Episode Transcript
[00:00:19] Speaker A: Greetings, readers. Welcome to the first September edition of Library News. Schools have started and fall is upon us. September is Library Card Signup Month, a time when the Library for the Blind and Print Disabled joins the American Library association and the libraries nationwide to remind everyone the valuable resources available with a library card. This year's theme, one Endless Possibilities, is a reminder that libraries are for everyone, no matter your age, background or goals. Whether you're diving into a new hobby, searching for your next great read, or brushing up on tech skills, or helping your child succeed in school, it all starts with a library card.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: September is also National Literacy Month. This month is dedicated to celebrating the joy of reading, the power of words, and the lifelong benefits of literacy.
It's a time to recognize the importance of strong reading and writing skills in shaping opportunities, sparking imagination and connecting communities.
Whether you're diving into a favorite novel, sharing a story with a child, or exploring new ideas through books, National Literacy Month encourages everyone to make reading a part of their daily lives.
The Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled has a few activities planned to celebrate Library Card Signup Month and National Literacy Month. First, we invite you to take part in the September Reading Challenge, where the goal is Spend time each day reading and track your minutes. Whether you enjoy novels, nonfiction or magazines, every minute counts.
Register today at IowaLibrary blog and we will send you a sample reading log to keep you on track.
Once the month is over, you'll have the chance to submit your total reading minutes and join in the celebration of our collective success.
Next, we are excited to share a new way to connect with our library staff with Ask a Librarian. You can get quick, reliable answers to your questions. Whether you need help finding the right book, learning how to use library resources, or tracking down information for school, work or personal interests, our librarians are here to guide you, share expertise and make your library experience easier and more enjoyable. Every Tuesday from 9 to 10am and every Thursday from 3 to 4pm for the month of September, Connect with library staff via Zoom. More Information Coming soon and Beginning on.
[00:02:37] Speaker C: Thursday, September 18th, join us for Braille Babies story time from 10 to 10:30am every Thursday.
You can join in person at the Iowa Department for the Blind or or virtually via Zoom. Designed for children ages 0 to 4, this program will teach children the importance of touch, textures and tactiles while exploring beginning Braille skills. For more information or to get registered, go to IowaLibrary blog.
And of course, don't forget Crafting youg Story After School Program for school Age kids This program meets virtually Every Tuesday from 4:15 to 5pm Starting September 23rd. Each week of the month will have a special theme. Week one is Special Guest Spotlight Meet authors, artists, scientists and musicians. Week two is Book Club and Story Connection. Enjoy a great story or book talk.
Week three is Creative Arts and DIY Fun. Get hands on with easy fun crafts and Week four is Games and stem Exploration.
Play along with puzzles, logic games and simple science challenges. Go to IowaLibrary blog to learn more.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: Or get signed up now for top 10 fiction books downloaded from Bard 25 Alive DB 130041 by James Patterson and Maxine Petro SFPD Homicide Detective Lindsay Boxer knows her way around a crime scene, but nothing can prepare her for the shock of recognition. The victim is Warren Jacoby, Lindsay's one time partner who rose to chief of police.
A top investigator until the end, Jacoby managed to leave Lindsay a clue.
Following a trail of evidence along the west coast, the Women's Murder Club pledges to avenge Jacoby's death before the killer can take another one of their own. Nightshade DB 30298 by Michael Conley Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Stillwell has been exiled to a low key post policing rustic Catalina island after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunken disorlies and petty thefts that come with the new territory, Detective Stillwell gets a report of a body found way down at the bottom of the harbor, a Jane Doe, identifiable at first only by a streak of purple dye in her hair at the time. A report of poaching on a protective reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger as Stillwell digs into the shady past of an island bangwig, crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, Stilwell doggedly works both cases. Though hampered by an old beef with an ex colleague determined to thwart him at every turn, he is convinced he is the only one who can bring justice to the woman known as Nightshade.
Soon his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.
