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JoCoLibrary Uncovered
Anti-Boredom Month Aid
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?
We hope you enjoy this subgenre!
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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Our Podcast Presents Stories Beyond the Stacks
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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An Interview with Acclaimed Author Jacqueline Woodson
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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Science Microhistories Deep Dive
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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Kid Book Reviews by Kids
Library Kids on Library Books!
It’s almost time for Summer Reading and who better to recommend kids titles than kids?! We attached googly eyes to our mighty handheld recorder and took to the stacks to ask over 20 children which books they love and what they like about them. We also asked adults what their favorite books were when they were kids. This episode is 20 minutes of pure joy that will leave you with a list of gems, and just might remind you of what sparked your interest in reading to begin with!
Recommendations from our collection:
Charles’ Choice: Last Stop on Market Street – Matt de la Peña
Dave’s Double feature: Kanopy Kids: Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend and Kitten’s First Full Moon
Library Kids on Library Books list
Adults Recall Their Favorite Books From Childhood list
JOCOLIBRARY UNCOVERED Home Page
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In Case You Missed Our Last Genre Deep Dive
You'll Love this!
Welcome to our first collection deep dive episode! We begin with a genre selected by our readers advisory librarian Gregg Winsor, “Books about book lovers.” Gregg will be serving as more of a moderator for most of our future deep dives, but for today he has brought a couple friends along—Piepie Baltz and Kelly Downs—to chat about their favorites in the genre.
JOCOLIBRARY UNCOVERED Podcast Collection Deep Dives: Books About Book Lovers recommended reading list.
JOCOLIBRARY UNCOVERED Home Page
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In Case You Missed Our Arts Deep Dive
The Art of the Library
In this episode of JOCOLIBRARY UNCOVERED, it's a deep dive into the Library's relationship with the arts.
Johnson County Library supports the Local Arts in so many ways! Start with our collection. You’ll find many types of arts books at the library – graphic design, architecture, photography, how to books, journals turned into books, knitting books. We provide exhibition spaces for artwork to be displayed at several branches and it changes out three times a year. We cohost a major film festival with the city of Lenexa. We produce a nationally renowned Teen Arts and Literature publication: Elementia featuring original work by teens in our community. And, the MakerSpace provides a space for you to be hands-on with your craft. Charles and Dave talk with Librarians Bryan Voell and Jen Van Oosbree about these and more.
Recommendations from our collection:
Charles' Choices: The Big Book of Tiny Art and Everybody Has a Podcast (except You)
Dave's Double feature: Kanopy - Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art and Van Gogh - A life Devoted to Art
Jen's Joy: A Global Approach to Interior Style
Bryan's Backing: Every book in the collection on street photograher Vivain Maier
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Jocolibrary Uncovered Podcast
New Name. New Format. New Season!
Did you hear? We’re creating a whopping 16 episodes for our 2023 season! The “Jocolibrary Uncovered” podcast will release two episodes a month alternating between subject deep dives and collection deep dives. Johnson County Library’s podcast uncovers our collection and reveals the behind the scenes stories at the Library. The new season begins April 5 and runs through November.
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Or, wherever you regularly listen to podcasts, you can find us by entering "jocolibrary" into the search bar. You'll find "JOCOLIBRARY UNCOVERED" Then click subscribe.
Too complicated? No worries. You can find all of our 2023 season podcast episodes below. Click and listen. It's that easy!
2023 SEASON Begins April 5!
- The Arts Extravaganza
- Books About Book Lovers
- Library Kids on Library Books
- Fun, Weird, Wild and Wonderful Science
- Incarcerated Services
- Hopepunk
- Fun Drive
- Hobbies
- KC True Crime
- Thriller, True Crime and Horror
- Apples, Oranges and Bananas
- Post-apocalyptic
- “Libreria” vs “Biblioteca”
- Romance
- Unsung Heroes
- Momoirs
Episode Archive
With the exception of early episodes that were published to YouTube exclusively, all episode are available at our Podbean podcast hosting site. There you will find some gems like our seven part "Discover your Library" episodes, poetry, music, interviews and more.
Did You Know? Johnson County Library Has “Did You Hear?” Podcast
Podcasting has become an increasingly popular communications tool for education and entertainment.
Since 2018, Johnson County Library has offered its own podcast, titled “Did You Hear?”
These digital recordings have proven to be a fun and creative way to share Library staffs' passion for what they do. Episodes offer a behind-the-scenes exploration of Library services, events and the collection, revealing how the Library is so much more than buildings with books.
Ninety-five episodes have generated nearly 20,000 downloads, averaging 200 per installment. The most popular, about the U.S. Census, garnered nearly 1,000 downloads. Other popular episodes include interesting topics like K-Pop, Return Bin Finds, Notable Books, the MakerSpace, Community Matters and Library Hacks. They are all available on the Library's website.
Interviewees have included an astronaut, award-winning authors, civic leaders and popular chefs. The 20-minute conversations, released monthly, take listeners on an audio journey of discovery.
Co-Hosts Dave Carson and Charles Hower make a great team and are excited for 2023.
“We really found our swing this year, our stride,” said Carson, who launched the podcast project in June 2018. The program has had several co-hosts but has built continuity and momentum since Hower signed on in early 2021.
Carson and Hower each bring unique skills to this endeavor. Carson has a master’s degree in educational technology and has been with Johnson County Library for almost 15 years, concentrating on web content development and multimedia production. In 2018 he realized podcasting could enhance what the Library was already doing with its website, videos and social media.
Hower was hired as a Monticello clerk in 2018 and became an information specialist at Central in March 2020. He has a music recording background and is an avid podcast listener.
Their first episode together in 2021 focused on what patrons could still do through the Library, despite COVID restrictions. The “Did You Hear?” podcast, available through the Podbean hosting service to all sorts of podcast apps, provided great Library outreach during the pandemic.
“It was connecting patrons to those resources, saying ‘Hey, we’re still here,’” Hower explained.
Hower personally learned a lot. “Getting to speak to people about their jobs and find out their backgrounds, I really enjoyed that early on,” he said. “Now, I think my favorite part is that it feels like I’m hanging out with friends and I get to chat with them.”
Carson appreciates how the Library's administration has supported the initiative, providing equipment for high-quality audio.
“I’m a lifelong learner like everybody is here,” Carson said. “All the different people who come in here, we have a general sense of what they do, but when you get into the specifics, that’s where the real meat of it is. It’s so enjoyable.”
They began 2022 by interviewing a Library staffer preparing to retire and another newly hired, comparing their perspectives. Other installments shined a spotlight on summer reading and the Writers Conference.
They are excited for 2023 and are planning their next installments. They would love to hear your feedback through this brief survey.
“If we can help people see everything that the Library is involved with, I think that helps break down stereotypes,” Carson said, “showing who the librarians are and what a modern library is and can be, and your unique and personal relationship with it.”