National Library Workers Week

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The topics and opinions expressed in the
following show are solely those of the hosts

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and their guests, and not those
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it's employees or affiliates. Any questions or

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comments should be directed to those show
hosts. Thank you for choosing W FOURCY

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Radio. Well, good evening,
good evening, and good evening. Welcome

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to another awesome, fabulous opportunity of
conversation, information and okay, all that

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good stuff. I pray that everybody
is well. I'm gonna welcome my co

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host and we have a guest,
just in case you didn't notice, Trey,

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Trey, how you doing all the
way from Virginia? I am doing

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wonderful, wonderful. How is everybody
doing today? I'm doing great? There

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we go, I gotta find my
camera at Pastor Miguel, how are you?

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And how is it over on the
coast? Over there? It's starting

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to heat up. The oven has
officially kicked on. So we're gonna be

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seeing some warm weather till October November. So this is portally my weather.

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Leave my state weather alone. Leave
it alone. I don't know what we're

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gonna expect. But before we go
any further lists, pray, Father God,

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we just thank you, We praise
you, We give you glory for

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you alone no worthy to be praised. We thank you for today, We

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thank you for tonight. We just
thank you for everything that you've done for

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us. We thank you for protecting
us, allowing us to go from point

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A to point B and returned back
to point A. We thank you for

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allowing us to get the things to
do list done. We just we just

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thank you for everything. And we
ask Father God that you just have your

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way tonight. This is your show. We're just your people. We get

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behind the cross. You have your
way and do what you do best.

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One of those is which setting your
captives free. In Jesus name, we

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pray, amen and amen. Well, I'm glad everybody you know it's here.

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This is April first, this is
it. But you didn't get done

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last month. It's over. It's
over. It would be nice, but

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I hope you just you know,
crossed it over spread it over to you

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know, this month, and you've
got you got shorter months, the shorter

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weeks this month, so hopefully you
get her done and it set your mind

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too, it stay focused. Well, anyway, I got to have my

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guests talk tonight. I am just
so you know, you never know when

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you have job experience and the things
that you've gone through, you're just thinking

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sometimes you know, you're just getting
a job and you're able fourteen years old.

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This is back in the day,
So I'm dating myself. At age

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fourteen, back in my hometown of
Po Beach County, I got a job

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as a page working at the community
library. Changed my life because everybody were

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adults was adults except for me.
I was a teenager. And then to

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go on from there, I'm in
college at Palm Beach Atlantic College back home,

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and I got my work study job
and guess where it was? The

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library. Yes, I'm telling you
again, changing my life until the both

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libraries decided one summer to do the
okie dope on me. Like the college

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library operated through the Library of Congress, the community library operated through the Dewey

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decimal system. Now I know I'm
dating everybody, So if y'all nod in

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your head, you know what I'm
talking about. Okay. Now, most

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our audience out there, they're kind
of young, so they probably Dewey who

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who was that? You know?
Not not Dewey knew it in the news

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or whatever. The band was called
no Google. Okay. So then one

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summer they did the Okie dope.
Like I said, both decided to do

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en and in a week the same
week. So I'm doing decimo by day,

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by morning and in the afternoon,
I was Library of Congress or vice

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versa. I was Library of Congress
in the morning, do it decibel in

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the afternoon. My brain was nothing
but noodles by that weekend. You couldn't

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don't ask me anything. Don't ask
me anything. I'll be a leveled at

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what all I saw was numbers in
that and alphabet numbers at alphabet, So

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our guests would know exactly what I'm
talking about. I want you all to

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give a warm welcome to this young
lady, missus Jen Shock, who's the

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development manager of our local library here
in Orange County. Hi, thanks so

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much for having me, everybody.
I'm really looking forward to telling you a

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little bit about the Orange County Library
system. Yes, go for it.

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You're on, and I'm gonna mute
myself, and I want you to highlight

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the traditional thing that you all do, sure, and also mainly highlight the

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non traditional things you do. Sure. So I'll get started probably with the

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traditional things. I think most people
expect books and sometimes movies or music to

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be able to borrow for free from
the library, and of course we have

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that. We have a really extensive
collection of over one point seven million items

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that you can borrow. A lot
of those are digital, so ebooks audiobooks,

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you know, songs you can download, but also a very extensive physical

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collection as well, So I think
that's what most people expect. We do

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story times at all of our locations. There are fifteen library locations in Orange

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County through the Orange County Library System, and you know, we love I

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used to work in youth services when
I started here, so I love story

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times and there's all the kids events
that we do. But then we also

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sort of veering into the non traditional. Now. We have a lot of

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things that I think might surprise folks
if they haven't visited their library for a

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little bit. For adults, we
have recording studios at the Downtown Orlando Library

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that you can borrow for free.
We have driving simulators where you can practice

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driving safely behind a screen before you
get on the road. We have a

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fiber arts studio where you can learn
how to knit crochet so use a sewing

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machine. We have so many fantastic
resources, like a citizenship course, so

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for folks who are new to the
area and are trying to take the US

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citizenship test, we have an entire
course on that. And I love when

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people pass their exam and they become
US citizens and then they come back and

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tell us about it. I love
that we have a lot of English language

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classes for people who are also potentially
new to the area and are trying to

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spruce up on their English skills.
And we also have a program that I

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run called the Local Wanderer Program,
And just with your library card can rent

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and check out like free tickets to
the Zoo, to all the different museums

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in the area. You can get
free tickets to concerts with the Orlando Philharmonic,

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tickets to the Ballet. So those
are just a few. I mean,

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I could go on and on,
but those are just some of the

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resources. In a nutshell, So, how did y'all morphosize into this.

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I mean, you're school to be
just doing books and checking them out.

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I mean, I know, we're
no longer near the floppy dish stuff.

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Everything is digital. How did y'all
decide? How did that turn into that?

