Find Your Joy (and Your Friends) at the Library

On this episode we are celebrating National Library Week. This year’s theme is “Find Your Joy,” and Kacie and Eliza are here to tell us all about the many different ways the library can help you do just that.  

In addition, Kacie talks to Pat Sirulnick about the Friends of the Hamden Library and all that they do for us. If you don’t already know, the Friends are absolutely crucial to what we do. If you’re looking for a way to support the library, joining the Friends is a great way to do so. Visit our website for more details.

Transcript

Michael Pierry: Hello and welcome to the Hamden Library Podcast. I'm your host, Michael Pierry and we are celebrating National Library Week. This year's theme is Find Your Joy, and Kacie and Eliza are here to tell us all about the many different ways the library can help you do just that. But before we get to that, let's listen to a conversation Kacie had with Pat Sirulnick about the Friends of the Library and all that they do for us.

If you don't already know, the Friends are absolutely crucial to what we do. If you're looking for a way to support the library, joining the Friends is a great way to do so. Visit our website for more details on how to do that. And now here's Kacie and Pat. 

Kacie Meixell: Welcome to the Hamden Library Podcast. This month we're celebrating National Library Week, the American Library Association's annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries play in transforming lives and strengthening communities.

Today I'm chatting with one of the library's biggest cheerleaders and member of our Friends group. 

Pat Sirulnick: Hi, thank you. I'm Pat Sirulnick and I've been a member of the Friends of the Hamden Library for about four years now. I moved to Hamden from New York City in 2020. So the library was really a lifesaver for me.

Kacie Meixell: So for listeners who may not know, what exactly do the Friends of Hamden Library do? 

Pat Sirulnick: Okay, so the Friends of the Hamden Library is a volunteer organization and we help support the library with various programs. There are some of the arts programs and educational programs that people can participate in during the day and in the evening.

We also help support the library. In the museum passes, we have the secondhand prose bookstore, which is downstairs in the basement of the library, which is amazing. It has used books, it has puzzles, it has record albums and music CDs and DVDs. So all those funds go to various programs that the library has.

Kacie Meixell: That is so great. Yeah, we couldn't put on a lot of the programs that we host without the help of the Friends group. Pat, why did you personally choose to join the Friends of the Library? 

Pat Sirulnick: Well, as I said, I moved up to Connecticut in 2020 just when everything was shutting down. It was the beginning of the pandemic.

I was in a brand new apartment in a new city without a car, and I was able to get a library card online and take books out of the library. And when things started to open up, I actually walked to the library and I could pick books up. they were stacked outside. I've just always been an a library goer.

That was always one of the first things I did when I would move, I would get a library card because the library has so much to offer. So the more visits I made to the library and I would talk to people and everybody was so kind. And one of my neighbors was involved with the Friends of the Hamden Library and she saw that I had become a member and I said, yes, I'd like to volunteer.

And she asked me to come to a meeting and I did. And the rest is history. 

Kacie Meixell: We are. 

Pat Sirulnick: Here we are, yes. 

Kacie Meixell: Why do you think someone should join the Friends group instead of just being a regular patron? 

Pat Sirulnick: I think because the Friends have a little bit of something for everyone. If you're somebody who's retired, as many of us are, and we have lots of time, the library is a place where we could really feel that we're part of the community. Lots of us work in the bookstore, sometimes we'll be at different events, but if you wanna feel that you're part of the community and just have a couple of hours you can volunteer to just sit at a table for a couple of hours at an event or come to Hamden Fest and help out. I think just to be part of the community and feel that you are with people who feel the same way you do. So it's a family, I guess. 

Kacie Meixell: Can you share a memorable moment or a program or initiative that you're especially proud of?

Pat Sirulnick: That's a tough question. I think when we were finally able to get Zeffy working...

Kacie Meixell: oh, okay. 

Pat Sirulnick: In the bookstore. And Zeffy is the credit card program we use, because people would come into the bookstore and the books are very inexpensive, but lots of people don't carry cash anymore. And having the ability to take credit cards has really been a game changer.

Kacie Meixell: Yes. You guys are getting really advanced. 

Pat Sirulnick: Yes, we are. We've moved into the 20th century. 

Kacie Meixell: I mean, you can't pay a fine in person in the library with your credit card. You have to do that online, so...

Pat Sirulnick: So yeah.

Kacie Meixell: You can buy books from Friends from the store.

Pat Sirulnick: It's been great. People can join the Friends. We have the QR code now. It's on the library website, so we're getting new members.

It's easy peasy for everybody. Yeah. 

