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Prompt to Page with B. Elizabeth Beck

A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts—exercises that can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing.

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, a novelist, essayist, or poet, you’ll find ideas and advice to motivate you to keep writing. 

Brought to you in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

Listen to Episode 39

For poet and fiction writer B. Elizabeth Beck, "making sure that you are actively engaged in a community is... the salvation to your sanity and to your work."

On this episode, Elizabeth discusses her participation in writing and music communities. She founded Teen Howl and Poetry at the/ˈtā-bəl/, two Lexington-based reading series where poets of all ages support each other's writing.

Elizabeth has also discovered community with fellow fans of the Grateful Dead and Phish, and these experiences, as well as her love of visual art, often inspire her writing.

Learn how to engage with art and music in your own writing with help from Elizabeth's favorite prompt.

more: Prompt to Page with B. Elizabeth Beck

Artisan Fair Vendor Spotlight: ARJO Pottery

On Saturday, December 14th, JCPL will be hosting the 2nd annual Artisan Fair! This festive event will feature curated vendors, live demonstrations, holiday music, and food trucks to celebrate the season.

Each vendor has been hand selected to display their craft or artwork, sharing their talents and unique gifts and products for the community to enjoy. It’ll be a perfect stop for those looking for thoughtful gifts, holiday cheer, and artistic inspiration.

One of these artisanal vendors is ARJO Pottery. Joseph Eastham and Arlo Rosdatter work together under this name to create a variety of inspired ceramic pieces. As we approach Artisan Fair, we’ve reached out to them to ask a few questions.

Can you tell us a little about your craft, and what has drawn you to it as an artist?

We primarily make functional pottery, which is made from clay. We form the clay into shapes on the wheel to make them into different eating and drinking wares like bowls and cups.

more: Artisan Fair Vendor Spotlight: ARJO Pottery

Wrap Up 2024 with These Books

Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 96

JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.

It's time to wrap up the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! We hope you enjoyed this challenge as much as we did.

Don't forget to turn in your bingo cards by December 30 for a chance to win a Kindle or a $100 gift card to Joseph Beth Booksellers.

On this episode, we discuss books published in 2024. Our picks include a suspense novel that is also an immersive alternate reality game, a National Book Award-winning adaptation of an American classic, and a YA mystery by a bestselling author.

more: Wrap Up 2024 with These Books

Community Meals and Food Assistance for the Holidays and Beyond

This Thanksgiving, the Jessamine County Public Library is grateful to all the organizations who provide food assistance to the Jessamine County community.

According to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap project, in 2022 there were approximately 7,210 food insecure people in Jessamine County, leaving us with a food insecurity rate of 13.5%. The food insecurity rate for Jessamine County children is even higher, at 17.5%.

What is food insecurity? According to Feeding America, the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines it as a “lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.”

The organizations listed below are trying to improve access to nutritious food here in Jessamine County with free community meals and food pantries.

more: Community Meals and Food Assistance for the Holidays and Beyond

Prompt to Page with Jacinda Townsend

A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts—exercises that can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing.

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, a novelist, essayist, or poet, you’ll find ideas and advice to motivate you to keep writing. 

Brought to you in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

Listen to Episode 38

Novelist Jacinda Townsend believes that "writing is a habit, and the imagination begets the imagination." Having a set writing routine helps her create because "the imagination is a kind of muscle."

On this episode, Jacinda explains the steps she takes each morning to fire up her imagination, including using writing prompts.

Her favorite prompt to share focuses on pacing. Her students generate such strong work with this exercise that some have even published their finished pieces.

more: Prompt to Page with Jacinda Townsend

Books about Chosen Family

Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 95

JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.

On this episode, we discuss books about chosen or found family, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge (PDF, 461 KB).

According to library database NoveList, books with this theme focus on families "formed by choice, rather than birth." Close friends, nontraditional families, and people who bond over their circumstances can all form chosen families.

Our picks include a YA novel about a found family of unhoused teens trying to save the world; an alternative history about a ragtag crew working to rid the Mississippi River of its feral hippo problem; and a historical novel about a chosen family in post-World War II England and Italy.

more: Books about Chosen Family

5 Ways to Research the 2024 General Election

See below for five resources that can help you learn more about the candidates and amendments on the 2024 general election ballot.

Download a sample Jessamine County ballot.

Kentucky also has two constitutional amendments on the ballot. Read the full text of the amendments on the sample ballot.

Read more about the amendments at the five resources below or from nonpartisan news service the Kentucky Lantern:

Voting Dates

Oct. 23 – 25, 2024 and Oct. 28 – Oct. 30, 2024, 8 am – 4 pm: Excused, in-person absentee voting for qualified voters at the Jessamine County Courthouse.

Oct. 31 – Nov. 2, 2024, 8 am – 4 pm: In-person, no excuse absentee voting at the Jessamine County Courthouse and Wilmore City Hall.

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024: Election Day.
Polls are open from 6 am to 6 pm.
The library is one of ten polling places open to all Jessamine County precincts.

more: 5 Ways to Research the 2024 General Election

Prompt to Page with Robert Gipe

A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts—exercises that can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing.

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, a novelist, essayist, or poet, you’ll find ideas and advice to motivate you to keep writing. 

Brought to you in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

Listen to Episode 37

Novelist Robert Gipe believes that when you use writing prompts, "you're just kind of fishing for something that works."

If you're lucky, you might end up with "a couple of sentences that have some energy to them, that have some heat." Robert says those sentences can help you build a piece of writing "you feel good enough about to share with others."

more: Prompt to Page with Robert Gipe

Gothic with a Twang: Reading Southern Gothic

Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 94

JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.

On this episode, we discuss Southern Gothic books, one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge. Southern Gothic is a sub-genre of Gothic fiction--or, as Michael says, it's "Gothic with a twang."

According to Book Riot, some of the characteristics of Southern Gothic include, "eccentric, flawed characters, sinister events, elements of the supernatural or fantastical, and themes relating to race, class, decay, violence, and isolation."

Our picks for this month include a Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, a YA mystery, and a haunting, surprisingly spicy novel. Listen below!

more: Gothic with a Twang: Reading Southern Gothic

Fact-Checking Election News

Not sure whether a social media post or news story about the 2024 presidential and vice-presidential candidates is true?

Using critical thinking and media literacy skills can help you decide how much to trust a source. However, professional fact checkers can help you draw more informed conclusions with background information, research, and context.

more: Fact-Checking Election News