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This month PaLAunchpod talks with Marilyn Holt, Library Services Manager of the Pennsylvania Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and president of the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society about the variety of experiences that happen in her department every day including classes on DNA genealogy, fulfilling requests to browse the 50000+ negatives in the Pittsburgh Photographic Library collections, facilitating and interpreting research results for genealogists and much more.

Founded to prepare students in the Pennsylvania capitol area for STEM careers, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology has seen rapid growth since its 2005 opening. Join PaLAunchpod host Heidi Abbey Moyer as she talks with University librarian David Runyon about some of the challenges he faces serving 5000 students with only three library staff (himself included)! You’ll also hear about the library’s innovative board game collection which was established by Runyon to support the Interactive Media program at the University, as well as the partnership with the local U. S. Army War College. Listen as David describes the “Simulating Global Crisis” class which is based on a role-playing game framework, and the board game analysis course he developed and teaches. Finally, David gives advice on how and why to start a library board game collection. His first tip: Do your homework!

This month, PaLAunchpodTalks with Penny Talbert, Executive Director of the Ephrata Public Library whose role as the Guerrilla Librarian has her roaring, rather than whispering, as she forges connections with her community, engages advocates and spreads the great news about Pennsylvania libraries - occasionally in colorful wigs and/or costumes.

In this edition of PaLAunchpod, Tom Berman interviews Iren L. Snavely, Rare Books Librarian at the State Library of Pennsylvania. Iren is a graduate of Geneva College and received his Master of Library Science degree from Drexel University. He also holds an M.A. in European History from Temple University and a Ph.D. in Early Modern European History from the University of Chicago. Dr. Snavely is a previous editor of the Journal of Religious & Theological Information, and author of numerous articles and book reviews on the Sixteenth-Century Reformation and early modern Europe. More recently, he has written articles on religion, science, and historiography in Pennsylvania.

Heidi Abbey Moyer speaks with Bernadette Lear and Eric Novotny, the creators and editors of the new, academic journal, Libraries: Culture, History, and Society (LCHS), published by the Pennsylvania State University Press. The journal, LCHS, if the official peer-reviewed journal of the Library History Roundtable of the American Library Association. Bernadette is an academic librarian at Penn State Harrisburg in Middletown, PA, and the library faculty liaison to two academic schools, Behavioral Sciences and Education as well as (on an interim basis) Science, Engineering, and Technology. Eric is also an academic librarian and liaison to History, History and Philosophy of Science, and Middle East Studies at the Penn State University Libraries in University Park, PA.

Samantha Hull is the Electives Supervisor and Ephrata High School Librarian & Media Coordinator for the Ephrata School District in Lancaster County, PA. Sam was chosen as a 2017 American Library Association Emerging Leader. Listen to her talk about the program and how it has helped her career. She also tells us the wonderful things that are happening in the Ephrata School Dictrict. Learn more about the ALA Emerging Leader program here: http://www.ala.org/educationcareers/leadership/emergingleaders

Everyone enjoys the annual Pennsylvania Library Association conference, but how many of us know what goes into the planning? Join host Tom Berman as he interviews Dana Farabaugh, District Consultant for the Westmoreland County Federated Library System and the 2017 PALA Conference Planning Committee Chair, about this year’s conference. With over seventy educational and almost fifty poster sessions, attendees could be overwhelmed; but Farabaugh offers tips on how to get the most out of the conference, including her best advice: Talk to strangers! Tom and Dana discuss the new all-member mixer, changes to the Exhibit Hall and exciting events happening outside the conference like a trip to the historic Strip District and a dessert reception at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Learn more about the conference and register here: http://www.palibraries.org/?page=2017ConfInfo

Mina Edmondson talks to Deborah Van de Castle, Vice President of Library Relations for the York County Library System, about the newly opened Salem Square Library. Hear about how in just two short years York County Libraries, together with community partners, transformed a rundown corner bar into a lively neighborhood satellite library with a focus on early literacy, homework help and workforce development. Check out the Salem Square Library's homepage! http://www.yorklibraries.org/salemsquare

Corey has sprouted and grown a library program called The Labs @CLP which gives artistic and personal mentorship to teens. The teens make art and music in a wide variety of media using real tools and equipment. The Labs offers everything from sewing to robotics to music recording to silkscreen printing. The Labs also brings these materials and techniques to other staff so they can learn and offer a version of the programs at their own branches

Liz Fitzgerald is the Administrator of the Free Library of Philadelphia's Culinary Literacy Center, the first of its kind in a library in the United States. Liz has been with the Free Library since 2008, working in the Catalog Department and as a Branch Manager and Children's Librarian in West Philadelphia before opening the Culinary Literacy Center in 2014. In 2016, Liz was named a Mover & Shaker by Library Journal. She regularly presents on the Culinary Literacy Center, including at the 2016 Special Libraries Association Annual Conference, the 2016 International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Satellite Conference, and will be presenting at the 2017 NextLibrary Conference in Aarhus, Denmark.  Before her tenure at the Free Library, Liz was a Teen Services Librarian at the Ocean County Library in New Jersey. She has her Masters of Library and Information Science from Rutgers University and a Bachelor's Degree from Loyola University in Maryland.

This month Brian Fulton talks with Molly Wolf, who is the founder and curator of the Sexuality Archives at Widener University. Our discussion deals with how the archive got its start at the university, items in their collection and how they use social media in promoting the archive. With it being April Fool’s Day, she is asked to share with you a funny story that deals with her work. In addition to her work with the Sexuality Archives, Molly also is a librarian at the Wolfgram Memorial Library at Widener. To read more about the Sexuality Archives visit - http://www.widener.edu/about/campus_resources/wolfgram_library/sexarchives/default.aspx The Sexuality Archives is also on social media - give them a like and a follow. Twitter - @SexualArchives Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/widenersexarchives/

Episode 2 part 2 Star Program Pilot Group An interview with the key members of PA Forward Star Program pilot group: Barbara McGary (Executive Director of the James V. Brown Library), Dana Brigandi (Public Relations and Community Partnership at James V. Brown Library), and Lis Miranda (Director of the Blossburg Memorial Library).

Episode 2 part 1 An interview with the PaLA Academy of Leadership Studies (PALS) Star Library Team: Joann Eichenlaub (Assistant Director of the Roger and Peggy Madigan Library at Pennsylvania College of Technology), Melissa Foltz(Director of the Manheim Community Library in Lancaster County), and Ed Wolf (Instructional/Reference Librarian at the Bethel Park Public Library, in Allegheny County). Team members also valuable to the success of the program: Anne Bramblett (Director of West Pittston Library) and Elizabeth Shoemaker (formerly at University of Scranton Weinberg Memorial Library.

Betty Lawson has been the Children's Librarian at the Wayne County Public Library in Honesdale, Pa for the past 14 years. After attending college at the State University of New York at Delhi, she moved to Florida where she became the Director of Admissions at a private school for special education. Before finding her current library position, she was a stay at home mother. Her love of reading to her own 3 children first led to a volunteer position coordinating storytimes at her present library. She now oversees the children's department, but her specific concentration is programming for children birth -5 years old. For the past 3 years, Betty has been on the steering committee of the statewide early literacy initiative, "Cruise Into Kindergarten." Over the years she has become passionate about her library outreach to struggling families and the incarcerated. In her spare time, she likes to read, bake, kayak and exercise...in that order! She is madly in love with her job.