For the Love of Books

We All Smile at Books

Friday 23 April is World Book Night. The theme this year is Books That Make You Smile. With that in mind, we collated a collection of soundbites from various staff members which showcase which books make them smile and recommend them to you.

We hope everyone has a fantastic World Book Night and enjoy a great night of reading. Don't forget to wish Shakespeare a Happy Birthday too.

Don't forget you can leave us feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk.

Surviving Lockdown, Hopeful Future

With a brighter future (hopefully) on the horizon, Chris - our E-Services Librarian is joined on the podcast by Hilary - the Open Learning Officer for the Motherwell area and Alison - the Customer Services Librarian for the Coatbridge area. 

Together they chat about exactly what's been happening over the last few months in libraries while we get through another lockdown and why the future is looking bright. With a glimpse of some of the exciting activities on the horizon, news of how we've kept up with new stock for libraries reopening and a few book recommendations, there is a little something for everyone to get excited about.

Don't forget you can leave us feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk.

Don't Forget to Read Well NL

Our recent reading challenge for adults is soon drawing to a close. We wanted to shine a bit of a spotlight on it to show why we ran the challenge in the first place and highlight the importance of regular reading for pleasure for your well-being.

Our E-Services Librarian Chris explains the challenge in detail and shares a personal experience of one of our library members on why they signed up and the positive effects it's had on their reading habits.

The challenge itself may be ending soon, but the real challenge is to keep up the good reading habits afterwards. Do you accept it?

Don't forget you can leave us feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk.

Choose To Challenge

The theme for International Women's Day this year was Choose to Challenge. So we challenged some of the women in our librarian team to highlight some of their favourite authors and characters and explain a little about why they would champion them for this special International Women's Day-themed episode of our podcast.

Have a listen and you might be inspired to pick up a book from some of the great authors mentioned and fall in love with some of the characters too.

Don't forget to you can leave us feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk. 

Tumble into World Book Day

With World Book Day fast approaching on Thursday 4 March, our E-Services Librarian Chris took the opportunity this episode to catch up with children's author A. H. Proctor. Best known for her Thumble Tumble series featuring an extraordinary witch - A. H. a.ka. Angela tells more about the books, discusses how she's not letting Covid-19 get in the way of celebrating World Book Day, about her fantastic charity work and much more.

You can celebrate World Book Day by downloading some fantastic reads for young and old on our BorrowBox service while our libraries remain closed. For more information visit www.culturenl.co.uk/elibrary.

Don't forget you can can leave us feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk.

 

Focus on Health

From the February 8 - 14, CultureNL Libraries are celebrating Love Life Love Libraries - a Health and Wellbeing Week. That's why for this episode of our podcast, Chris - our E-Services Librarian is joined by a fellow Librarian - Lynn who is tasked with developing health aspects of our service amongst other things.

Join them for this episode to find out more about the health benefits of reading - some of which might be a surprise to you. You'll discover just how much health-related services and support are available from your local library and we'll also hear a few soundbites from others too including from the Project Manager of Macmillan in Lanarkshire - Craig.

Discover all about the Love Life Love Libraries events at www.culturenl.co.uk/lovelife. 

Don't forget you can leave us feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk.

Reads and Names with SJ

The CultureNL Libraries podcast, For the Love of Books, is back for season 3. We're kicking things off with a special guest appearance from well-known YouTuber SJ Strum.

Best known for her YouTube content on parenting and baby name suggestions, SJ joined our E-Services Librarian Chris to chat about her favourite parenting books, some family favourites and what's been on her reading pile recently. 

Of course, there are a few baby names thrown in too inspired by books. You can't have the UK's baby name expert without asking.

Don't forget you can leave us feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk. 

A Year in Reading

It's almost the end of 2020. Doesn't it seem like it's been the longest year in history? There have definitely been some challenging times this year, but there have been some silver linings - like some great reads on our online Facebook book group which we've been able to keep going throughout the course of lockdown, reopening then the current level 4 measures.

Join Chris, our E-Services Librarian for a year in reading, a quick look at each of the titles the Facebook book group have read this year. We expanded this out further with the introduction of a Twitter book club, #LetsReadNL, since July too.

Don't forget you can leave feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk.

Podcast To My Younger Self

Released during Book Week Scotland 2020, Chris - the E-Services Librarian is joined by writer and journalist Jane Graham for a look back at her time as CultureNL's Reader in Residence. Jane released a book recently called Letter To My Younger Self which is an emotion-filled personal insight from a who is who of the celebrity world. So we decided to take the concept on to this podcast too for her.

As the Books Editor of the Big Issue, we took the opportunity too to get her insight into some book recommendations for Christmas.

Don't forget you can leave feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk.

 

Skies Above Airdrie

The night sky and Observatories might not be the first thing you associate with libraries, but Airdrie Library is a little different. The library holds a little hidden gem that not many people realise is there - Airdrie Observatory. A fantastic public Observatory that is run and maintained by Curators from Airdrie Astronomical Association on behalf of CultureNL.

Today's episode sees Chris - the E-Services Librarian chat with the Librarian from Airdrie Library, Drew Feeney about working in a library with such a unique feature. They are joined by William Tennant who is one of the Curators from Airdrie Astronomical Association to get a bit of an expert viewpoint on the Observatory. For any budding astronomers out there, they also touch on a few books that might be worth having a look at to peak your interest.

Don't forget you can leave us feedback on our podcast using the hashtag #FLBpodcast on Twitter or by emailing us at librarypodcast@culturenl.co.uk.