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This is amazing tickets? Yeah?
Absolutely, Well, some of the

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history of that is before I was
here, But you know, over the

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years, I think, I think
the essence of the public library system,

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whether it's ours here or just anywhere
in the US, is really to be

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like a very trusted community institution with
resources. And the thing that I love

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about working at the library and in
promoting the library is that it really is

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a place that is, you know, equal standing for everybody, no matter

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who you are, where you're coming
from, what you're interested in, we

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will have something for you. You
are welcome here, and we will do

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our best to get you the resources
or entertainment or classes that you need.

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And again, every single person has
access to that equally. So as our

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community has changed over the decades,
our services have adapted with that, and

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we try to really keep our finger
on the pulse of what the community means.

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So back in you know, we
just celebrated our hundredth anniversary as a

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library system. So I've been going
through the history this past year a lot,

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and I mean going through and seeing
when they first set up computers,

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you know, and they have the
very first public computer lab where people could

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come do that. And there's a
lot of people today who maybe don't even

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have internet access at home, and
so we have Wi Fi hotspots that they

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can check out. So just as
as the technology changes, as you know,

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the needs of the community change,
we're trying to stay in step with

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that and make sure we're offering what's
needed at the time. I am amazed

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and I wanted to go back down
a little history. Now, how I

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met ken if you might go buy
me calling you ja the friends of the

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library, which is like their advisory
board of volunteers, I believe. I

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was saying, you know, looking
for donations, and they had a pen

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that they would they would give you
if you made a donation, And so

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of course I say, you know
what, and the Lord wishered to me

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said go ahead and make a donation. And I'm like, and let me

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tell you something. God will have
you do things that you don't know.

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You may think you know the reason
for doing them, you know, but

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you just really don't know the reason. And there's other reasons on top of

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that. So long story short,
for some reason, my pens never I

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never received them in the mail.
I went through Brett, who's another associate

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team leader, our team member with
Jen on Facebook. I messaged him and

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said, okay, First of I
called the library. I said I need

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to talk to somebody on the Friends
of the Committee. And They're like,

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no, we can leave a message, and I'm like, okay, okay,

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secret, okay, no problem.
We don't need to know who they

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are. That's why, you know, and shure up. Brett reached out

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to me. He said, we're
sorry about that, you know, I'll

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get one out to you. Let's
check the address, blah blah blah.

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And then Jen was segue into gen
you know, coming on and said,

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okay, we'll get this out to
you. And they sent the second batch

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or second set of pen a pen
a second gift and I never received it.

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And so I finally said, okay, you know what, I'm just

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gonna ask for my money back.
I'm good. I'm still gonna use the

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library, still going to refer people
down there. I have no no you

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know, nothing, there's nothing negative. And Jim calls me back. She

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says, no, no, no, Litten, let's give me another address

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whatever, or you know. I
said, you know what, the library's

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not too far. I'll come down
there. And she said no, no,

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no, no, no, no
no, give me another address.

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I said, but see, she
was so kind. I did not know

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at the time that we were hosting
the tryouts for the Summer Olympics here and

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everything was downtown. They were setting
up that Wednesday Thursday for the tryouts,

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so that that's gonna be helped into
the weekend. They were cutting up and

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cutting up the roads and everything putting. I mean you think. I mean,

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I've never seen city of Orlando put
a road, a whole building,

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and a whole event together. I've
not readily watched that, but in that

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day I did. And I'm like
and it was a day of I made

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it to the library. I hadn't
been there for a while. Both Jen

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and Brett were waiting on me.
They greeted me, They took me into

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their gift shop area and were just
talking away and I'm like, wow,

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And then they had a little gift
bag for me. And I probably won't

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be able to hold these up effectively, but just to see some of the

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trinkets that you got, and I've
got a few more. They kind of

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loaded me with them and pins,
you know, Oh, this is a

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cute one. Here, this is
cute. I got carted. I got

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carted, and I'm telling you.
And then we got the talking and I

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noticed this rolling cart that I should
be familiar with because at fourteen I used

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to use those to put the books
back. And I'm like, oh,

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and it says ten cents. I
said, oh, I can kill that

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out because I worked with Village in
Gnna, my nonprofit. I need to

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come back and get the books.
They're like, oh, no, let

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us know what you need. We
got you and I'm like, huh,

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I said, And then Jen said
something being the social worker that I am,

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the community advocate that I am.
She says, yeah, we have

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a social worker here. I said, where what a social worker? Okay,

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now she's now she's really trying to
get some brownie points here. It's

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okay, I got a gift back, I got a pen. I'm good.

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I'll come back, of course,
correct on Facebook. She goes,

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no, we do. So Jen, we're going to segue back to you

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on that how and where because the
homeless used to congregate down there five years

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over five years ago, because it's
been five years since I've gone through what

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I've gone through, and I remember
because I used to perform at the History

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Center, which is right next door, and so did take it away.

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Yeah, And I mean we are
still you know, anyone, like I

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said, is welcome in our doors, and so we see a variety of

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guests every single day. I wanted
to share the statistic with you because I'm

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finishing up our annual report from last
year and I thought, oh, you'll

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love the statistic. So last year, we have a team of three social

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workers and last year they assisted four
four hundred and seventy one people, the

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three of them. And what they're
able to do is they're able to help

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anybody who needs like a referral,
whether it's for you know, government assistant,

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legal immigration recommendations, snap benefits,
things like that. And what I

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can also do is I can send
you the link to our social worker web

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page after this in case your you
know, listeners want to see that,

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you can put it on your web
page and it has our different locations and

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people are able to walk in and
do that, but then we do recommend

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making an appointment as well if they
can, and that's something that our team

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can assist with if you give us
a call or whatever, because we know

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that folks may not be able to
make an appointment without having a computer themselves

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or access to that. So that's
just one thing. And when I saw

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that statistic doing our annual report,
I just thought it was really amazing that

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we're able to offer that much.
And another service that we have is something

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called the Right Service at the Right
Time, and it is a computer station

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that helps referrals to housing assistance,
government benefits like I said, immigration,

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legal aid, things like that,
and so it's really user friendly and it

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can help point people in the right
directions. And if there are any nonprofits

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in the area that want to like
register as a referral like something that they

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can refer people to, they can
contact as well and we can add them

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to the list. So we have
as many, you know, resources as

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we possibly can, whether it's computer
classes or social work assistance. Like I

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said, we try to be as
much as we can for as many different

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needs as we can. I don't
know about the libraries outside of my county

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I don't know if you could top
this. I have to say hats off,

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because I mean, you know,
when I lived in Palm Beach County,

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anytime anybody talked about Orlando, of
course they equated it with Disney World.

