MIKE LEMMER: Our KDNK fall membership drive continues today, and it's time for KDNK Nonprofit Connect. We are gonna head on up to Leadville now, and joining us from the Lake County Library, we've got Brena Smith with us this morning. Brena, good morning.
BRENA SMITH: Good morning.
LEMMER: And thanks for joining us here on KDNK this morning. How is your day going so far?
SMITH: So far so good. Thanks for having me.
LEMMER: Definitely, and thank you for coming up. The Lake County Library — lots of great things always going on there. Talk about some of your programs that you have coming up here.
SMITH: Well, coming up in a couple of weeks, we have our Creation Station open house, and we will be highlighting our X Tool, which is a laser cutter engraver; we're really excited about that. That's on October 2nd. We have Minecraft for kids every other Monday. And we also have our big program coming up on October 8th, which is our Banned Books Week celebration, and this year we are hosting Gabby Rivera.
LEMMER: And what is she gonna be speaking about? About the importance of fighting censorship, I assume, for Banned Books Week?
SMITH: Yeah. So usually, when we have our banned books author, we do a community read. So we take one of the books of the authors that has maybe been challenged or been on the Banned Books list. Her book is Juliet Takes a Breath. So she'll be doing a reading from her book and a Q&A. We'll be doing a sit-down interview with her, and yes, we will be highlighting the importance of intellectual freedom.
LEMMER: And much more important these days, more so than ever, right?
SMITH: Yes, more so than ever. It is a constant battle for libraries right now.
LEMMER: And are there other books that are highlighted during Banned Books Week? Do you have certain favorites of the banned books?
SMITH: Well, I think one of my favorites, so I'm a big Kurt Vonnegut fan. One of his books has been on the list for a long time. And so I really enjoy the classics that are on the list and also the ones to me that are funny, like Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. That has been on the list before.
LEMMER: Really?
SMITH: Oh, yeah. So I kind of get a kick out of those books. But we always highlight the books that are on the top ten list. We provide information about that throughout the week and put up flyers highlighting all those books that have been targeted throughout the year.
LEMMER: Does the list of banned books change year by year, or we pretty much got the, you know, the ones that have been for decades here now as well?
SMITH: It does change from year to year. American Library Association puts out the top 10 list. They put it out in the spring. And sometimes the same books show up year after year. The Bluest Eye tends to show up, by Toni Morrison. Sherman Alexie's book, The Diary of a Part-Time Indian, shows up on a regular basis. So this top 10 list generally changes, but there are books that show up on the top 100 list year after year.
LEMMER: And I do have to ask, why is Hop on Pop from Dr. Seuss on the list? Is it too violent for kids nowadays?
SMITH: It promotes violence against parents.
LEMMER: But it's in a loving way.
SMITH: Yes, I would totally agree with you.
LEMMER: Oh. Well, we appreciate you doing what you can to fight censorship and highlighting how silly some of these books being banned really is, right?
SMITH: Yeah. Yeah, it really is.
LEMMER: Getting back to your Creation Station Maker-Space, you mentioned that they're gonna be working with a laser engraver then?
SMITH: Yeah. So, we recently bought an Xtool laser engraver. So you can laser engrave. It's a really, really fun tool. You can do all kinds of things with it. I'm still learning, and so I hope people come in and learn along with me.
Lemmer: What's the age limit on using the laser engraver? Can kids come in and try it out too?
SMITH: Yeah, kids can come in and use it. I would supervise. I've already worked with a couple kids on doing some fun, quick, little projects. And, you know, there's some software that we work with, and then you put your graphics and play around with that, so it's all very supervised. I don't let kids use it by themselves, but with supervision it's really all ages.
LEMMER: Nice.
SMITH: It's a very fun tool.
LEMMER: Yeah. It sounds like it. We're talking with Brena Smith from the Lake County Library. A big push lately with libraries is becoming the library of things. You have more than just books there, right?
SMITH: We do. We have a library of things, and we have a tool library as well. So this is not just hand tools. This is not just, you know, hammers and screwdrivers. We have table saws, we have miter saws, we have power tools, and it's a really great resource for a community who might not be able to afford to buy those tools; they can check them out for free. And in our library of things, we have sewing machines, we have craft kits, we have telescopes. We have some of the big lawn games, like the giant Connect 4 and stuff. So, having those things in our library is really fun.
LEMMER: And all it takes is a library card to check out these tools or whatnot?
SMITH: Yes. All it takes is a library card. And for the tool library, they just need a short orientation, and for the Library of Things, they just need to sign some paperwork to say that they will take care of things. And 'cause we do have some expensive items in there. But it's available to everybody in the Lake County community.
LEMMER: Excellent. And we have a wonderful diversity here of residents in the KDNK area. Now, in addition to your English services, you guys also offer some Spanish language services there as well?
SMITH: We do. That's a very important part of our mission and our library. I have a Spanish services coordinator on staff, and then another library assistant who is bilingual. So all of our marketing materials, newsletter, and everything is translated, and in some of our bigger programs, we offer interpretation. And they also help us stay connected to that community and make sure that we are offering services to everybody in the community. So like I said, it's a very important part of our mission.
LEMMER: And we do appreciate always having the Lake County Library events on our community calendar every day. It's our KDNK Nonprofit Connect. All of us nonprofits, we're kind of all in this together. Brena, what does community radio mean to you personally?
SMITH: Oh, personally, I have been a public radio listener since I was a kid because my mother was a public radio listener, so it's been a part of my household since I can remember. And in terms of the library also, like, we really appreciate the shout-outs that you give and being on your calendar. Anybody that supports building community is definitely a buddy of ours.
SMITH: And the Lake County Library is definitely a buddy of ours as well. We appreciate everything you guys do, Brena. Where can people go to learn about your upcoming events or to learn what kind of stuff you have there at the Lake County Library?
SMITH: Everything is on our calendar, which can be found at lakecountypubliclibrary.org. And everything's on there. I really recommend signing up for our newsletter because that'll keep everybody updated on what's going on as well.
LEMMER: Excellent. Brena, any final thoughts you'd like to share?
SMITH: No, just thank you so much for all your support, and again, to everybody listening, I hope you come out to our Banned Books Week celebration on October 8th at Freight.
LEMMER: All right, will do, and thank you so much for joining us this morning, Brena.
SMITH: Yeah, thanks, Mike.
Director Brena Smith from the Lake County Library joined us here as part of our KDNK Nonprofit Connect as our fall membership drive continues.