Hidden Star DB 127136 by Nora Roberts Private eye Cade Parris takes one look at the beautiful blonde who walks unannounced into his office and falls in love. Unfortunately, Bailey James is there to hire him. Fragile and clearly vulnerable, she doesn't even know who she is. Nor does she know why she's carrying a tote bag filled with more than a million dollars in cash, a pistol and a priceless blue diamond. Hidden Nature DB12 9760 by Nora Roberts Natural Resources Police officer Sloane Cooper and her partner had just taken down three men preying on hikers in the western Maryland mountains.
Driving back, she pulled into a convenience store and walked right into a robbery in progress. One gunshot from a jittery thief was about to change her world.
After being shocked back to life on the operating table, she has a long recovery ahead. So she moves back to her parents peaceful house and herons rest.
As for the boyfriend who dumped her via text while she was in the hospital, good riddance.
She may be down, but she's not out. So when a woman vanishes, leaving her car behind in a supermarket parking lot, Sloan searches online for similar cases.
She finds them spread across three states. Men and women, old and young. The missing seem to have nothing in common, and the abductions keep happening. Luckily, the new man in her life shares her passion for solving this mystery.
But it will take every ounce of endurance to get to the dark heart of this bizarre case, and she's willing to risk her life again if that's what it takes to stop the horror.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: Guilty A gripping psychological thriller that will have you hooked. DB126887 by Laura Elliott it begins with a phone call. It ends with a missing child. On a warm summer's morning, 13 year old schoolgirl Constance Lawson is reported missing.
A few days later, Constance's uncle Carl Lawson suddenly finds himself swept up in a media frenzy created by journalist Amanda Bowie, implying that he is the prime suspect. Six years later, Carl's life is in ruins, his marriage is over, his family destroyed, but the woman who took everything away from him is thriving. With a successful career, husband and a gorgeous baby boy, Amanda's world is complete. Until the day she receives a phone call. And in a heartbeat she is plunged into every mother's worst nightmare.
Strangers in a World War II novel DB128900 by David Balducci 14 year old Charlie Matters is up to no good, but for a very good reason.
Without parents, peerage or merit ducking school but barred from actual work, he steals what he needs, living day to day until he's old enough to enlist to fight the Germans.
After barely surviving the Blitz, Charlie knows there's no telling when a falling bomb might end his life.
15 year old Molly Wakefield has just returned to a nearly unrecognizable London. One of millions of people to have been evacuated to the countryside via Operation Pied Piper, Molly has been away from her parents, from her home, for nearly five years. Her return, however, is not the homecoming she'd hoped for, as she's confronted by a devastating reality. Neither of her parents are there. Only her old nanny Mrs. Pride. Without guardians and stability, Charlie and Molly find an unexpected ally and protector in Ignatius Oliver in solace at his bookshop, the Bookkeep, where a book a day keeps the bombs away. Mourning the recent loss of his wife, Ignatius forms a kinship with both children and in each other. Over the course of the greatest armed conflict the world had ever seen, they rediscover the spirit of family each has lost. But Charlie's escapades in the city have not gone unnoticed, and someone's been following Molly since she returned to London. And Ignatius is reeling from a secret Imogene long kept from him while she was alive. So something so shocking it resulted in her death and his life being turned upside down. As bombs continue to bear down on the city, Charlie, Molly, and Ignatius learn that while the perils of war rage on, their coming together and trusting one another may be the only way for them to survive.
Stuart Woods Finders Keepers DB 130021 by Brett Battles after attending an Arrington Properties meeting on Martha's Vineyard at the group's newest location, the Vineyard, Arrington Stone Barrington returns to New York City to catch up with his old friend Jack Coulter over lunch, who requests Stone's help in settling his niece Sarah into city life post divorce. Always one to please, Stone takes Sarah under his wing. But when various men from Sarah's past start getting hurt and Jack's loved ones find themselves a target in a deadly scheme, it's up to Stone to put the pieces together before the shrouded conspirer manages to tear them all apart pretty permanently.