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Disney World FI is in Kasimi,
the next city over, just a

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minute over. I mean, you
could just step and you're in Kssidne.

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It's okay, but it's not in
Orlando. So I've came here twenty two

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years ago looking for services because a
year after I moved here was Marinan moved

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here. I was pregnant with my
twins. So back home, all you

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have to do is pick up the
Safety Council phone number to get see you

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can get at least one car.
See. I was directed and I'm like,

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this is Orlando, but Orlando is
made up above the things. You

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all just really brought it full circle
now because you're doing the community what we

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would call a community resource center.
That's what you are. That's what I

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learned when I was working at Children's
Services Council back home, which is where

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I learned how to write grants.
We do have grant service like so we

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actually just this past weekend we had
a class for people who want to learn

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how to write grants and work with
foundations. We just had a class about

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that this past weekend for people.
And at the same time that was going

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on, we were having an artist
Expo so that people could learn how to

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connect with other resources in the community
to try to make art their full time

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careers, because we know it's really
hard if you don't have support and you

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don't have connections, and so you
know, we have a wide variety of

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different things, and I wanted to
share too that it's National Library Week next

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week and so we have a lot
of fun activities going on. But one

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that's really really cool is that if
you don't have your library card right now

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or your card's expired, if you
renew it during National Library Week in person.

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So you have to come in person
to any of our locations to do

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this. But if you come in, we'll give you two tickets for free

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admission to wonder Works. So that
stuff that you know, families and you

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know friends can do together. And
it is Wall Supplies Last, and it

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is a very popular promotion. But
next week, I think I have the

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dates. It is April seventh through
thirteenth, and that's just a celebration and

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a partnership we do with them just
to you know, make it fun.

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And a lot of people say,
oh, libraries are kind of out of

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date or they're they're kind of becoming
obsolete, and that's we really find that's

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not true. And you know,
people just say that because they don't see

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people reading physical books as much,
I think, because there's so many other

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ways to take in information. But
our classes are really full and our programs

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are well attended because people need stuff
to do with, you know, with

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their families. And it should be
a third space where you know, you

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have your work, you have your
office or your home, and then where

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else can you go to get enrichment
and to you know, you know,

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increase your quality of life. So
this is a place where you can do

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that. Well, I'm telling you
this is right on time. And again

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I forgot to mention, but this
this is National Library, a worker's week

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in a month as far as I'm
because, so we should just make it

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month a month. But I'm so
glad that everything is all about God's timing.

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She was available tonight. I said, what way the better way to

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kick it off? Let's do this
let's make people aware, and let's show

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that the library is cool. The
library, I'm sure libraries probably around the

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world have testaments to an ordinary thing. Again once again, I'm fifteen years

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old, I think at this time, and I was adopted at birth,

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as all that you all know.
And my biological mother calls the house and

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she says, well, you have
two brothers and a sister, and I'm

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going to tell them tonight about it. And I'm like, so that was

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the end of one night. I
didn't think nothing about it. And We're

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getting ready to close at eight thirty. So I'm organizing the cards back in

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the day, putting everything back.
I already put the books up, and

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all of a sudden, this young
man comes in and I knew him as

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James, and he came in the
door and I said, James, you

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know, I said how do you
do? And I said, you know,

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we're getting ready to close, and
I didn't look up at him.

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I was still trying to do this. He says, you're my sister,

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and he runs out of the library
and I'm like, okay, that was

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weird. But I ended up teaching
him and a lot of the kids in

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the neighborhood, how to use the
library, the importance of having a library

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car, and all that. Today
day my brother, who is my best

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fools, my good friend. He's
a good friend. And I said,

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oh, by the way, you're
my brother. Do we remember that?

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But we don't know how long it
was before we reconnected because he stormed out

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and this is at night. He
walked across two busy highways and a railroad

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track to get to the library.
He walked and I didn't, you know,

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I don't know how. I looked
just like our mother. So I

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don't know how he never put that
together, like maybe just to say,

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God, you look like my aunt
and you look like my mom, you

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know, But that just blew it
all the way. But we're googled down.

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But so God, four thousand,
four hundred and seventy one, that's

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what social workers do, just three
of them, just three people. We

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had three library workers, and between
the three of them they helped that many

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people. So well, they love
what they do because you know, as

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I'm sure other professions, but I
can only speak to a few, mainly

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of that of social work. We're
different people. We love people. We

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may have our specialty, we may
deal with the elderly more. We prefer

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kids or babies. But we do
what we do and we find the resources.

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And then I know, back in
my day, we create resources.

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We don't have that anymore. But
at least right now you're you're the library,

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jan You're the public library downtown.
That's right. Got four lanes but

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one way, yes, a huge
garage, okay. And I I had

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soft to you all because when you, like I said, I was stun

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when you were telling me this.
I'm like social social work, a social

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work department here, I'm like where. I mean, it's it's huge,

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it's it's it's almost like a building, a museum itself. But you can

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find your way, you know,
you can access. I'm going to the

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life. I love going to the
life, thank you, missy. I

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love taking I always with my kids. There were little, so many programs.

