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Prompt to Page with Dorian Hairston
A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts. These exercises can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing.
Brought to you in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.
Listen to Episode 51
Poet and educator Dorian Hairston encourages all writers—from his high school students to adults—to make their writing fresh and new.
Dorian believes "if we can just find ways as artists to be interesting... we give ourselves a fighting chance at allowing love to blossom in our lives and surviving whatever we must."
Keep your writing interesting with help from Dorian's favorite writing prompts. He uses these exercises in his own work as well as with students. Listen below!
more: Prompt to Page with Dorian HairstonUnwrap Your Family History
The holidays are a great time to gather family records and interview family members about their lives, as we discussed in an earlier blog post.
You can use that information to improve your search results in the library's genealogy tools. These online resources can help you go back through the generations so that the next time you get together with relatives, you can unwrap the gift of your shared history.
Learn more about two of our genealogy databases, Fold3 Library Edition and Ancestry Library Edition, below.
more: Unwrap Your Family HistoryMust-Read Books of 2025
JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 108
We're saying goodbye to 2025 with this episode, and with it our Summer-Fall Books & Bites bingo card!
What better way to ring out the old year than with some of our favorite books published in 2025? Our picks include a darkly comic adventure story, a YA fantasy-mystery, and a novel that reinvents the werewolf story.
And don't forget to turn in your bingo card in person or online by December 30, 2025!
more: Must-Read Books of 2025Gather Your Family History While You Gather Together
Interested in learning more about your family tree? The library has some great genealogy tools, but your database searches will be even more successful if you do a little homework first.
That's especially true if you have a common last name. If you search for a grandfather named "John Smith" on Ancestry Library Edition, you'll get millions of results. That's way too many to sift through!
But if you can add information like John Smith's estimated birth year, a place he may have lived, or a spouse's name, you'll have a much better chance of finding him in the search results.
If you're getting together with family for the holidays, take some time to gather the basic information that will help build a strong foundation for your research.
more: Gather Your Family History While You Gather TogetherCommunity Meals for the Holidays and Beyond
The Jessamine County Public Library is grateful to all the organizations working to improve access to nutritious food here in Jessamine County.
According to God's Pantry Food Bank, the most recent report from Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap project shows food insecurity in Central and Eastern Kentucky at "historic highs."
Feeding America says households become food insecure when they "cannot access enough food due to a lack of money and other essential resources."
Map the Meal Gap's 2025 study, which was based on 2023 data, found 7,400 food insecure people in Jessamine County. In other words, 13.7% of our residents lacked enough food, many of them children.
The community meals listed below are one way local organizations are trying to help. These meals are open to all.
Visit our Food Assistance webpage to find information about food pantries serving Jessamine County.
more: Community Meals for the Holidays and BeyondCelebrating 50 Episodes of Prompt to Page
On this special edition of the Prompt to Page writing podcast, we look back at some of our best moments so far.
In the four years since the podcast first aired, writers of all genres—poets, novelists, graphic novelists, children's and YA authors, and nonfiction writers—have discussed their favorite writing prompts.
On this episode, past guests share tips on using writing prompts, finding time to write, nurturing your creativity, and more. Listen below!
more: Celebrating 50 Episodes of Prompt to PageTales with Scales
Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 107
JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
On this episode, we discuss books with dragons. It’s one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.
Our picks include a slow-burn romantasy, a speculative fantasy that takes place during the 1950s and 1960s, and a YA sci-fi and fantasy mashup.
more: Tales with ScalesGet Personalized Support for Veterans with VetNow
VetNow from Brainfuse can help with a wide range of veteran needs. Get help updating your resume for civilian jobs, navigating the VA system, finding local resources, and more.
more: Get Personalized Support for Veterans with VetNowPrompt to Page with Rachel Elliott
A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts. These exercises can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing.
Brought to you in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.
Listen to Episode 49
For graphic novelist Rachel Elliott, drawing comes more easily than writing. "I think prompts really help me make that move from drawing a goofy kid, drawing a talking animal," she says, "into...what is this story about?"
Rachel shares a writing prompt that helped her understand her main character in The Real Riley Mayes. She also discusses her love of drawing Martin Short, the importance of the freedom to read, and her upcoming workshop at JCPL, Inventing Comic Characters for Teens.
more: Prompt to Page with Rachel Elliott