronin & Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton 
Dave’s Double-feature: visit the streaming video section of our eLibrary: On IndieFlix you’ll find a 14 minute Drama/Science Fiction film from 2022 called Riley. On Kanopy under one of our favorite categories—The Great Courses—learn about Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature.  
From our catalog: Post-Apocalyptic Stories 
Important Preparedness links:

• Official National Preparedness Month website: ready.gov
• Notify JoCo
• FEMA and the American Red Cross: Preparing for Disaster
• American Public Health Association: Natural Disaster Preparedness Quiz

We invited five staff members with very different behind-the-scenes jobs to answer three simple questions. You’ve heard the saying, “That’s like comparing Apples and Oranges” right? Well, Dave and Charles take it one step further with Apples, Oranges and Bananas. We picked staff with jobs that touch every part of the Library system—Josh: the Warehouse Manager, Patti: the Executive Assistant, Bryan: a Courier, Julie: a Training Specialist and Brian: a MakerSpace Facilitator. Hear what these individuals do and learn about the Library from unique perspectives. We even let them play Librarian and suggest great titles.   

Our Recommendations:  
Charles’ Choices: Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
Dave’s Double-feature: Apollo 13 and Seven Samurai in Kanopy 
From our catalog: every title mentioned in the episode

KC True Crime

"Like most cities during Prohibition, Kansas City had illegal alcohol, bootleggers, speakeasies, cops on the take, corrupt politicians and moralizing reformers. But by the time the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed, Kansas City had been singled out by one observer as one of the wettest cities, as well as the wickedest.“     
~ Prohibition in Kansas City, Missouri: Highballs, Spooners & Crooked Dice by John Simonson 

Your history-loving hosts, Charles "T-Bone" Hower and the "Jackalope"—AKA Dave "Curtains" Carson—spill the beans and sing like canaries to reveal the darkside of Kansas City history. It's Kansas City True Crime on the JoCoLibrary Uncovered Podcast. 

Join us as we explain how a lawless culture that began before the Civil War evolved into political and criminal empires that ultimately drew the FBI's focus as they fought to put an end to decades of crime and violence. We bring in special guest Erik Stafford who is a historian, storyteller and a Kansas City History Tour Guide to shed some light on stories that have lived in the dark for too long.

KC True Crime Recommendations: 

Booklist, websites and resources mentioned in the episode.

What is the difference between thrillers and mysteries? What are good recommendations in each of these genres? Readers Advisory Librarian Gregg is back with colleagues Piepie and Bet to do a deep dive into thrillers and mysteries and titles that are a good mixup of the two genres.

Our Thriller and Mystery Recommendations:  
Charles’ Choice: Hell is Empty, Craig Johnson
Dave’s Double-feature: No Country for Old Men and Memento in Kanopy in our eLibrary
From our catalog: Thrillers and Mysteries

Hobbies

What is a hobby? Some say it's any activity you might engage in during your leisure time for pleasure. We disagree. Vehemently! We say it has to have some personal enrichment component. Why? Well mostly because we have so many great leisure time resources that we couldn't fit them into one episode!

Last month we talked about fun activities that bring you pleasure. This month, we're exploring how the library can help with your enriching leisure activities. The Librarians are back to provide a deep-dive into hobbies. Readers Advisory Librarian Helen Hokanson leads a discussion with librarian Jess Gilson, MakerSpace facilitator Lydia Perez and clerk Joyce Mitchell. They share their hobbies and introduce you to all kinds of Library resources.

Our Hobby Recommendations:  
Charles’ Choice: Model Railroading in our eMagazine section 
Dave’s video recommendation: go to jocolibrary.org/elearning, scroll down to the “Great Courses” section and click: “Go to Great Courses.” You will land on the Kanopy page with all of the Great Courses categories. Loh and behold, the second row is the category “Hobbies!” Learn how to draw, cooking techniques, dog training and more! 
From our catalog—Hobbies

Come Celebrate Hobbies:
Discover a new hobby at the Community Connections Fair during the All Together Now Summer Celebration! Twenty-three local organizations will be on hand to share activities, volunteer opportunities, and other ways to connect. From fly fishers to jugglers to gamers to ukulele players, the library is bringing us all together!