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Yes, well that has doubled now, that's tripled now. And then

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you could go in. I mean
I used to remember, you know,

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folks who from out of town who
were visiting Palm Beach, they would come

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to the library, grab a travels
book. I know, people who were

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getting meant to travel, they were
it was this whole system one brand,

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uh one publisher publishing every Italy,
Spain, and all those books and people

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would check them out all the time
and and and learn everything they could learn

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about where they needed to go.
It was amazing. And the library I

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used to sit and I would grab
the reference books, the quotation book,

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and I would sit there at the
desk and I would read quotations. And

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many of my quotations that I still
know today came from this reference book that

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I couldn't check out. And nobody
bothered me, but I was because I

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did my work. I helped everybody. I made sure that the front desk

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was clean and clear, I answered
the phone and everything, and my life

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just changed. My life changed,
and I won't take nothing back from that

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working in the library. I'm telling
you, guys, come on co host

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guy if you have questions or you
want to give her a high five in

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the air there whatever, I'm gonna
get quiet because you know, I'm a

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social worker and we could out talk
anybody. Literally. I believe it because

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that's my wife also. So but
what I have to say, Jen is

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that I applaud you because one thing
that I've learned in my studies in these

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last four years and I'm still going
to school. Is the value of libraries

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and it's not what it used to
be now, it's really metamorphosized into things

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that you really if you're looking for
something, the best person to talk to

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00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:06.640
is one of the staff at the
libraries, and you won't realize the plethora

336
00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:11.640
of knowledge that they have. And
you just give them one topic and then

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they'll give you databases, books and
all these accessible tools so you can be

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able to get your information. And
when you said forty four hundred people in

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three social workers, that's under fifteen
hundred people per social worker. That's a

340
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lot of people. And hats off
to them that they're able to help that

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many people with such a small staff. So well done, well done,

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Thank you. I feel awkward like
thank you, like accepting the things,

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but on their behalf, because I'm
not the social worker, but they're part

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of our community Engagement apartment and they
do such fantastic work. Our community Engagement

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department is relatively new. We've had
our social workers for a little while,

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00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:15.519
but we've been able to sort of
get our priorities to being like where people

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are right now. And so that's
sort of a campaign that we're running is

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meet you there. And so we
know not everybody's going to come to us.

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They're not going to be able to
either it won't be able to get

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to our buildings or they don't want
to come into our buildings for whatever reason.

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And that's fine. We'll go to
where they are, we'll meet them

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there. And so we have the
social workers who go around. We have

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an outreach social worker specifically for outreach
like related work, and we have our

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new book bike. So one thing
that I love is that we've been able

355
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to take our book bike, which
has tons of books in it that people

356
00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:53.319
can check out, and it can
also right there on the spot, whether

357
00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:56.039
you're in the park or at a
senior center, you can just sign somebody

358
00:27:56.079 --> 00:28:02.119
up for their library card right there
and we'll take those books to senior centers.

359
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Or today it was at Low Gardens, and so families at the gardens

360
00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:08.039
were able to just you know,
check out books or sign up for their

361
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library card unexpectedly because we're going to
where they are. And so yeah,

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it's you know, Pastor Miguel,
like you said, it's an amazing number

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and service is really at the heart
of everything the library does. It is

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it is service to the public and
that's something, like I mentioned, we've

365
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celebrated one hundred years recent just this
past November, and that's one thing that

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has stayed the same is Yeah,
the buildings look different, the resources are

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a little different, but it's always
about service and making sure that we're meeting

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needs as they arise and with whatever
we can get. And we can talk

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for a long time about everything that
we have available. Well, I'm going

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to tell you that's one of the
social workers creed meeting the client where they're

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at. That's our creed. That's
our model. And again and trail,

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I want you to come on in, but I wanted to share when I

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first moved here, got married and
moved here, the first thing I went

374
00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:07.960
looking for was the library because I
was not pregnant at the time. I

375
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.720
had my older son, and so
first thing you do is sign up to

376
00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:17.039
get your library car. Okay,
you're not normal if you don't do that,

377
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if you move to a new city. And my husband was an over

378
00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:22.680
the world truck driver, so he
wasn't really into it. You don't like

379
00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:25.960
to read books, you know.
I was like, okay, you don't

380
00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:29.119
go get one. But with me, and my son Will, and I

381
00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:33.440
got to know I was going to
the holding, the air location off a

382
00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:38.680
holding and and obt and got to
know all the librarians in there and we

383
00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:42.440
would laugh at joke about things and
just have fun. And then the twins

384
00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:48.000
came along, but I think,
yeah, it was after and I went

385
00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:51.079
in and one of the librarians said, you know what you are so funny?

386
00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:52.440
Is you know? She goes,
I've got a friend that works at

387
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the history center. I said,
you have a history center? She goes,

388
00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:00.640
yeah, and he's looking for someone
to portray doctor Mary mclo Cookman College.

389
00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:06.079
I said, no way. And
that was always my dream as a

390
00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:07.920
little girl, so to return to
the stage one day. To be honest

391
00:30:07.960 --> 00:30:14.880
with you, So I just read
these two articles about Will Smith and Jim

392
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:18.920
Carrey and they were basically, if
they accepted a script in a role,

393
00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:25.039
they would show up on on on
the on the campus there on on the

394
00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:30.279
set, already dressed. When uh, Will did Jim West of the Wild

395
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:33.200
Wild West. He came in,
he found the outfit and he walked in

396
00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:40.160
with that ace ventura. Those are
Jim Carrey's clothes. Nobody had to help

397
00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:42.599
him. And then moose up his
hair. He did that and walked on

398
00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:48.039
set. So I was like,
okay. I called the young man mister

399
00:30:48.119 --> 00:30:51.799
White at the History Center. I
told him who referred me, and he

400
00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:53.319
said, well, you're going to
do a cold read for her, and

401
00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:56.599
I said okay, And I was
still like, I can't believe this.

