Library Card Sign Up Month

September is Library Card Sign Up Month and here in Connecticut we have more public libraries than towns! How do you get a library card? What do they have there? Why should I bother? Ashley, Kym, and Matt, librarians from the CT State Library, are here to answer the questions you have and the questions you never thought to ask.

What we’re reading:

·        The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker

·        Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

·        The Buffalo Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

State resources we mentioned:

·        The Connecticut Christmas Movie Trail

·        All CT Reads An all-state reading initiative

·        Research It Access digital databases and newspapers

·        The Palace Project App Access e books and e audiobooks from your local CT public library and the CT State Library in one location

Credit:

"Wholesome"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Connecticut State Library. Preserving the Past to Inform the Future!

Transcript

Kym (00:06)
Hello, welcome to Under the Charter Oak, a podcast of the Connecticut State Library where we preserve the past to inform the future. My name is Kym Powe I am the children and young adult consultant with the Connecticut State Library.

Ashley (00:19)
And I am Ashley Sklar, the Adult Services and Community Engagement Consultant, also here at the Connecticut State Library.

Matt (00:27)
And I'm Matt Geeza I'm the director of the Connecticut Library for Accessible Books and the Middletown Library Service Center for the Connecticut State Library.

Kym (00:34)
So since we all have worked for the Connecticut State Library, which is a library, the most important question we'll be asking today is what are you reading? I'm happy to kick it off. I'm reading an ARC, which stands for Advanced Reader's Copy of a book called The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker. Doesn't publish till November 4th, but it is an epistolary novel about two kids who are writing to each other in an astronomy textbook in their high school in Appalachia, or Appalachia, I think it depends on where you are. And so there's drawings and post-its and notes and they're trying to solve the mystery of the astronomy book.

Ashley (01:13)
I will kick it off next. am reading Evil Eye. I should say I'm reading, I'm listening to the audiobook for Evil Eye by Etaf Rum Forgive me if I'm not pronouncing that correctly. But this was one of our 2025 All CT Reads adult shortlist titles. It is excellent. She is a Palestinian American author. I do not have a summary prepared for you. So I'm going to leave you hanging and tell you.

You can find lots of information about it. have book discussion sets for it and lots of information on the website too. Matt.

Matt (01:46)
And I'm reading The Buffalo Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, which fits into the historical horror novel genre. I just started it, so I can't tell you too much about it. But Stephen Graham Jones has written a lot of books. He's a pretty prolific horror writer. But it's in 1912, Montana. And there's been a murder, or at least a body turns up anyway. And...

There's sort of a discovery through a diary that's found. So that's all I can say right now.

Kym (02:21)
Right, I think that's the thing with what are you reading. The answer's not what have you read, thus how did it go. It's like how's your journey? But so it is September and in the library world, September is Library Card Sign Up Month. So here in Connecticut, we've got about 33 % of the population that has a library card and that's a great number, but there are probably a lot of people that don't understand.

Like what's the point, right? It's 2025. Don't we all have computers in our hands and pockets? Well, the first answer to that is no, we don't all. I think those of us who think that are just sort of lucky enough to be in the situation where they do have access, quick and easy access to the internet, thus the world. But that's not the answer for everyone. And also there's a lot more that libraries have to offer. So tell me guys, what do you know about libraries?

And the importance of getting a library card and some of the benefits of having one those today and what you can access?

Matt (03:17)
I guess I'll jump in.  Well, I mean, really, they're the gateway to all sorts of information. I think historically we think of libraries as a place where there's books, but nowadays that no longer applies. It sure is still a place where you can find books, there's library cards provide access to digital content, whether it's e-audiobooks or e-books, databases and other sorts of similar research resources. just by having a library card, opens up access to whatever the library is able to provide. And that does vary from library to library.

Ashley (03:57)
Absolutely. I think there are so many libraries in Connecticut, especially with kind of these special collections. I'll give a shout out to New Haven and I know there are others for having a cake pan collection because you don't always want to invest, you know, $20 in that, I don't know, SpongeBob SquarePants cake pan. That was a popular one. So seeing what other things your library has, a lot of libraries have libraries of things that pop up at this point with different.

unique things. know another library that I think we did a CT pages episode with Kym had a small collection of kind of workforce ready things. So they had a collection of things that you might need if you're going on a job interview that maybe you don't want to purchase yet because you haven't gotten said job. So they had something like a nice briefcase to borrow if you wanted a way to carry in your resume professionally, or a nice handbag if you're a woman or, wanted to kind of have something that looked a little bit polished. Maybe that's not something you had. So I think they had some ties even for if you were going to wear kind of a shirt and tie. So it was kind of a, you never know what your library has. And so not only does the library card open that door, but visiting your library also lets you go and see what kinds of things they might have to offer you.

