Metropolitan Library System Podcast

Often thought of as one of the greatest athletes that ever lived, native Oklahoman and Sac and Fox Olympian Jim Thorpe became a multi-sport legend in the early part of the twentieth century. In our first ever live podcast recording Justin Lenhart, curator of the Jim Thorpe Museum and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame joined us to talk about the life of Jim Thorpe.

Have you ever wondered how the small towns dotting the landscape of Oklahoma got their names? Well, George Shirk did, and he wrote a book about it. Not only the mayor of Oklahoma City back in the 1960s, George Shirk was also a noted historian of all things Oklahoma. On this podcast we talk about his life and some of the things he wrote down in his book, Oklahoma Place Names.

If you're as excited about the Oklahoma State Fair as we are, then you're going to love this episode! Judie from the library's Special Collections department talks about the history of the state fair. If you're interested in learning more about the things you can see from our Special Collections, you can see them here: https://www.metrolibrary.org/find/research-and-learn/special-collections

It's almost time for one of Oklahoma's favorite things, college football! Not only does the University of Oklahoma have one of the most illustrious histories in all of the sport, but many other colleges have had an impact on the landscape of college football at many different levels. In this episode, OU super fan Donna from the Belle Isle library talks with us about the history of college football in Oklahoma. Note: Oklahoma State University went undefeated in 1945, not 1946. The reference to 1946 was in regard to the 1946 OSU yearbook which recaps every game of the 1945 season.

Did you know that national French Fry day is in July? We just found out so we thought it would be a great time to talk about who has the best fries in Oklahoma City, and what library resources you can use to learn more about Oklahoma City restaurants past and present, fries, and frying things. And if this podcast inspires you to learn more about the history of restaurants in OKC, you can go to the link below to access the Special Collections archive to see old menus, photos, and much more: https://www.metrolibrary.org/archive

It's time for summer reading again at your local library, so Emily from the Metropolitan Library System's Outreach and Engagement office took some time out of her busy schedule to talk to a couple of this year's teen volunteers about what's going on at the library this summer and what it's like being a volunteer. If you'd like to know more about summer reading, you can go to https://www.metrolibrary.org/summerreading

Ever wonder what a makerspace is or what you can do in one? Lindsay, Nell, Reagan, and Alex from the Metropolitan Library System's makerspaces talk about the many things you can do in our wonderful makerspaces, and about the upcoming MakerFest program at the Belle Isle branch.

April is poetry month, so on this month's podcast we talked to Betty Blanks, author of Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel. Miss McDaniel was an Oklahoma born poet that moved to California during the Great Depression, but never stopped writing about her home in Oklahoma. Betty Blanks was kind enough to talk to us about her new biography of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel and her work.

Did you know that March is craft month, or that the library offers lots of programs teaching different crafts? On this month's podcast we talk about some of the resources you can use through the library to help learn how to do a wide variety of crafts.

Erin Brown from the Oklahoma Territorial Museum tells us the stories of Oklahoma's first African-American territorial legislator Green Currin, and Oklahoma's first State Legistlator A.C. Hamlin.

Kristine from the library's Collection Development department talks about some of the new books we'll be getting in 2025.

Looking for something interesting and different to read during the upcoming holiday season? Librarians Lindsay, Maddie, Reagan, and Tyler share some recommendations from the library's collection of Christmas and winter related horror and mystery novels, graphic novels, and novellas.

Did you know that Bethany has a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian coming soon? Librarian Anna from the Bethany Library tells us all about the Smithsonian's exhibit "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" coming to the library, the upcoming festivities surrounding the exhibit, and a few interesting facts about the history of voting and democracy in Oklahoma.

Local author and expert in all things haunted in the state of Oklahoma Jeff Provine talks with us about his top five favorite haunted places around the state. If you'd like to learn more about Jeff's books or take one of his ghost tours, you can find him at http://www.jeffprovine.com/

In this month's podcast Oscar Hokeah talks with us about his PEN/Hemingway Award winning novel, Calling For A Blanket Dance.

Did you know there's a Museum of Telephone History in Oklahoma City? What about the Pigeon Museum? In this month's podcast, self-proclaimed museum nerd Meg from the library's Special Collections Departments tells us about some of the many interesting and unique museums in Oklahoma City that she's visited. If you'd like to hear more about interesting places around the city and around the state, check out Meg's podcast, OK By Me, also made available by the Metropolitan Library System. https://okbyme.libsyn.com/

July is Parks and Recreation month, so we thought it might be fun to make book recommendations based on some of our favorite characters from the show Parks and Recreation. As always, if you want to check out any of our recommendations, you can find them on the library's catalog. https://catalog.metrolibrary.org/?browseCategory=staff_picks And if you'd like to find out which Parks and Rec character is most like you, feel free to take the quiz below. https://www.buzzfeed.com/angelicaamartinez/parks-and-rec-personality-quiz

Did you know that many of the people involved in getting Americans into outer space were from Oklahoma? In this month's episode Special Collections librarian Jennifer Green talks with us about some of the many Oklahomans involved in the early days of the space race, both behind the scenes and in the shuttle.

In honor of the library's upcoming author visit on June 23, librarians Meg and Scott discuss the works of award winning author TJ Klune. Klune's works include the best seller, The House In The Cerulean Sea, The Greencreek series, The Extraordinaries series, and many more. If you'd like to listen to more of Scott's book reviews, you can find them on his podcast, Unsolicited Book Reviews.

In this month's episode we talk about what makes us pick up a book in the first place, some of our favorite book covers, and the books behind those covers.