402
00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:00.640
I can't believe this. So I
found a dress. It was a suit,

403
00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:03.000
just button down here, so it
looks like it was from the thirties

404
00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:07.279
and forties. She'd liked to wear
a hat. She never wore makeup.

405
00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:15.480
She wore pearls because President Roosevelt's mother
and her became good friends, so she

406
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:19.839
would go visit her and she would
always give doctor McLeod a gift and would

407
00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:23.440
always be pearls. So I found
pearls and everything, and I went in

408
00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:29.640
and I did a cold read and
I it led to a fifteen year stint.

409
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:36.160
I just retired officially last year.
Fifteen years. I'm not only portraying

410
00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:40.640
doctor Mary McLeod Bethune, but Bessie
Coleman and also Mary and Carol of the

411
00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:49.559
Highwaymen. And you know, I
from the librarian who I just struck a

412
00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:53.200
conversation with, who knew me,
and the twins came along, they had

413
00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:56.279
to go there. I had to
get their cards as soon as they can

414
00:31:56.359 --> 00:32:00.200
walk, you know. So it's
things. You know. I used to

415
00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:05.039
hear people talk about getting you know, reading the books and they take them

416
00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:09.720
to you know, a land beyond
their home and reading and you get all

417
00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:14.880
into it and stuff. And that's
what libraries were known for. Now you

418
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:21.160
all are the community engager, you're
the community advocate. Now you're the community

419
00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:25.680
resource center. And normally it takes
about five years to get a community to

420
00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:30.400
change their mindset and to embrace that
type of effort. We did that back

421
00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:34.480
home, and we had to tell
them it would take about five years for

422
00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:37.440
people to really get used to us. You did it. You've done it,

423
00:32:38.039 --> 00:32:43.000
and I'm amazed. Trade come on
in now, Well, what can

424
00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:46.440
I add to that? This is
awesome. I mean, you know,

425
00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:52.599
from the human services field and the
mental health field and the social work field

426
00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:59.640
and all those fields together, this
is just it's amazing. It's really making

427
00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:05.920
me miss Florida more. But any
half, I think it's great. And

428
00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.680
Jen, I think you were talking
about you know, it's great that the

429
00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:15.000
library offers it, you know,
allowing the services to come in. So,

430
00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:19.920
you know, kudos to you and
the library team to be able to

431
00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:23.200
do that. And I've noticed different
libraries that I've gone in, it's changed,

432
00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:27.680
you know, it's a relaxed it's
a different atmosphere. You see young,

433
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.559
old, you know, all types
of people in there, utilize them

434
00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:36.160
to the library to get whatever resources. Sometimes it's just a place this is

435
00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:39.920
who, you know, in a
relaxed atmosphere. I've done that before,

436
00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:44.559
you know, in between clients,
you know, just and I've taken clients.

437
00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:47.839
You know, we've utilized that as
a relaxation technique, finding books on

438
00:33:47.880 --> 00:33:52.279
coping skills, finding books on interest
and so the library has a plethora of

439
00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:55.920
things that people can do. And
I'm just you know, hats off to

440
00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:01.799
the library down there and the social
workers and just really helping people because they

441
00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:07.400
are going people are going through things, you know, and it doesn't matter

442
00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:13.119
you know the person that people are
going through things, and they're struggling and

443
00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:16.760
trying to make ends meet. And
so to be able to have services where

444
00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:22.039
people can go in or come out
and meet them where they are, that's

445
00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:27.360
just so important. And I agree
with with Ms Bray as far as like

446
00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:31.199
going out, you know, some
doing something differently and meeting people where they

447
00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:36.519
are. That that's my thing.
I like that, and so I don't

448
00:34:36.519 --> 00:34:38.239
even know what else I could say
to that, but thank you so much.

449
00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:44.039
Yeah, it's my pleasure. Something
you just mentioned was, you know

450
00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:46.599
how hard it is for people to
make ends meet right now, And I

451
00:34:46.760 --> 00:34:52.519
just today I got probably my favorite
email potentially I've ever gotten in the six

452
00:34:52.599 --> 00:34:57.920
years that I've worked here. So
I mentioned the local Wanderer program where you

453
00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:00.679
can get free tickets to like the
zoo and and museums and stuff, and

454
00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:06.199
we got this beautiful email from someone
who said it's been a really difficult season

455
00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:08.440
in their life. They're unemployed,
and you know they're trying to do a

456
00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:15.119
lot, and that the ability to
get free passes to enriching places just to

457
00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:20.639
be social and just to feel still
part of the world and not isolated,

458
00:35:21.039 --> 00:35:24.960
and that there's still enjoyment for them, and what a boost that was in

459
00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:28.559
their life, and it you know, it's just just like, yeah,

460
00:35:28.679 --> 00:35:31.199
this is why we work here,
this is why we do this. And

461
00:35:31.719 --> 00:35:37.559
you know, as as simple as
like a ticket to a museum or a

462
00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:43.079
ticket to a concert might be you
know it was a lifeline for somebody,

463
00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:46.159
and you know, seeing that email
and just you know, we don't expect

464
00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:50.320
thank yous by any means, but
it's so easy to get in your routine.

