Episode Transcript
[00:00:15] Speaker A: Greetings readers and welcome to the second episode of our July 2026 Library News.
July brings all the best parts of summer, spring, sunshine, longer days, and the perfect opportunity to pick up a new book or revisit an old favorite. In this episode, we have a great tech tip to share and Leland is featured as our staff spotlight for the month.
So grab your favorite ice cold drink, settle in and get ready for this month's Library News.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: And now, this month's D List Road Trips and Great Escapes Paper Towns By John Green, DB68 404 during senior year, Margot, the girl next door, entices Quentin into a night of mischief and she then disappears. Quentin and classmates Radar, Ben, and Lacey follow the clues Margot left while they worry about her state of mind.
On the Road By Jack Kerouac, DB 31675 the Adventures of free spirited Dean Moriarty, Sal paradise, and their eclectic friends as they traverse North America by bus car, both stolen and borrowed, and thumb on a wild, anarchic quest for identity and purpose. Classic autobiographical portrayal of the beat generation.
The Ten A Memoir of Family and the Open Road by E.A. hanks, DB 129565 in her trusted, loaded up minivan, Minnie E.A. hanks follows the same route as a long ago road trip with her mother in an attempt to better understand the complicated woman who gave her life along the way. As she follows her mother's diaries in her own recollections of the route, she begins to uncover secrets, some unexpectedly wonderful and others darker and more violent than she ever imagined, that bring more questions than answers.
From the quiet expanses of White Sands national park to the bustling streets of New Orleans and the Texas Mexico border to the swamps of the Florida Panhandle, she interacts with the amazing breadth and diversity of the people that call these places home.
Reckoning with the past, the present, her memories, and herself, Hanks brings us along a beautiful voyage towards understanding how the stories we tell about the places we're from ultimately become the stories we tell about the people we are.
[00:03:00] Speaker C: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants By Ann Brashares, DB53252 415 year olds Bridget the athlete, Lena the Beauty, Tibby the Rebel, and Carmen, the one with a bad temper, have been friends since childhood. During this first summer apart, they share a pair of used jeans that magically fits each of them perfectly and helps them through tough times.
Into the Wild By John Krakauer, DB41823 this book, which grew from an article the author wrote for Outside magazine, discusses a fatal trek by a young man named named Chris McCandless.
After graduating from college in 1990, McCandless abandoned his car, gave away his money, and cut off contact with his family. Exactly 112 days after he wandered into the Alaskan wild, McCandless was found dead of starvation. The author looks to himself and other adventurers for an explanation.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. tolkien, D DB 123863 Bilbo Baggins A respectable, well to do hobbit lives comfortably in his hobbit hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
Ride With Me By Lucy Keaton, DB12 8763 As a driver for her local rideshare app, driver Charlie Owens loves what the open road gives her freedom, extra cash for an epic road trip, and a path to getting out of her sleepy town of Chester Falls, Massachusetts.
She's seen her fair share of mysterious passengers and explosive breakups in the backseat of her car, but Charlie lives a no strings attached lifestyle and never gets involved.
But when a routine post party pickup ends with Charlie crashing into Andre, her her school's notorious party boy, she's forced to make a deal to drive him anywhere he needs to go, anytime until his car can be repaired. Suddenly, Charlie and Andre are stuck together and they couldn't be more different. But Andre's charm wins over Charlie's passengers, and she soon finds herself at risk of breaking her most sacred rule. Don't Fall in Love.
[00:05:27] Speaker A: The Name of the Wind By Patrick Rothfuss, DB 64855 A wandering scholar recognizes an innkeeper as legendary Kvothe and elicits his story. Kvothe reveals his youth in a family of traveling players, struggles as an orthan entry into a school of magic and exploits that earn him the reputations of Musician, Thief, hero.
An assassin.
Life of PI by Yann Martell, DB 54950 PI Patel, the sole human survivor of the shipwreck, is in a lifeboat with an injured zebra, a hyena, orangutan, and an adult Bengal Tiger. Strangely, after 227 days in the Pacific, the boy and the tiger make landfall.
How to Travel the world on $75 a day Travel cheaper, longer, smarter by Matt Kepnes, DB 130188 Travel expert Matt Kepnes has been traveling the world since 2006 and has shared his expertise and insights with countless globetrotters on his blog and imprint.
In this new, updated edition of how to Travel, the world, you'll be able to benefit from practical, detailed, exhaustively researched travel advice that will help you get on the road better, cheaper, and smarter. Bursting with new material and vetted by the author's own experiences, how to Travel the world on $75 a day provides all the info that you need to organize and implement the trips you've always fantasized about without breaking the bank.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: This month's Magazine of the Month is Bookmarks. Published bimonthly and available in audio, on cartridge or as download through Bard, Bookmarks is the perfect resource for readers looking for their next great book.
Each issue features summaries of hundreds of reviews from major newspapers and magazines, offering a comprehensive look at 50 new fiction, nonfiction, and children's titles. It's an easy way to discover new books and make informed reading choices.
[00:08:08] Speaker C: We're back again with another Tech tip. I'm Angie and this month we are taking a look at navigating a book by chapters on our new book player, the DA2. Let's get started.
Did you know you can navigate your books by jumping around by sections? The advanced book players, the DA1 and DA2 have extra buttons that allow you to hop from one part to another.
Most times this is chapter to chapter, but can be other markers depending on the book.