Kacie Meixell: That's great. What keeps you personally motivated to stay involved with the Friends? 

Pat Sirulnick: With the way things are changing and financially people are having difficulty, the library is a free service. It's more than just books. Everything is here. There are programs. There are programs for children, there are programs for adults.

If you're an older person and you just want to be out with people, the library is a really good place to just come and sit and maybe, you know, chat with people, and be part of the community. I think now it's even more important for the community to come together for services for all of us. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, I would agree with that. I think specifically in my experience as a young parent, the library was a lifeline and I can see, like, how different age groups and different types of people often come together at the library. 

Pat Sirulnick: Oh.

Kacie Meixell: It's really special. 

Pat Sirulnick: Absolutely. I found the book club. I was really happy to see so many different age groups at the book club, high school students and older people because older people tend to be with a lot of older people, so this does give an opportunity for people to just meet their neighbors that you wouldn't necessarily meet. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, that's true. How do you think our community has changed or the community needs have changed in recent years? And then how do you think the Friends group has adapted?

Pat Sirulnick: Yeah. I don't have a long history with Hamden, so it's kind of hard for me to tell, but just in general, I see there's more of a need for services, different kinds of services, whether it's for literacy or social or learning about how your government works. And just, you know, being involved in what goes on. The library has all those programs to offer.

I think the Friends group has changed in that we've coalesced more around our purpose that we're here to support the library and we're gonna do what we can to make the programs happen and, you know, volunteer what we can make our presence known more in the community. So people realize that. And the library is not just that building was a bunch of books. 

Kacie Meixell: Right, right. Yeah. What do you see as some of the most important services that the library is offering? 

Pat Sirulnick: I think one of the services that the library offers and it's sort of tangential, I guess, is social activities, is that it gives people a chance to get to know their neighbors as--as you said, as a young parent--we had the same conversation with someone a few weeks ago.

I think it was either one of the programs on civic education with meeting the legislative council, or it might have been the one with meeting the mayor, but there were some young couples there with babies and they were saying that they had just moved and they wanted to have some interactions with people their own age and have their kids have play dates.

So that was really nice to see. And it wasn't planned, but that's part of what happens at the library, that you just get people together, they talk. I've watched the people in the French conversation group, and how wonderful that is.

So I think just it being a place that people can come and ask about services as well. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, yeah. Do you see libraries as mattering more? You touched on it a little bit as, like, times are changing and maybe people's finances are getting a little tighter. Do you feel like libraries matter even more during challenging times?

You started coming to the library during the pandemic, right? 

Yeah. 

Pat Sirulnick: I think so. I think people want to do something as a family. They want to meet other people. They maybe want their kids to have homework help or they wanna learn a new language or they want some books that are free or inexpensive.

So the library has all those things. The library also has the Library of Things. We maybe wanna try a new game for a family game night and it's here. So I, think these times are even more important for the library. 

Kacie Meixell: What are some misconceptions that you think people have about libraries today?

Pat Sirulnick: How we're all about books. It's just books. I think that's a misconception. 

Kacie Meixell: We offer a lot of streaming and digital media. 

Pat Sirulnick: Right. 

Kacie Meixell: There's databases. 

Pat Sirulnick: There's Hoopla. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, Hoopla, and Libby. 

Pat Sirulnick: Libby 

Kacie Meixell: and Kanopy. There's digital access to the New York Times. 

Pat Sirulnick: Right. 

Kacie Meixell: You get the news. 

Pat Sirulnick: Oh, and the Digital Navigators. I forgot about that.

That's critical. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. Our Digital Navigator program, our Navigators provide tech help to people who are learning how to use computers or their devices. We also, you can borrow hotspots, so if you don't have access to the internet, you can borrow that for a short period of time. Do you think that all of these things help the library to stay relevant?

Are there any things that you think are really special that are happening at the library that maybe people don't know about? 

Pat Sirulnick: I think the library is definitely relevant. I think the kinds of programs that the library offers for babies and little kids and teenagers. I love seeing the teenagers here.

I was a high school teacher in New York and my students, sadly, were very proud of the fact that they did not have library cards, so that was an ongoing issue. So I love seeing the kids here and reading and having fun and partaking in different programs so they're not just wandering around looking for something to do.

The library is a safe space for everybody. You know, it doesn't cost anything to come in. If you just need a place to be quiet and read a newspaper, this is it. If you are looking for a program to learn about why your taxes are so high, this is it. Learn to draw, this is it. 

Kacie Meixell: Yes. So what do you think are some easy ways for someone to support the library? 