465
00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:52.400
If this is my nine to five, this is what I'm doing,

466
00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:54.920
this is my work, and then
just every now and then having something come

467
00:35:54.920 --> 00:36:00.599
in and interrupt and be able to
just remind us of the human and you

468
00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:04.199
know, at the heart of the
services that we're providing, and so it's

469
00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:08.760
it's really it's really wonderful. Another
thing, and just I have all these

470
00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:13.119
things popping into my head of what
we offer that might surprise people. We've

471
00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:16.400
recently started our Library of Things,
which is really cool, and so what

472
00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:22.199
that is is you can actually borrow
like crochet kits, and if you don't

473
00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:27.440
want to come to our Fiber Arts
studio, we can send them to your

474
00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:30.320
home, you know, and you
can take home crochet. It's like supplies

475
00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:34.239
and knitting as well. So if
somebody wants to learn how to knit or

476
00:36:34.239 --> 00:36:37.159
they just want to do a knitting
project. We also have ones with like

477
00:36:37.320 --> 00:36:42.639
ergonomic needles, so if somebody needs
like an adjusted kind, we can we

478
00:36:42.679 --> 00:36:46.760
can provide those two. Another thing
that we have is heart and blood pressure

479
00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:51.639
monitors right now for people who might
need one. We worked with the American

480
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:54.920
Heart Association, and you know,
we have those that people can borrow for

481
00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:58.480
a little bit of time if they
need to keep an eye on something at

482
00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:00.639
home, because those are not easy
to procure and you can't always go to

483
00:37:00.679 --> 00:37:06.119
publics and test your blood pressure or
whatever. So having it at home is

484
00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:10.920
something that's really really important. And
then for families who are trying to provide

485
00:37:12.519 --> 00:37:15.719
interesting activities for their kids. It
doesn't have to be kids, I guess,

486
00:37:15.719 --> 00:37:19.280
I guess anybody could really do this. But they have something called Citizen

487
00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:23.840
Science Kids, where it gives you
little experiments that you can do at home.

488
00:37:24.280 --> 00:37:29.519
And some of the things are like
the migratory bees in Florida and like

489
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:32.719
certain there's like a certain type of
bee that's only in Florida that I learned

490
00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:37.760
about not too long ago, And
you can do this experiment and then your

491
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:44.519
results can be like added to the
greater body of research that's being collected on

492
00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:46.960
this. And so talk about a
way of like giving somebody the chance to

493
00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:51.800
engage with something, you know,
just at a layman's level, you know,

494
00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:53.519
like I'm not a scientist, but
I can go home and learn a

495
00:37:53.559 --> 00:37:57.679
little bit about this, and you
know, with some friends or with kids,

496
00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:00.440
you know, I can do this
stuff. So it's called the Library

497
00:38:00.440 --> 00:38:04.559
of Things, and there's you know, a lot that's available. You can

498
00:38:04.639 --> 00:38:07.760
check it out on our web page. But it's it's just all so much

499
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:15.239
more than books, and it's something
to really enrich people's lives. Well,

500
00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:19.239
like I said, you all have
become a community resource center. And another

501
00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:25.760
fact or characteristic of a true community
resource center is that it reflects it,

502
00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:31.719
it depicts, it portrays the community
in which it sit. The building sits,

503
00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:37.880
it's it's it's it's and you've got
all age groups. You've got all

504
00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:40.960
age groups. You know, the
grand I saw grandparents last week because we

505
00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:45.559
had spring break here and you could
tell the grandparents and some of them had

506
00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:50.280
to fly in to come and help
babysit because the parents had to go work,

507
00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:52.840
you know, so they actually flew
in for the week to be the

508
00:38:52.840 --> 00:38:57.039
grandparents. And you you know,
McDonald's was full. You know, it

509
00:38:57.159 --> 00:39:00.679
was just full. You're I'm just
sitting here and listening to all of this.

510
00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:06.719
You know, the true committity resource
center I think sometimes people still have

511
00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:08.880
that old stereotype in their head.
And Trey, this is something you mentioned

512
00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:14.000
too, that it's not just like
a shushing zone anymore. It's more casual.

513
00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:19.840
I think there there's been a stereotype
of like austerity with like institutions and

514
00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:22.039
libraries, you know, and all
of that, and it's you know,

515
00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:25.440
the school marm with the tight butt
and you know, gonna smack you with

516
00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:28.880
a ruler or whatever, and it's
not that at all, you know,

517
00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:31.679
like we're we're here to help you
find the books and the movies that you

518
00:39:31.719 --> 00:39:37.960
want, and you know, we're
we're here for grandparents to have their kids

519
00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:39.880
running around if they need a break. You know. Like I said,

520
00:39:39.880 --> 00:39:43.800
I used to work in new services
and it is not quiet, and it's

521
00:39:43.880 --> 00:39:46.119
not it's not meant to be.
You know, we don't expect little kids

522
00:39:46.119 --> 00:39:51.280
and little babies to just see all
these cool things and then just silently read

523
00:39:51.360 --> 00:39:54.199
at two or three years old,
you know, So it's possible. So

524
00:39:54.719 --> 00:40:00.360
we are trying to to really if
people are able to come to us us

525
00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:05.519
that we're welcoming, that were casual, that were helpful, and if those

526
00:40:05.559 --> 00:40:07.639
stereotypes still hold and they still don't
want to come in, that's fine,

527
00:40:07.679 --> 00:40:14.159
we'll go to where they are.
We're getting a bookmobile soon, probably like

528
00:40:14.199 --> 00:40:16.519
another year or so al because it
takes a lot to build those as or

529
00:40:16.639 --> 00:40:21.000
they have a lot of moving parts
involved. But the book we have two

530
00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:24.119
book bikes, and then in the
next year or so we're excited to get

531
00:40:24.119 --> 00:40:29.119
our bookmobile on the road and to
be able to do programs and all sorts

532
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:31.840
of stuff out on the streets in
the neighborhoods and just to be with the

533
00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:37.400
people. Well, please keep me
posted on that. I would love to

534
00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:42.800
contribute, you know, for that, I definitely would two more things.

535
00:40:42.840 --> 00:40:45.880
I'm popping it is to popping up
in my head. So I went to

536
00:40:45.960 --> 00:40:50.280
Catholic school starting in the fifth grade
through twelfth grade, I went to a

537
00:40:50.360 --> 00:40:53.039
Pumache Atlantic as a Southern Baptist College, and then I went to Barry University

538
00:40:53.079 --> 00:40:58.559
to get my masters. Two I
was in a three year program. Two

539
00:40:58.639 --> 00:41:04.880
years was in Palm Beach and the
final year we had to go down commute

540
00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:07.079
one day a week or twice a
week to finish up the last year.

