Welcome again to Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. Please subscribe and tell your friends!
The Spanish Language Book Review begins at 10:30 and ends at 13:15
The English Language Transcript can be found below
Episode four’s Reader’s Advisory is The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. If you like The Sisters Brothers you should also check out: The Hawkline Monster by Richard Brautigan, A Good Man by Guy Vanderhaeghe, and The Age of Gold by H. W. Brands.
My personal favorite Goodreads list The Sisters Brothers is on is You Are The Coolest Person In This Coffee Shop
Today’s library tidbit is a Celebration Tidbit.
After celebrating out Centennial in 2016 Library Administration and staff turned our thoughts to further developing and enhancing our library services. With a stronger focus on Community, Outreach, and Partnership, and greater freedom in programming, Library Director Casey McPhee and the library administration team decided to put together a nomination submittal for the Florida Library Association Library of the Year award.
Well I’m happy to announce, if you hadn’t heard already, that Largo Public Library received the Florida Library Association 2018 Library of the Year award at the organization’s annual conference in May. The key considerations for this award are: creativity and/or innovation in programming, expansion and/or enhancement of service to all constituents in the community, and leadership in implementing programs that can be emulated by other libraries. Largo competed with a pool of very worthy libraries.
Nancy Brockman, chairperson of the FLA Awards committee, said “the library was chosen because of its focus on community building, outreach and partnership, which resulted in greater relevancy in the programs and services offered. The exceptional level of professional service provided by this library helped them rise to the top of the bank of worthy nominations.”
In the last 5 years, the library set itself apart by focusing on building community relationships and increasing trust among library users and non-users alike. In 2017, the library re-imagined the possibilities for service and the duties of current staff to establish a community outreach services department with 3 full-time staff and 1 part time staff, enhanced the English Language Learning program by partnering with Pinellas County Schools to host their Adult English Course, started the design of a bookmobile and planned mobile library service. Outreach staff oversaw the State Library of Florida Grant Program for Career Online High School in which staff helped 24 People begin their path to a high school diploma or career readiness, the Welcoming Week and Refugee Home Goods Drive, resulting in over 100 baskets donated to local agencies supporting Largo’s immigrant population, and an expansion of the ongoing English Language Learning One on One Tutoring Program to include Citizenship and Naturalization classes and multi-level English classes from Pinellas County Schools, and an on site tutoring pilot project for employees at a local business.
In order to make these goals a reality and in anticipation of the bookmobile’s arrival in 2018, staff established partnerships with more than a dozen mission aligned local agencies. A campaign to raise funds for the bookmobile and its ongoing operating costs reached the $405,000 point, over 2/3rd of our $600,000 goal! When the bookmobile arrives it will provide access to not only books, CDs, DVDs, and more physical items but will also provide library programming and fun to communities that are unable to reach our building. A new partnership with Pinellas County Schools was established to serve 2,000 meals and snacks to local children as a Summer Breakspot location. Created to fill food needs normally covered in schools, Summer Breakspots are open to all children under the age of 18.
This happened alongside traditional library service in which staff assisted over half a million visitors in 2017 – a 7.9 percent increase from the previous year – and hosted over fourteen hundred programs – an 18 percent increase. There was a twenty percent increase in the Children’s Summer Reading Program registration, where kids celebrated reaching their reading goals with free tickets to the Book Maniac’s Mini-Golf event. The Book Maniac’s Mini-Golf in the Stacks event hosted 350 players. Our teen volunteers helped to create, build, set-up, man stations, and clean up the 18 hole course.
Staff planned an Adult Summer Reading Kick Off which drew over 500 people inspired to share their love of books, write book reviews, and win prizes. The library hosted Largo Connects: A Community Volunteer Fair showcased the work of 27 non-profits in need of assistance. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys was the Largo Turns a Page community read. The program and book signing brought 200 people together to focus on how we perceive refugees and those on the losing side of war.
All in all, the Library of the Year award became a reality through the time and talent of current and past staff and volunteers, the support of the City of Largo Administration and the City of Largo Commission, patrons, donors, and stakeholders who see the need for libraries and the benefits of library service in our community.
And now the English language Translation of Viajero de Libros, or Book Traveler:
Today I’m going to talk about the book 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher.
Before giving my opinion, I am going to give you a small synopsis of the book:
Clay Jensen is an ordinary teenager who finds, when he arrives one day at his house, a mysterious box addressed to him. The content is none other than a series of tapes, seven in total, which seems to have been sent by Hannah, a classmate who has committed suicide two weeks ago. Despite the bewilderment of hearing Hannah’s voice again, Clay discovers that there are thirteen reasons why she has decided to take her own life. Thirteen cassettes for thirteen people to listen to. He is one of them.
Throughout the day, Clay will become obsessed with the recordings and will even tour the city with a map that she has provided. But it is a different trip than expected, a trip where the arrival point is precisely the same as the departure and in which new eyes are needed to see everything as if for the first time. Hannah will gradually reveal her life in an attempt to highlight the consequences, large or small, of the things we do and do not do, and that change the world sometimes without realizing it.
Opinion:
In my opinion, I suppose having seen the TV series before reading the book prejudiced me, but I must say that while the series impassioned me and left me absolutely marked, the book disappointed me with equal intensity.
The history of the book is absolutely flat and boring. There is no perspective; only Hannah’s voice and the occasional quote from Clay. There is no interaction with the other characters, which lack form or development. Justin, Courtney, Sheri, Tyler… They’re just names on a recording. They have no history, they have no motivations or perspective. Not knowing their motivation the reader does not know what leads them to behave as they do, harming Hannah in the process. The book does not talk about suicide, it does not talk about depression, it does not talk about abuse as it should be talked about. I had heard so many great things about the book but for me it was a very bitter experience. The TV series is tremendously better. But decide for yourselves and let me know your opinion.
Is all for today. See you in the next edition of “Book Traveler”. Bye.
Thanks everyone for listening some upcoming library events to keep track of:
August 1: Last Word Book Club at 6:00pm in the Local History Room
August 2: Androids for Beginners 2 at 3:00pm in the Jenkins Room A
August 6: Non-Certified CPR Instruction at 7:00pm in the Children’s Program Room
August 7: Library Catalog Searching for Genealogists at 6:00pm in the Local History Room
August 7: Oil Painting with Carol at 6:30pm in the Jenkins Room A
August 8: Book Talking with Iris at 12:00pm in the Local History Room
August 13: Poets Live! At 6:30pm in the 1st Floor Quiet Reading Room
August 15: Ukulele Workshop – Advanced Beginner at 6:30pm in the Jenkins Room A
August 21: Getting Started with Facebook at 6:00pm in the Computer Lab
August 23: Intro to 3D Printing at 4:00pm in the ideaLAB
August 30: Intermediate Excel at 3:00pm in the Computer Lab
Have a great day everyone we hope to talk to you again soon!
For everyone interested our intro music is by Break the Bans and the outro music is by Jahzzar, both artists can be found on Free Music Archive.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:04 — 16.9MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More