Curtis Casts

Our Technical Services Manager Carol Lord interviews Curt Dale Clark, Artistic Director of Maine State Music Theater.

Joyce speaks with senior staff members Wynter, Sarah, and Melissa about upgrades and changes around the building that we have been working on, while the building has been closed due to COVID. We are so excited for you to see what we've been up to!

Librarian Pamela and Library Assistant Jamie discuss what historical fiction is (it's fiction), what to consider when reading the genre, and recommending some of their favorites. Tech Guru Bryan tells you why it's a good idea to buy your own internet modem and router instead of renting one from your internet service provider (ISP) and makes recommendations on what to buy, how to set it up, and how to keep it secure. 

Curtis Director Liz Doucett interviews the Executive Director of the Pejepscot History Center, Larissa Vigue Picard. Larissa describes some fascinating items from the center's collections, explains the center's recent name change (formerly the Pejepscot Historical Society), discusses the efforts of history centers and museums to decolonize their collections, and explains what criteria the center uses in acquiring items for their collections. 

Pamela and Wynter ask ten Curtis staff members to list their favorite books published in 2020 and discuss their own favorites as well.

This virtual author event was hosted by Adult Services Librarian Pamela Bobker, and was held on Zoom and Facebook Live on September 29, 2020 Edwin Hill is the Edgar- and Agatha-award nominated author of Little Comfort, The Missing Ones, and Watch Her. He was born in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and spent most of his childhood obsessing over The Famous Five, Agatha Christie, and somehow finding a way into C.S. Lewis’s wardrobe. His parents were fond of taking his sister and him on month-long family camping trips across the U.S. and Canada, and one of his best memories is of finishing a copy of The Seven Dials Mystery while the rest of the family visited Mount Rushmore. Growing up when VHS tapes were new meant that watching Alien, Jaws, The Shining, or Halloween whenever he wanted seemed luxurious, and still does today. Like Hester Thursby, he watched these movies – and others like them – a lot.   After attending Wesleyan University and graduating with a B.A. in American Studies, he headed west to San Francisco for the dotcom boom. Later, he returned to Boston, earned an MFA from Emerson College, and switched gears to work in educational publishing. He served as the vice president and editorial director for Bedford/St. Martin's, a division of Macmillan Learning for many years before turning to writing full time. He lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts with his partner Michael and his favorite reviewer, their lab Edith Ann, who likes his first drafts enough to eat them.  A lot of people helped him create this series, and he is a big believer in paying forward. Don't be a stranger. 

Bryan offers up his technology gift buying advice - he'll tell you what is worth buying this season, and where to get the best deals. Pamela talks with some special guests about the meaningful memories and connections created by holiday books and stories.

Pamela and Jamie from Adult Services discuss their picks from different fantasy genres, and Teen Librarian Melissa explains the five traits that define the family of fantasy genres, and makes some recommendations of her own.  

Just in time for Halloween, Manager of Materials Management Carol Lord speaks with her cousin, John Lestock - a Lutheran Pastor, who shares some spooky stories from his time spent in Owatonna, MN.  Stay tuned until the end, where Teen Librarian and Podcast Editor Melissa Orth talks about some Halloween-y foreign movies on Kanopy, and our newest digital offering, Mango Languages.  

Joyce talks with Dr. Nirav Shah - a household name in Maine, as he is the Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control.  However, the "C-word" (COVID-19) is not discussed in this interview, as the topic of their conversation is Quincy, Dr. Shah's family dog. 

This virtual author event was hosted by Adult Services Librarian Pamela Bobker, and was held on Zoom and Facebook Live on September 15, 2020 In this program, Carolyn discussed her most recent novel Death at a Séance and played several jazz songs on the piano, which she tied in with her description of the book. There are no spoilers in her talk, so don't worry if you haven't read the book! Carolyn Marie Wilkins is an author, a musician and a psychic medium.  She is the author of three mystery novels: Death at a Séance, Melody for Murder and Mojo for Murder. Carolyn’s nonfiction work includes They Raised Me Up: A Black Single Mother and the Women Who Inspired Her;Damn Near White: An African American Family's Rise from Slavery to Bittersweet Success, and Tips For Singers: Performing, Auditioning, Rehearsing. As a musician, Carolyn has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony and represented her country as a Jazz Ambassador for the U.S. State Department.  In addition, Carolyn maintains an active private practice as a psychic medium and Reiki healer. 

Library Director Liz Doucett talks about how libraries are adapting to meet the needs of our communities during the COVID pandemic, how our focus on sustainability has helped us in this effort, and how this adaptation will likely continue after the pandemic.  Tech Guru Bryan Hoppe discusses the importance of updating your devices, avoiding problems or scams, and some tools to make the process simpler. 

Wynter talks indie publishers, why their books aren't always found in the library, and getting books of poetry in the mail through a subscription to Ugly Duckling Presse. Links to publishers and other things in this episode can be found in this blog post.  Note: "I want to live like a snail, wrapped in gauze" by Elena Fainalova, translated by Genya Turovskaya and Stephanie Sandler, was first published in The Russian Version (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2009). Permission was given via the publisher for the reading of this poem in this episode. 

Adult Services Librarian Pamela talks with patron Jeanne Baker Stinson about romance novels.  We give a variety of suggestions for fans of romance and for people interested in trying one for the first time. Bryan's Tech Tip segment talks about the importance of backing up your devices and gives advice on developing a backup plan. 

Teen Librarian Melissa interviews Micah Pietraho, a rising Brunswick High School Senior. They discuss the challenges and opportunities of distance learning and socializing during the COVID pandemic, and the potential historical significance of this moment in time. 

Adult Services Librarian Pamela and Reference Assistant Jamie talk about what to read next if you enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir, and Tech Guru Bryan recommends a few tech blogs that he reads to keep up-to-date. 

Director Liz Doucett talks with the director of the Topsham (Maine) Public Library, Susan Preece, and the director of Merrill Memorial Library (Yarmouth, Maine), Heidi Grimm. They discuss what it's like to be a public library director in Maine, and how our libraries are navigating he COVID-19 pandemic. 

In the first segment, Wynter recommends reading you can't find at Curtis- the magazine Lapham's Quarterly. In the second segment, Bryan discusses the importance of passwords, and how to more easily and effectively manage them. 

Joyce interviews Brunswick author and editor Kate Egan, and her family dog, Tony. They talk about how Tony came to join the family, and about Kate's editing work on the newest Hunger Games book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins. 

In which eight members of the Curtis Library staff introduce ourselves, and our new podcast experiment.