541
00:41:07.800 --> 00:41:14.840
And when I was at my high
school, Colonel Newman Sister Claire, she

542
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:20.559
was the French teacher, whole habit
and everything, and she's scared me one

543
00:41:20.599 --> 00:41:23.679
day and we're changing glasses. Ho
you Lisia, and I'm like, sister

544
00:41:23.719 --> 00:41:28.599
Claire knows my name? Oh my
god. Well, sister Claire dressed a

545
00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:32.800
little differently. She wore the traditional
habit was all white Franciscan nuns, all

546
00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:38.719
white. I kid you not.
I'm at Barry University. I graduated in

547
00:41:38.760 --> 00:41:45.960
the eighties from high school with the
college for five years, then went to

548
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:50.639
graduate school. Okay, so here
it is. I'm sitting on the floor

549
00:41:50.840 --> 00:41:55.440
crisscrossed apple sauce, trying to get
some books. And what do I see

550
00:41:55.559 --> 00:42:02.599
walking on the other aisle where these
beige stockings and this off white dress.

551
00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:07.880
And I said it can't be.
I got up and I'm waiting for her

552
00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:12.679
to come up. I say,
sister Claire, and I'm so crazy You're

553
00:42:12.719 --> 00:42:22.360
still alive. And she goes a
plash and she had these bumma bee type

554
00:42:22.559 --> 00:42:28.679
classes. She says, Lisa,
You're just always so funny. Sister Claire.

555
00:42:28.920 --> 00:42:30.559
I never took any of your classes. She says, like, no,

556
00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:35.639
but I know I followed you.
You led the all girls choir to

557
00:42:35.719 --> 00:42:38.039
stay two years in a row and
you did this and you were a great

558
00:42:38.079 --> 00:42:42.000
actress. So what are you doing
here today? And I said, I'm

559
00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:45.760
getting my master's in social work.
She goes, oh, good for you,

560
00:42:45.079 --> 00:42:49.599
and she put her arms folded again
and walked off. I stood there,

561
00:42:49.719 --> 00:42:52.760
like, I don't believe this.
I just saw sister Claire, and

562
00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:57.559
I tried to find folks from Newman
from my high school. Y'all. Sister

563
00:42:57.599 --> 00:43:02.679
Claire is still alive, and she's
in Miami, and she knew who I

564
00:43:02.920 --> 00:43:07.559
was. I was never her student. I took Spanish her to take Fritch,

565
00:43:07.800 --> 00:43:09.320
and I was scared the death of
her, little lady. But she

566
00:43:09.400 --> 00:43:15.360
wore these coffee like knee highs with
this white and her white sandals, and

567
00:43:15.559 --> 00:43:19.679
you you would know her. And
I kid you not. That's what she

568
00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:30.440
had on many years later. I'm
telling you so memories and just the thoughts

569
00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:36.519
and just you don't know. And
I believe Barnes and Noble actually took a

570
00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:40.000
pattern after the traditional library. You
know, if you're going Barnes and Noble,

571
00:43:40.039 --> 00:43:44.320
you got several floors, you got
the magazines. Now they added the

572
00:43:44.400 --> 00:43:46.280
day and you know, the little
coffee shop thing. But I mean you

573
00:43:46.280 --> 00:43:50.320
could sit there. And what do
people do at Barnes and Noble. They

574
00:43:50.360 --> 00:43:53.800
sit there there and read the book. They'll read a magazine. So I

575
00:43:53.840 --> 00:43:58.000
think they took that lead from you
all. They just added the food piece

576
00:43:58.079 --> 00:44:01.440
of it. You know. I'm
jen thank you, God, bless you

577
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:07.079
for coming on tonight. Now all
of our we have listeners from Louisiana,

578
00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:10.679
Texas. We've got them all over
the place. And I know for a

579
00:44:10.679 --> 00:44:15.519
fact I'm going to replay this on
my social media, but I know libraries

580
00:44:15.559 --> 00:44:21.360
in those different states and cities are
going to get an unusual visit. Absolutely.

581
00:44:21.920 --> 00:44:23.519
Yeah. Like I know, I
was mainly talking about our system here

582
00:44:23.519 --> 00:44:28.800
in Orange County, Florida. But
go visit your public library. I guarantee

583
00:44:28.920 --> 00:44:31.679
you will learn something and probably be
surprised by something that it has. So

584
00:44:31.719 --> 00:44:35.920
please go do that, especially next
week for National Library Week. It's a

585
00:44:35.960 --> 00:44:42.280
good time to go back. And
I actually go to your ohiawassee location for

586
00:44:42.360 --> 00:44:45.159
voting. That's that's my new place
of voting. So I go there for

587
00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:50.840
voting and I go right in and
then eighty eight specific and require it's all

588
00:44:50.920 --> 00:44:54.519
laid out. It's very you know, they've got signs everywhere and everything is

589
00:44:54.559 --> 00:45:00.960
there anything. As we get ready
to end, thank you. You did

590
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:02.599
it. I know you probably you
said at first, I really don't know

591
00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:06.960
what I could. Really you brought
it. You brought the statistics, you

592
00:45:07.039 --> 00:45:09.280
brought the nature. You you gave
us an idea of what we will walk

593
00:45:09.320 --> 00:45:15.199
into now how it looks the traditional
way of things and now the non traditional

594
00:45:15.199 --> 00:45:21.079
which is becoming a traditional way.
I love new norms. I love it.