Pat Sirulnick: Well, if you get the newsletter from the library, there's a link to joining the Friends of the Hamden library. It's $10 for a year, and it just allows you to be part of the library family. But just come in. Just come in, walk in, take a look around.

Kacie Meixell: Are there varying levels of commitment to the Friends group? Can you just donate your money or do you also have to commit a certain amount of volunteer hours? 

Pat Sirulnick: No, there's no commitment at all. If you wanted to have a commitment, you can. The bookstore is one of those ways you can have a weekly commitment, but if you thought, "well, maybe I'd like to..."

Last summer there was a bingo program and maybe you had a couple of hours that night to be a host at that. But...

Kacie Meixell: We'll be repeating the Bingo program. 

Pat Sirulnick: Oh, that was fun. People really liked that. So you can do as little or as much as you'd like. And we're trying to find new ways to... new volunteer activities. 

Kacie Meixell: Okay. So if you have good ideas, you should join the Friends. 

Pat Sirulnick: Absolutely, absolutely. We need some good ideas.

We'll be at Hamden Fest, we'll have a couple of different booths in Hamden Fest. And, again, we have the bookstore and just when there's a major... like the next... there's an event on bats coming up in April. The Friends will have a table, a little hospitality table, and we'll have more information.

So we're here. 

Kacie Meixell: Why do you think it is that libraries can't rely solely on public funding? 

Pat Sirulnick: Well, one thing I learned this year is that eBooks, which I use all the time, are very expensive. 

Kacie Meixell: They're so expensive. 

Pat Sirulnick: Materials cost money. People cost money. So we have to have different ways of gaining money.

We can't rely on just one source. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. I would say as a resident of Hamden and a worker at the Hamden Public Library, the library's budget as a whole is less than a single percent of the entire town budget. It's very small. 

Pat Sirulnick: It's very small. 

Kacie Meixell: and most of that goes to salaries. It goes to people working here, 

Pat Sirulnick: Right.

Kacie Meixell: So the Friends provide a lot of extra help to make the library a more engaging and fun and educational place for the community. 

Pat Sirulnick: And we're happy to do that. 

Kacie Meixell: What excites you the most about the future of libraries? Like what do you see happening with libraries in the future? 

Pat Sirulnick: I think just watching the evolution in terms of how libraries do more than just adapt to what's happening.

I think they really try to stay ahead of the trends. Trying to predict what the next trend is going to be and be there for it. Again, there's just so much here. I was so thrilled to see the Library of Things. The digital part of it and the electronic part of it and trying to keep ahead.

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. Yeah. We have had some programs about AI, explaining AI usage. We've also had some programs that sort of explain the difference between streaming and cable, so 

Pat Sirulnick: Right. 

Kacie Meixell: If you're kind of...

Pat Sirulnick: Cutting the cord, 

Kacie Meixell: Yes. If you're unsure of how you want to handle technology in your home or media in your home, you, can get some more information.

I think it's really cool that libraries are one... I mean, I think it kind of stinks that they're one of the only third spaces left, but I'm really happy that we're here as a third space for people that's not your home and not work where you can come and just be. 

Pat Sirulnick: Right. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. 

Pat Sirulnick: And it's free. 

Kacie Meixell: Yes. 

Pat Sirulnick: And it's really, it's here for everyone. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. It truly, everyone is welcome.

All right. Is there anything else you want to add about the Friends or about libraries? 

Pat Sirulnick: I don't think so. I mean, I hope that people will just come in and talk to people. Sometimes I'm just around or I'm out in some other organization that I belong to and people will say, "oh, I was at the library and they're all so nice."

And they are, everyone who works here is here to help you and just help you navigate through the library itself, answer questions. So I think if people come in, they'll feel welcome. 

Kacie Meixell: Thank you so much for being here, Pat. We really appreciate it. 

Pat Sirulnick: Thank you for inviting me. 

Kacie Meixell: Yes. And if you would like more information on the Friends of the Hamden Library or the library in general, please visit our website.

Hey everyone, Kacie and Eliza here to talk to you about finding your joy. 

Eliza Moyer: Hi guys. We're here today to talk about how to find your Library Joy. So coming up in April, April 19th through the 25th, it's National Library Week, and we're gonna be talking about ways that we can help you find the things that you love.

Kacie Meixell: Yes, the library has tons of different resources that can support all different types of joy. Like say you're like, "I'm just here for the entertainment. I need to shut my brain off". 

Well, we have DVDs, we have audio books and Playaways. We also have access to streaming media via Kanopy, so that's TV shows and movies, and Libby and Hoopla, which are books, magazines, audio books, music.