Fun Drive

July is National Anti-boredom Month. We combat boredom with fun!

If you listen to public or community radio, or you watch PBS, you are very familiar with “The Fund Drive"—that's "fund" with a "D." We’re not going to do that! Instead, we’d like to introduce a NEW concept—an annual FUN drive—that's ‘fun’ without a ‘D’. That's right: “Fun Drive” 

See, while a “Fund Drive” garners funds, a “Fun Drive” gathers what our Librarians and patrons consider “fun"—we’re talking guilty pleasures, passions, interests, whatever you engage in just for the fun of it. We then take a deep-dive into Library programs, services and even the collection to show how the Library can help you have fun and win your battle against boredom! 

It's a FUN episode. Literally.

Our Fun recommendations:   
Charles’ Choice: Kirby and the Forgotten Land for Nintendo Switch  
Dave’s Double feature: streaming video from Kanopy. Waiting for Guffman & Pee-Wee's Big Adventure  
Fun Drive Recommendations from our catalog  
And, what's more fun than Dad jokes?

Hopepunk

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” – Emily Dickinson

If you look up the term "hopepunk" online, the first definition offered up describes it as "A branch of speculative fiction featuring characters fighting for positive change, radical kindness, and communal responses to challenges." But, we can't just leave it at that. We need examples! Readers Advisory Librarian Gregg Winsor drops by with Josh Neff and Jo Field who share Hopepunk titles that they hope you will enjoy. 

Our Hopepunk recommendations:       
Charles’ Choice: Sourdough by Robin Sloan      
Dave’s Double feature: streaming video from Kanopy. Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour and Alone      
Hopepunk Recommendations from our catalog      
 

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Incarcerated

Individuals faced with temporary detention at the Adult Residential Center (ARC) in New Century, KS, rely on access to Johnson County Library materials on their road to recovery. Incarcerated Services Librarian Melody Kinammon introduces us to members of the ARC therapeutic community, Phil and Dia. They share how exploring books and using the on-site library has helped them.

Also, Youth Services Librarian Jayma Zook shares her experience with Read to Me—incarcerated parents are recorded reading aloud and the Library provides a copy of the recording and the book to their child.

It’s all part of what we call: “Outreach Services.” We uncover programs, stories and services you might not have known about. 

Our recommendations:      
Charles’ Choice: Night of the Ninth Dragon by Mary Pope Osborn (from the Magic Treehouse Series)       
Dave’s Double feature: streaming video from Kanopy. Language and Literacy Development and Father and Daughter.      
Melody: Literature for Justice reading list with a variety of titles—nonfiction and fiction—that address the United States criminal justice system.   This is a list she’s always updating!      
Jayma: The Daddy Book and The Mommy Book. She says both are very popular with the Read to Me crowd, but one that comes to mind that talks specifically about incarceration is Missing Daddy by Mariame Kaba.  It has a discussion guide at the end to help facilitate a discussion with kids about this hard topic.      
Books mentioned in the episode: JoCoLibrary Uncovered - Incarcerated Booklist

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JoCoLibrary Uncovered Presents

Acclaimed author Jacqueline Woodson—who will join Johnson County Library* to launch the All Together Now 2023 Summer Reading program—talks about her writing and reading with Readers Advisory Librarian Gregg Winsor. Woodson discusses how she navigates jumping between genres and audiences, her writing process, collaborating with illustrators, and connecting with communities through outreach. She even gives us a glimpse into her upcoming book!

*Please note: Although registration is currently full for Meet the Author: All Together with Jacqueline Woodson, we encourage you to join the waitlist because that will give you access to the recorded program after the event.

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Fun, Weird, Wild and Wonderful Science

Our librarians are back and this time Gregg Winsor brought a couple friends along—librarians Caitlin Perkins and Wendy Gish—to talk in-depth about their favorite weird and wild science books! "Microhistories" are a genre of nonfiction books dedicated to a deep-dive on one particular topic, like snails, psychedelics, or communication amongst trees.        
        
Our recommendations:       
Charles’ Choice: American Serengeti by Dan Flores       
Dave’s Double feature: streaming video from Kanopy. Super Size Me: The Fast-Food Industry in America.       
and NOVA Universe Revealed: Milky Way.       
Weird and Wild Science Book Recommendations

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