Kym (05:16)
And I think the thing about Connecticut, right? So being not a Connecticut native, but at this point I should probably just claim the state, but you know, we'll, with time, we'll get there. It's the third smallest state in the country, but boy do we have a lot of libraries. Our state doesn't have like large library systems like a lot of other states have. Instead it's kind of like each man doing their own thing. But for the most part, there are a couple of like universal truths about the libraries. And for the most part, it's really simple to get a library card. It's showing up to your local public library. And there are actually some places post COVID and quarantine where you can do it online. But it's showing up and bringing your photo ID, be it driver's license, know, state ID.

And if that ID has your current town address on it, then you're all set to go. And if it does not have your current town address on it, then bringing like mail with a matching name, like a bill or something like that.  So the process is super simple. And in our state, we have a really great program. We have a lot of programs that have a lot of names, but essentially you can take your local public library card from your town and you can take it to another town and utilize their services. So if I was living in Clinton and I needed a SpongeBob SquarePants cake pan. Which you just might. Who knows?  I could go to New Haven and I believe Stratford, that was the first place I think I heard of the cake pans. I could go there, borrow the cake pan.

Or put a request in potentially and have it sent to my library depending on the rules around that. I think the greatest thing to me about library cards here in Connecticut in particular is it almost doesn't matter what size your individual library is. It doesn't matter what size it is. It doesn't matter if they have like the latest James Patterson because you're able to utilize your library card at every library in the state of Connecticut which essentially means like one small piece of plastic and you have access to resources, items, literature, and the great librarians, if I do say so myself, across the entire state of Connecticut. I think that's awesome.

Ashley (07:42)
Yeah, I agree with you. think that program that allows you to walk into any library and borrow something with your hometown library card or return something at any library that you might have borrowed. think we play kind of a behind the scenes role at the State Library to support that effort. But really it's about kind of equalizing the playing field, right? We want every single Connecticut resident, regardless of where you live, to have access to all of the materials that are in libraries. And we just do this very small part to help support that.

Matt (08:15)
And if you don't feel like leaving your hometown or can't leave your hometown for any reason, you can also take advantage of interlibrary loan, which we also help facilitate here at the Connecticut State Library. interlibrary loan is just kind of a fancy way of saying, can request a book that belongs to another library and have it shipped to your hometown library. So you can just pick it up at that hometown library. So it kind of a little bit of best of both worlds. You can move around the state with go to the other libraries with your library card or just ask that materials be sent directly to your library for pickup.

Kym (08:51)
Absolutely. And to your point, Ashley, that you'd mentioned previously about accessibility.

I think what's really great is I've worked in a couple of towns, Connecticut has these towns that are sort of labeled distressed municipalities that just sort of don't have a ton of funding and there might be more need in some areas than others. So you run into things like people who perhaps don't have a permanent address for one reason or another, or perhaps they're staying in a shelter. And as far as I know, every library in the state, everyone that I've worked at, everyone that I have had interactions with has some way to provide library card access to essentially any resident. So your situation doesn't really matter. And again, because here there are 190 public libraries, there are only 169 towns, and there's many, many ways to do many, many things. So the process may differ, but I think it's also really important to know that a person's individual home situation or ID situation does not necessarily exclude them from being able to access a library card and thus the resources that they may need, perhaps need that briefcase or that fancier purse or a tie. In libraries where there's a will, there's a way. So it's just really important to, I think, keep that at the front of the mind, you know, that someone is not necessarily cut off because of circumstances.

So I think when someone says library, right, and we did it here, we started off, we're like, we work at the library, what are you reading? There are physical items that can be borrowed from a library. Matt, you alluded to this a bit too. And books, think, like, well, I don't think I know. Books are just the beginning of that very, very long list. Ashley, you mentioned cake pans. But there are other things that you can borrow from libraries that I think people don't really like realize. And I'm gonna start with this. And the crazy thing is like, I don't actually know that there is a library that has this thing, but now someone should listen and someone should buy this for their library of things, which is typically what we call, I live in an apartment, fully carpeted, beige, off-white carpeting. I have no idea what color it is. And a like shelf fell.

Ashley (10:59)
It's a challenge now.

Kym (11:16)
in my closet and like one item broke from the shelf. Like there were a million things on the item and the only thing that broke was a bottle of hot sauce and spilled all over the carpet. And I opened the door, saw the hot sauce and then closed the door and walked away and said, is a problem for future Kym.