You don't even have to leave your house. You can just download them straight from your phone or device. 

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. If you're more of a board game person, we have tons of board games that you can check out. If you're more into online games, we have video games you can check out as well. Lots of entertainment options for you.

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. Or if you're looking to support or find a new hobby, like I've always wanted to learn how to knit. I've never... I don't know anything about knitting, but we have tons of books on fiber arts. We have a knitting and crochet kit in our library of things. We can offer you tutorials via our databases, like Niche Academy has tons of tutorials on knitting and crocheting. 

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. We also have a craft supply swap coming up in the next month or so. It was really successful last year, so it's something we're planning on doing again. We often have programming available that can teach you how to knit as well.

And we have a group that meets at our Whitneyville Library called Worsted Time where you can go and knit and meet more community. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, stitch and socialize at Worsted Time. There's also a teen yarn group that meets, I think once a month, in our teen department here at Miller for younger folks. Which, you know, your hobby could also be a way to build community, and we have a lot of ways that you can access and meet new people here at the library.

Eliza Moyer: Yeah, definitely. We have several different book clubs depending on what your interests are. We really do have book clubs for every reader. if you're into popular fiction, if you just wanna sit silently and read with others, if you're into books maybe aren't as popular and weren't at the top of the list, but are interesting to read about.

And we also have great groups for teens and kids as well. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, or if your child is too young for a book club, we have tons of story times for all ages, at all three branches. And as a librarian who runs one of the story times, I've noticed that families who come regularly develop relationships with one another and they end up hanging out with each other outside of library time.

And I think being a parent can sometimes be very isolating. 

Eliza Moyer: Absolutely. 

Kacie Meixell: So having that sense of community is really, really amazing. 

Eliza Moyer: Definitely some other ways to find your joy through finding community, maybe learning a new language. We have a great French conversation group. We can also supplement that with Transparent Language, and you can learn from home and also come in and be part of the group if you wanna find that community.

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, there's a lot of classes that can help you learn something new or develop a skill. We have drawing classes, gardening classes. There's even an ongoing program right now called Civics 101, where you can learn about your government, like what are they even doing? There's a different topic every month.

Yeah. Lots of ways to get involved and find your people here at the library. 

Eliza Moyer: Definitely. Yeah. We have some wellness classes. We have beginning yoga. There's some holistic medicine classes and programming that's gonna be coming up as well. 

Kacie Meixell: Eliza, have you heard of this trend about developing your own personal curriculum?

Eliza Moyer: I haven't. Tell me more. 

Kacie Meixell: So, on social media, people are discussing choosing a topic for a set period of time. Maybe it's like a quarter, maybe it's half the year, maybe it's a full year of a topic that they're interested in or something they want to develop.

So maybe it's a skill or mindset they want to strengthen, something that they feel is holding them back personally or professionally. Something that maybe would make their life lighter, smoother, more creative, or even just a topic that they're interested in, that they haven't really learned a lot about before.

So like, maybe I like to read a lot, but I haven't read a lot of classics, so maybe I need to develop a personal curriculum for the classics.

Eliza Moyer: Oh, nice. So you're developing your own curriculum, like working how you wanna work at your own speed, using resources that you want, and that's something we can help you with at the library, right? 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, so you are not, you know, matriculating. You're not paying for a class. You're basically choosing a topic and then coming up with some sources that can help you learn more about that topic.

Some extracurricular activities that can support your interest in that topic. And then coming up with some way to reflect or some sort of project to bring it all together. That's an end, it doesn't necessarily have to be a product, but some sort of way of saying, "Yes, I learned this and this is what I've put all together".

Eliza Moyer: Oh, nice. So say for example, I wanted to learn more about the arts, like how would I develop a personal curriculum for myself? 

Kacie Meixell: So the first step would be to narrow that down a little more. Do you wanna learn about a specific art movement, or an artist, or a moment in time, like maybe you wanna learn about impressionism or contemporary art?

Then you would have to select a more specific topic. 

Eliza Moyer: Got it. 

Kacie Meixell: 'cause that's really broad. That would be difficult, I think, to come up with resources that would feel fully formed. Right. 

Eliza Moyer: Okay. So say I like, wanted to go down the path of learning more about contemporary art. What would I need to do to develop my curriculum?

Kacie Meixell: So the first step would be to select some books, a book or two that's maybe about an expert in contemporary art or maybe a biography, about a contemporary artist. You could try to find a course or workshop using our databases that, you know, explain how contemporary art is made.