On your DA2 while in a book, if you press the right or left arrows, you'll move forward or back a section.
Press the opposite arrow and you'll return to where you started.
To change what markers you're moving to, press either the up or down arrow.
Common options are chapter, phrase, and bookmark. This feature is great if you want to go back to reread the chapter you are on or skip to a specific section of the book and that's it. I hope you found this helpful and I'll see you again in our next tech tip.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: Hello Leland here with this month's Staff Spotlight. We're halfway through the year and there have been tons of new books in series I've been following.
One of these is the brand new eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl A Parade of Horribles.
This book not only revealed major mysteries, it introduced wild new twists. I'm excited to share what keeps me hooked and why there's a TV series adaptation coming soon. First, if you're not familiar, Dungeon Crawler Carl blends video game mechanics with sci fi storytelling.
This genre is called litrpg or Literary Role Playing Game. You can expect characters to have stats, levels and skills just like a D and D session. Most LITRPG books are written by independent authors and start online.
I love the passion in these stories and watching the author's writing develop over time. But the best part? You don't need to care about video games or D and D to get absolutely hooked.
The story starts with a world ending calamity. When aliens arrive to harvest earth. Portals open to allow survivors to escape, but they end up trapped in a deadly 18 level underground dungeon. The twist? The Dungeon is a sadistic reality TV show broadcast across the universe.
We mainly follow Carl and his ex girlfriend prize winning Persian cat Princess Donut. Thanks to an alien upgrade, Donut starts talking, gains magical powers and becomes a absolute diva.
While they do level up and collect gear, the real draw is the brilliant corporate satire and deep psychological survival. If this book sounds interesting to you, also check out he who Fights with Monsters, the Primal Hunter, Awaken Online, or Dungeonborn.
All of these are excellent books that bring game like systems to their story
[00:11:48] Speaker B: Our Youth Summer Reading program is off to a great start. This year's theme, Unearth a Story, Unleash youh Inner Explorer, has participants enjoying engaging virtual activities while earning their hope, patience, responsibility, and kindness. Badges programs are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 1:45pm with youth librarian Denise Bean leading Arts on Mondays, investigation on Wednesdays and STEM Fridays. To learn more about the summer reading program and find additional information, visit IowaLibrary blog.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: Thrive Thursday continues this summer with Career Lab series where real talk meets real connections. Held both virtually via Zoom and in person on Thursdays from 2 to 4pm participants build a personal career toolkit while exploring a variety of career paths through interactive presentations and guest speakers. Recent presenters have included Deborah Erickson from Blind Kitchen, Blake from Serenity Massage and Energy Work, and Lenora Hagan, founder of Totally Awesome Pets, who shared their experiences in culinary arts, wellness and therapy, and entrepreneurship. To learn more about Thrive Thursday and upcoming sessions, visit IowaLibrary blog and don't
[00:13:09] Speaker A: forget about the National Library Service Summer Reading Program. In partnership with the Braille Institute, NLS is offering a virtual program for teens and adults who want to unearth a story from June 15 through August 11, 2026. The program features a variety of exciting activities, including live Zoom webinars with authors, artists, national park rangers and other engaging speakers, as well as immersive, narrated soundscape experiences that let participants audio travel through places like Hawaii Volcanoes national park and the Everglades National Park. Take your summer reading adventure a step further by adding this program to your calendar and enjoy these unique opportunities throughout the summer. To register and learn more, visit.
Www.brailleinstitute.org Summer Reading Program
[00:14:35] Speaker B: it's not too late to sign up for Picabox. You can sign up by calling the library at 515-281-1323 or online at IowaLibrary blog.
Each month, participating patrons will receive a cartridge of specially curated books set in that month's Olympic host city and a sticker to stamp the passport they will receive with their first box. Picabox is designed for patrons 18 years
[00:15:00] Speaker C: and older interested in joining a book club. We offer several options for all ages and reading styles, including the Tuesday Book Club, Thursday Book Club, no Book Book Club and Beyond the Book Teen Book Club. Meeting times vary and all groups are accessible by conference call. For schedules and more details, contact the library for more information.
No matter what your age or interest, there's a book club waiting for you.
[00:15:29] Speaker A: The library will also be participating in Steam on the ridge on Friday, July 31st in the Oak Ridge neighborhood of Des Moines. This annual event provides students in grades K through 8 with hands on activities focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. Steam the Library will offer a fun Braille activity for students and is excited to be a part of this event for the fourth year in a row.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: Save the date Join us virtually on Thursday, August 13, 2026 from 2 to 3pm for a special presentation featuring Dr. Michael Beckham Bechtel, professor of Science Education at Warburg College. Dr. Bechtel will share his passion for the Earth and beyond, including his lifelong interest in living things, biophilia, his campus menagerie of giant tortoises and poison dart frogs, and his research expeditions to the Amazon Rainforest. He will also discuss his work with the NASA IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program and including his team's involvement with NASA's Sphere X space Telescope and the search for hidden young stellar objects or baby stars within cosmic dust clouds. Bring your curiosity and your biggest science questions. Visit IowaLibrary blog to sign up and receive the Zoom link for this exciting
[00:17:02] Speaker C: event and the all may eread will be held on Tuesday, July 28th at 6pm all programs are held via Zoom and the topics have not been released yet. Check our blog, IowaLibrary blog for updated information.
Contact the library to get more information or go to www.loc.govnlS.
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 read.