595
00:45:21.519 --> 00:45:24.360
You know, you fitting in with
where we're at right now. You're

596
00:45:24.400 --> 00:45:28.440
meeting all of us where we're at. So I could tell people go to

597
00:45:28.440 --> 00:45:30.719
the library. I can tell my
clients go to the library. You know,

598
00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:34.760
it's get a library card. That's
the front of your homework. Yes,

599
00:45:35.039 --> 00:45:37.159
get a library card, you know. But if you can leave us

600
00:45:37.199 --> 00:45:43.960
with one thing, whatever's on your
heart, what would you like to tell

601
00:45:44.360 --> 00:45:47.119
folks out there, other than you
know, definitely go visit next week because

602
00:45:47.159 --> 00:45:50.960
this is gonna you know, wherever
you are, go visit your library.

603
00:45:51.239 --> 00:45:53.480
Definitely let them know you're there.
But what one thing. Oh, and

604
00:45:53.480 --> 00:45:58.480
I'm going to tell you my three
books are in the Library of Congress with

605
00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:02.039
the twins to see on the Washington, DC trip. The Library of Congress

606
00:46:02.519 --> 00:46:07.000
the whole building was closed, so
we were able to walk through and I

607
00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:09.079
looked at it. I said,
my book at that time was only one

608
00:46:09.079 --> 00:46:15.039
book. My book is in there, but those books, so it just

609
00:46:15.079 --> 00:46:17.239
goes back. But please share.
I'm going to be quiet, sure and

610
00:46:17.480 --> 00:46:21.840
just in a nutshell. We have
something for you. We want to serve

611
00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.079
you. We have something for you, whatever it is. We can meet

612
00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:29.800
you where you're at in your life. And maybe you don't want a book,

613
00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:31.679
but we will have something for you
that you're interested in. If you

614
00:46:31.679 --> 00:46:35.920
want to meet with other people to
talk about your favorite podcast, if you

615
00:46:35.960 --> 00:46:38.599
want to learn how to crochet,
if you just want air conditioning and a

616
00:46:38.639 --> 00:46:42.880
place that's quiet for a little bit, we can be that for you.

617
00:46:42.960 --> 00:46:46.440
So just go to your local library
and then show your library and love support

618
00:46:46.440 --> 00:46:52.559
your local library as well. And
thank you for having me. I appreciate

619
00:46:52.599 --> 00:46:55.159
it so much. Well, thank
you for agreed to come on. And

620
00:46:55.199 --> 00:47:00.400
I am going to still I'm going
to circle back probably after next week to

621
00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:05.840
get with you and Brett on getting
the books donated because the village. I

622
00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:09.400
just got word last week from my
contact person who's one of my spiritual sons.

623
00:47:10.079 --> 00:47:13.840
He's heading that way, nobody goes
in August, but he's going in

624
00:47:13.880 --> 00:47:17.960
October because of the heat and everything. But he already got word back when

625
00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:22.119
he took went back last summer to
say, these are books. Every child's

626
00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:25.559
gonna get a brand new book.
That's something from my heart. I want

627
00:47:25.639 --> 00:47:30.320
every child to get a brand new
book in the school. And then we

628
00:47:30.360 --> 00:47:34.079
will build, we will contribute,
we will help with y'all building a library.

629
00:47:34.559 --> 00:47:38.000
Well, a contractor just happened to
be referred to him about a week

630
00:47:38.039 --> 00:47:40.400
and a half ago. He said, what do you need me to build?

631
00:47:40.519 --> 00:47:44.119
Let me go to Africa with you. Let me go to Ghana with

632
00:47:44.159 --> 00:47:46.760
you, and what do you need? And Kwan immediately said, we need

633
00:47:46.800 --> 00:47:50.760
a library built. He said okay, And he said, but I will

634
00:47:50.800 --> 00:47:52.239
be told how to run it,
so you have to work. So I

635
00:47:52.239 --> 00:47:57.199
will get a chance to teach them. You know, how to run it,

636
00:47:57.239 --> 00:47:59.800
how to put it together, how
to check out books. That's gonna

637
00:47:59.800 --> 00:48:04.440
be that next round. And then
the parents had a community meeting and said

638
00:48:04.480 --> 00:48:07.480
we want a library. I said, so let them know. I said,

639
00:48:07.599 --> 00:48:10.159
you have to let them know.
If the kids come first, that's

640
00:48:10.199 --> 00:48:14.519
a bigger that's a bigger task.
But I may be even to move some

641
00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:16.679
of y'all adult books and you know
in the years to come on that.

642
00:48:16.880 --> 00:48:22.199
But definitely I'll circle back with you
and bread and you know, two weeks,

643
00:48:22.239 --> 00:48:28.039
give y'all time to take anything else. Guys, y'all want to add

644
00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:31.840
before we let her go, I
just wanted to share with you that this

645
00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:40.199
was a library in El Salvador,
and libraries are not what they used to

646
00:48:40.280 --> 00:48:46.880
be. So this was six stories, so that's an El Salvador. So

647
00:48:47.039 --> 00:48:52.719
that's a pretty it was a pretty
amazing experience for me. So libraries are

648
00:48:52.800 --> 00:48:57.679
not but they used to be.
Folks, Uh, take advantage of it

649
00:48:57.800 --> 00:49:04.559
and get the information where you'll be
able to learn more than what the media

650
00:49:04.880 --> 00:49:09.559
is is teaching out there. Tray, I know you want to say one.

651
00:49:09.800 --> 00:49:13.760
I agree with all of that.
Keep up the great work, keep

652
00:49:13.840 --> 00:49:17.199
up the great work. Yes,
thank you so much, thank you.

653
00:49:17.239 --> 00:49:22.239
That's what we do here, setting
in straight, We correct the misinformation,

654
00:49:22.679 --> 00:49:25.960
we set the record straight, and
we hope to inform and educate. But

655
00:49:27.039 --> 00:49:29.920
anyway, that's our time. We're
going to see you all next week,

656
00:49:30.039 --> 00:49:50.840
same time, same station, Night
night