And, if there's one thing I don't own in that apartment, it's a carpet shampooer. It's also a drill, I don't own that either. But it's a carpet shampooer and I was able to borrow a carpet shampooer, not from a library because like I did not have my library hat on, I had my panic hat on and my sister had recently borrowed a carpet shampooer from like Home Depot. But if I had all my faculties about me in that moment of panic,I would have tapped into my library network to see if there was a library somewhere that had a carpet shampooer. And I have enough faith in Connecticut to believe that someone out there has one. Please tell us if you do. But what are some other things that you guys have seen in libraries? Like, Matt, you go out to libraries doing outreach, like, constantly. So what are some of the other, like, unique things that you've seen at libraries when people?

have their life together unlike me with a hot sauce incident.

Matt (12:44)
Well, so I will say...one of the thinking about libraries of things I recall seeing one of the libraries of things that I visited had a one of those testers that you could for your car. Like if you the code comes up and you need to figure out what that code is and how to diagnose a problem. So you're trying to do work yourself on the car. They have that device that you could connect to with the dash and then you know be able to diagnose problems at least kind of figure out what is going on.

So I thought that was pretty practical for the at-home mechanic.

Kym (13:18)
So the answer isn't call your dad. When the check engine light comes on, you're saying you guys don't just pick up the phone and say, dad, this light's on. I'm going to send you a picture or just straight up video call, which has become my new habit. I don't even call on the phone. I want to see his face and I want him to see my face of distress.

Matt (13:37)
When something goes wrong. Carpet shampoo story. Have your wits about you. Oh, was a Remember, there's a library out there that has this. I've also seen musical instruments like ukuleles and mandolins, smaller transportable musical instruments. So there's a few things that, more things that come to mind when I think about libraries of things. But DVDs, know, still a great way to get.

Kym (13:44)
Horrible.

Matt (14:05)
TV shows and movies, a lot of libraries are still collecting them. So even in the age of streaming, not everybody has the ability to subscribe to multiple streaming services, so DVDs are a great option.

Ashley (14:19)
And speaking of DVDs, we also have books on CD, right? Which we just had someone last week ask us about if we had more books on CD in our collection, which was, you know, we have so many ways now to get audio books, whether from your local library or we do have a platform through the state library as well that you can get audio books through our Palace Project app. But this person was getting in a car going on a road trip and the car had a CD player. And so she was asking about, and while we do have maybe not as growing a collection of books on CD as we once did, we do have a small collection of books on CDs. So yeah.

Kym (15:03)
Yeah, it took me a minute to remember who that was, but yes, indeed, I do remember that was a thing that happened. It did, you were here. But I sure was.  But I think one of the coolest things that you can get from libraries is something that I think either you know about it and you use it constantly or you've never heard of it and it hasn't occurred to you to contemplate like looking for this, but museum passes. There will come a day where I will get into the car with a friend of mine and we will drive up to the Eric Carle Museum and spend a day there. I may have to borrow someone's child, so I love that. I will take them both so that I'm not just a random adult wandering around the Eric Carle Museum. But.

Ashley (15:39)
think mine would love to go.

Kym (15:48)
museum passes and while there are, we're lucky here in Connecticut that there are quite a few, there are at least some museums that have no cost associated with them.  What a great like day pass and so sometimes it'll give you free admission. I think the Eric Carle Museum might give like two adults and two kids or there used to be a pass that may or may not still exist for the Mystic Aquarium that discounted.

that price  because again, depending on your situation or just sort of like monetary preferences, some of the costs associated with these things might kind of like be a barrier to access or a barrier to entry for you and your family. And if you can get free access to something with just a piece of plastic that at this point,

I think everyone's got a key chain fob for library cards. Mine's in three pieces, but it still works. Why not use that as an opportunity? right, we're talking physical things like books and books on CDs and cake pans. And I know someone has a carpet shampoo or he's tell me, I suspect this may happen again. But then there are also other things, right? Like like museum passes and.

Ashley (16:58)
Somebody does in their library of tools.

theater tickets too with some libraries that have museum passes. It's a New Haven thing for sure. But I would bet that New Haven is not alone. I bet that there are others that might partner. I would imagine Hartford might have some connections with their theaters perhaps. But yeah, it's just another thing that's a part of that collection that might be, you know, not something that's in the budget otherwise. And so these are ways to make some of that more accessible.

Kym (17:11)
It's be a New Haven thing.

