Celebrate Black History Month by researching your African American family history!
To research your African American roots back to 1870, the process will be the same as anyone else's.
Genealogy is a little like detective work. You have to piece together information about your family, working backwards through time and using resources such as interviews with family members, birth certificates, family Bibles, obituaries, and other records.
more: Getting Started with African American Genealogy
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.
Amelia Zachry, author of Enough: A Memoir of Mistakes, Mania, and Motherhood, didn't think anyone would want to read about her trauma. But being vulnerable about her experiences "invited people to be vulnerable" in return.
"And so that is the power of the word from page to the reader," Amelia says, "that we can transform that sense of healing to others through our words."
On this episode, Amelia discusses several writing prompts that will help you tap into your emotions and "share your truth." Listen below!
more: Prompt to Page with Amelia Zachry
Celebrate Black History Month by learning more about African American lives and history with library programs, podcasts, and other resources!
For everyone: Black History Month Celebration
For teens: Pizza and Movie Night featuring "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
For craft-lovers: Crafternoon featuring silhouette artwork inspired by the style of renowned artist Kara Walker
And more!
more: Celebrating Black History Month
JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
This month we're getting nostalgic with books set in the 1990s, one of the prompts in the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.
Teenagers all figure prominently in our picks: a YA mystery, a thriller that celebrates horror's babysitter trope, and a novel where two teens accidentally start a moral panic.
Don't miss this episode—it's the bomb!
more: Rad Reads
It’s 2025—libraries have SO much more to offer than just books these days (…although we do still love books). With the Library of Things, you can borrow a multitude of non-traditional items from JCPL.
From instruments to board games to technology and more, the Library of Things has got it all. All you need is your library card!
more: 5 Reasons the Library of Things is a Lifesaver
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.
Author Jessica Handler believes "that when we write well, we're writing about what matters to us."
What matters to you? On this episode, Jessica shares a prompt that will help you understand what you're trying to do with your writing. It's one that she often used while writing her memoir, Invisible Sisters.
Jessica also shares a prompt that will help you regain focus and use your senses in a work in progress. Her third prompt will help you generate ideas for future projects. Listen below!
more: Prompt to Page with Jessica Handler
JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
Start the new year with the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge! We hope our prompts will inspire you to read and have fun while doing it.
Up first, we share wintry books perfect for reading by the fire. Our picks include an Irish Christmas story, a horror novel set in a Pennsylvania orphanage, and a YA fairy tale.
Enjoy a hot beverage while you read and you can cross two squares off your bingo card. Listen below!
more: Get Cozy with Wintry Reads
Read even more this year with the Winter-Spring Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge!
Reading challenges are a great way to set reading goals for yourself, discover new authors and genres, and have fun while doing it.
more: New Year, New Books & Bites Bingo
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.
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
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