[00:10:58] Speaker C: Two sisters murder investigations don't mess with the Byrde sisters DB12 9803 by James Patterson and Candace Fox Rhonda and Barbara Baby Bird are half sisters and full partners in their Los Angeles detective agency. They agree on nothing. Rhonda, a former attorney, takes a by the book approach to solving crimes, while teenage baby relies on her street smarts. But when they take a controversial case of a loner whose popular wife has gone missing, they're accused of being PIs who can't tell a client from a killer. The Byrd sisters share a late father, but not much else except their willingness to fight. Fight the system, fight for the underdog, fight for the truth if they can stop fighting each other long enough to work together.
The Big Empty DB126841 by Robert Crace Tracy Beller was 13 when her father disappeared in the sleepy town of Rancha, not far from Los Angeles. The evidence says Tommy Beller abandoned his family, but Tracy never believed it. Now, 10 years later, Tracy is a high profile influencer with millions of followers and the money to hire the best detectives she can find.
Elvis Cole.
Elvis heads to Rancha where an ex con named Sadie Givens and her daughter Anya might have a line on the missing man. But when Elvis finds himself shadowed by a gang of vicious criminals, the missing person's cold case becomes far more sinister.
Elvis calls his ex Marine friend Joe pike for help, and they follow Tommy Beller's trail into the depths of a monstrous, hidden evil. The case flips on its head. Victims become predators, predators become prey, and the question becomes, can Elvis Cole save them all from this Nightmare?
Nobody's Fool DB128659 by Harlan Coban his memory is clear, but all these years later, the facts don't add up. Which is something he cannot ignore. Sammy Kearse, a young college grad backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning covered in blood. There's a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of his girlfriend Anna, dead. He doesn't know what happened. His screams drown out his thoughts. And then he runs.
22 years later, Kearse, now a private investigator, is a new father who's working off his debts by doing low level surveillance jobs and teaching wannabe sleuths at a night school in New York City.
One evening, he recognizes a familiar face at the back of the classroom. Anna. It's unmistakably her. As soon as Keirce makes eye contact with her, she bolts. For Keirce, there is no choice. He knows he must find this woman and solve the impossible mystery that has haunted his every waking moment since that terrible day. His investigation will bring him face to face with the past and prove after all this time, he's nobody's fool.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: The library will host the Midland Southern Regional Conference in person at the Iowa Department for the Blind and virtually on Zoom September 15th and 16th. This conference is attended by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled staff as well as library staff from other NLS regional libraries.
The conference provides a unique opportunity for colleagues to learn from one another, highlight best practices, and discuss the latest developments within the National Library Service and our regional libraries.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: The library's newest book club starts this month in the no Book Book Club. There are no assigned titles. You choose what you want to read and bring whatever title you're reading and share it with the group. The no Book Book Club will have its first meeting on Wednesday, September 17th from 2 to 3pm and will meet bimonthly. After that, call or email the library to get signed up.
[00:15:02] Speaker C: The Patron Engagement Section is offering a new program to assist patrons using the new Bard 2.0 website.
Bard 2.0 office hours will be held each Tuesday night from 7pm until 8pm starting September 16, 2025 and ending November 25, 2025. Each session will be informal and structure specifically designed to assist patrons as they learn and use the new Bard website.
Sessions will not begin with a presentation and will not be recorded. Patron questions will be addressed on a first come first served basis. Staff will share their screen reader sound for the patrons as they answer patron questions and demonstrate Features this month's Many.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: Faces of Bard will be Thursday, September 11th at 6pm via Zoom Smart speaking to the Smart speaker by NLS will be held Thursday, September 18th at 6pm the all may Eread, the monthly NLS program that focuses on the NLS Braille Ereader, will be held Tuesday, September 30th at 6pm via Zoom.
Topics for these NLS programs have not been released yet. Check our blog, IowaLibrary blog for updated information.
Contact the Library if you need assistance getting registered for any of the NLS events.
Please don't hesitate to contact the library with any questions or comments at 515-281-1323 or by email at librarylind state ia us. The library is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 4:30pm Happy reading. Sam.