Mm-hmm. And so, mean, we touched base, and Matt, I think you brought this up a little bit. Right, there's the physical that you got in libraries. There's the personal, AKA the librarians who are here to get you all your strange answers to all of your amazing questions. But then there's also like an entire repertoire of digital access, right? That's something that you mentioned. What do you know about that?

Matt (18:02)
Yeah, so the digital collections can really be pretty widespread at this point. So they can be databases for things like doing research of classic research database might be like JSTOR, for example, this that has scholarly articles. So this might be something that high school students, university students might use or anyone else that's just looking for that type of article. There are newspaper collections that libraries can provide through sort of a similar database platform. I mentioned the e-audiobooks and the e-books, so in both of those formats, the different platforms. It'll vary from library to library, but most libraries are offering something like that, including the State Library with the Palace app. And of course, it's possible to stream music and audio on some of the platforms. Hoopla comes to mind.

Kym (19:00)
So my favorite season is coming, which is fall. But for those of us who have thought beyond fall into winter, I am here for you. For people who are ready to hang up their Christmas wreaths and put up all their candles and all that, I just wanna let people know, now again, with some of these platforms, it varies library to library. Like Hoopla is a really good example that the existence of that and what exists within that app is going to depend on your library. But there are other things like what Matt just mentioned, the Palace app.

And that is an initiative that is run by us here at the Connecticut State Library. And typically the resources that we are providing are being provided to all 169 towns. So Palace is for everybody. But for those who have thought ahead to the winter months, I just found out.

that you can get a seven day hallmark pass from the Hoopla at my library. I will not pay for the hallmark like streaming app, whatever it is. I will not do it. I like Lacey Chabert but not that much. But I will put my memorized library card number into Hoopla and like watch the countdown to Christmas or whatever in seven day increments. 

Ashley (20:19)
days you'll have seven. 

Kym (20:21)
12,

24, I actually don't know how that works, but I will do it in seven day increments with my library card. So it's just like, don't even, I opened Hoopla for no good reason and clicked through it. And that was the most exciting thing that I think I saw last week. So, you know, like there are surprises like that that can exist within the digital sphere of libraries that could be like beautifully surprising. So I'm really, really excited. I haven't watched Hallmark in a very long time, because I won't pay for it.

Ashley (20:52)
Merry Christmas.

Kym (20:53)
Merry Christmas!

Matt (20:55)
and you can try to find all the ones that were filmed locally in Connecticut.

Kym (20:58)
my gosh, isn't there a trail?

Ashley (21:01)
There is a trail. I think there's a Connecticut movie trail. I think that launched last Christmas.

Kym (21:07)
I think it did. we're gonna have to find that and add that to the show notes along with all the books that we're reading and things like that so do not worry we shall find this trail and then we can all watch hallmark in seven day increments on hoopla this maybe needs to be like a like a challenge or something I'm gonna think this through I got like four months. But I mean, listen, we could probably sit here and talk about libraries and library cards until we're kicked out of this building, quite frankly. ⁓ But with the launch of our new podcast, Under the Charter Oak, we figured a really great sort of jumping off point, which is a great jumping off point to the introduction to libraries and librarians in particular, just getting the card, right? And as we mentioned, there are a plethora of libraries post quarantine who have opened up the ability to at least begin the process of getting that library card from the comfort of your own home, possibly having to eventually visit the library to verify proof of ⁓ local citizenship and just to sort of like make sure that that stays up to date.

Ashley (22:19)
be exact 125 of those 190 libraries now offer that online library card. I that's can't do math, that math in my head, but that's a pretty big percentage.

Kym (22:25)
I mean Whatever 125 minus 190 turned into a percentage, we're great. I'm here to read, not to do math. That's why we're librarians. I mean, that's a really high number. And what a lovely jumping off point to then taking a moment to

Ashley (22:37)
Doing good, guys.

Matt (22:41)
That's why we're librarians.

Kym (22:50)
look into programs or digital literacy initiatives for some of those folks who maybe need a little bit more help with the computer. I think it's so easy to forget for those of us who are very immersed in the digital world to remember that just because you might be seeing a cell phone in everyone's hand does not mean that they have an unlimited data plan and does not mean that they spend as much time with the internet as the rest of us. My 90-year-old grandmother has a cell phone. That doesn't mean anything. It just means that she has it. Is it charged? Who's to know?  But during a time where we're sort of kicking off the potential introduction to libraries with Library Card Sign Up Month, we figured this was a really great topic to kick off our podcast under the charter oak. So unless you guys have anything else to offer with our...169 town potential audience, we're gonna say goodbye and thank you for joining us and we can't wait to see you again under the charter oak