Or maybe there's a documentary, like there's a great documentary about Basquiat. I would say he's a contemporary artist. 

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. 

Kacie Meixell: Or maybe Warhol is a more popular topic. There's definitely documentaries about him. 

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. 

Kacie Meixell: Or you could find a podcast or maybe a creator who talks a lot about contemporary art and then you wanna come up with some extracurricular activities to make learning about this more fun.

More than just reading about it or consuming it. You wanna experience it in real life. So if you wanted to learn about contemporary art, you could check out a museum, pass to the watts and go look at it in person. 

Eliza Moyer: Oh yeah.

Kacie Meixell: Experience it in real life. And then to wrap it all up, you could maybe try your hand at making your own piece of contemporary art based on the methods you've learned.

Or you'll write a blog post about, you know, your favorite contemporary artist that has come out of this. Or maybe you'll come up with your own social media posts that explains what you've learned, like some sort of reflection. And again, it doesn't have to be consumed by others. 

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. 

Kacie Meixell: There's no rules here.

Eliza Moyer: Yeah. 

Kacie Meixell: But just a way of marking and thoughtfully learning something new. 

Eliza Moyer: I love that. 'cause I think a lot of us, like, come up with topics we wanna learn about and say, "okay", and we pick up a book and that we maybe read a little bit of it and then that's the end of it. 

Kacie Meixell: And then Yeah. And then we flounder a little bit.

Eliza Moyer: Yeah. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. I think that would definitely be something that our librarians would be happy to help you work on developing, like coming up with what these sources could be for your topic. 

Eliza Moyer: Absolutely. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. 

Eliza Moyer: Yeah. 

Kacie Meixell: And also, art is a great thing. It's a very accessible thing to learn about. We often have artists show their work here.

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. 

Kacie Meixell: Or we have Drawing with Jan. So you could practice your actual art skill, like fine motor skills. 

Eliza Moyer: Yeah. 

Kacie Meixell: or even just the Color, Craft and Chill, which is much more low key, like just doing for the process, with other people. 

Eliza Moyer: Yeah. The library has a lot of resources to support you in finding whatever your joy looks like.

And if you wanna come in and search and see, maybe you're trying to figure out what topics you wanna do your personal curriculum on. You know, we have free wifi, we have free computer use. You can come in and use those things. You can borrow a hotspot from us to do this kind of research for yourself at home.

If you need assistance with digital technology, we have our digital navigators. You can set up an appointment with them and they can help you. So if you need really beginner steps, just getting off the ground and even launching your curriculum, we can start you at the very beginning at step one. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. 

Eliza Moyer: Just on how to plan it.

Kacie Meixell: Yeah. And we have mentioned several times that the library offers databases, which I think are so confusing to people. 

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. 

Kacie Meixell: How do I access a database? What is a database? 

Eliza Moyer: Yeah. 

Kacie Meixell: And our librarians would be happy to help you understand what our different databases are if when you look at them on our website you find them confusing. 

Eliza Moyer: Definitely. Yeah. And I highly recommend people look around. I don't think there's an awareness of how much knowledge is actually on the website sometimes, so just spend some time looking and seeing what resources are available to you from home. We have, like Kacie was saying, tons of databases.

So just go jump around, play in them and see, and maybe you'll come up with something that interests you. 

Kacie Meixell: Yeah, you're now able to access the New York Times from home. 

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. 

Kacie Meixell: So if you're like, "I need to know what's going on". You're also able to learn a language or access tutorials through Niche Academy or Khan Academy, or if your child is learning math a brand new way that you've never learned math this way before--weird strategies that are breaking your brain a little bit--there's definitely databases that will help you understand how they're, learning how to break down these problems. 

Eliza Moyer: Yeah. 

Kacie Meixell: And you can also access our streaming media from our website. The website is a great place and it also can be confusing, so check it out.

Eliza Moyer: Mm-hmm. 

Kacie Meixell: Scroll around and if you're like, "I actually really don't understand how to set up a Hoopla account", come in and talk to us and we'll help you. 

Eliza Moyer: Absolutely. Yeah. Our goal is to help you find your joy. Like we find joy in helping you find the things that bring you joy. 

Kacie Meixell: It's so true. Could you repeat that again?

Eliza Moyer: We 

Kacie Meixell: No, 

Eliza Moyer: We geek out. We geek out on this. We geek out on helping you. Yeah. 

Kacie Meixell: So yeah, come in anytime. It doesn't have to be during National Library Week, and we would be happy to help you find your joy. 

Michael Pierry: That's all the time we have on this episode. Thanks for listening. See you next time.