Multnomah County Library Podcasts

Love dinosaurs? Listen in as zinester Rio Safari and librarian Cathy Camper discuss some of the best and most bizarre dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are related to birds, but were they colored like parakeets? What's the deal with T. rex's teeny tiny arms? And what dinos had more spikes than a punk's leather jacket? Listen in and explore the books below, for more info:

Bizarre Dinosaurs;Some Very Strange Creatures and Why We Think they Got that Way by Christopher Sloan

Chased By Sea Monsters; Prehistoric Predators of the Deep  Nigel Marven and Jasper James

Extreme Dinosaurs Steve Parker and Leslie Mertz

A Field Guide to Dinosaurs; The Essential Handbook for Travelers in the Mesozoic  by Henry Gee and Luis V. Rey

Rio Safari and James Williams speak about dinosaur mini-comics at Zinesters Talking Dino Night, Tuesday April 20, 2010, from 6:30-7:45 p.m. in Central Library's U.S. Bank Room.

Audience: Adult

Phil Mandel will show you how to make a difference in your life by setting and achieving your goals.

At 62, Bill Brandt-Gasuen has a rich history of volunteering in Portland including 16 years with Multnomah County Library, 15 with Friends of Seasonal and Service Workers and 10 with Race for the Cure. When he retired in 2002, the issues that concern him deeply—literacy, homelessness and poverty—motivated him to pursue a second career as a full-time volunteer for these organizations. Having recently reached 14,000 hours of service to the  library, Bill credits his civic engagement to his upbringing, an innate desire to serve and, in the words of President Obama,”... a mandate to assist others”.

Gift People are recorded conversations with civically engaged older adults, sponsored by Library Outreach Services, Life by Design NW and the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by Oregon State Library

Start with improv, add a dash of pathos, a pinch of standup, a bit of character and you have the path to shaping and communicating your story. Actor nancy McDonald provides the tools in this fun and informative lecture.

Recorded February 11, 2010

Building a life is like building a house and the right tools make all the difference. Discover tools to achieve craftsmanship-quality success and happiness in your life.

Recorded February 4, 2010

Calling All Babymouse Fans!

Do you love Babymouse as much as I do? Then listen to this interview with Matt Holm, who, with his sister Jenni, creates the Babymouse graphic novels! Learn all about how Matt became an artist, and how you can become an artist too. Tune in to find out: Does Matt like pink? What's his favorite animal? And what's the next adventure for Babymouse? Then, head on over to the Multnomah County Library and check out the latest Babymouse graphic novel, Babymouse Burns Rubber.

Discover the roots of conflict and the mediation skills needed to find effective solutions. Learn how to have discussions that are balanced, direct and fair.

Recorded January 28, 2010

Hear David Rozell facilitate a discussion on the importance of community as we age. What are the qualities of a community that will allow us to age positively?

David Rozell is a certified retirement workshop facilitator leading life planning workshops and classes in California and Oregon since 2004. He is an adjunct instructor in gerontology at Marylhurst University where he teaches Creative Aging classes and he also teaches courses through Life by Design NW at PCC.

Recommended reading for this presentation is Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose by Richard Leider and David Shapiro.

Perspectives on Positive Aging is a monthly speaker series at Central Library and is made possible through the library’s partnership with Life by Design NW and, in part, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library.

Whether you are in yours 30s, 40s or 50s, this presentation uses a variety of tools (personality inventories, success factor self analysis, etc.) to help you discover the perfect career position ofr this time of your life. This class is offered in partnership with PCC ommunity Education.

Recorded January 17, 2010

Dr. Martin Luther King had the dream of creating beloved community, one that is grounded in love and that encourages people to care for one another. Explore in this session how we can create beloved community in our personal lives and in our community.

Roslyn Farrington currently serves as faculty member in Portland State University’s Women’s Studies Department. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education and served as the Executive Director of the Oregon Commission for Women from 2000-2005. 

Recommended reading: Search for the Beloved Community: The Thinking of Martin Luther King Jr. by Kenneth L. Smith

This program was part of a series entitled, Creating Connection and Community, that was sponsored by Multnomah County Library, partners with Life by Design NW, and offered in May 2009.

Learn where to get the courage to dream, how to take that first step and what achievers do to overcome obstacles that stop others.

Recorded January 14, 2010

Being Teddy Roosevelt by Claudia Mills

When he is assigned Teddy Roosevelt as his biography project in school, fourth-grader Riley finds himself inspired by Roosevelt's tenacity and perseverance and resolves to find a way to get what he most wants--a saxophone and music lessons. A 2010 Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award nominee.

One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.

A boy creates ten paintings in this counting book that also explores the relationship of words within words. Turn the page, peep through the window, and the word changes! This book was a 2009 Geisel Award Honor Book.

Target audience: Children

Aging is an opportunity to reclaim our own unique and eccentric qualities.  Hear Guadalupe Guajardo discuss how aging frees us to move out of our socialized consciousness and conditioning, so that we can reclaim our authentic selves.

Recommended reading: From Age-Ing to Sage-Ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.

Guadalupe Guajardo is a senior associate with TACS, an organization that serves and supports nonprofit organizations. She is also a co-founder of Tools for Diversity, a multi-cultural team that addresses problems caused by discrimination and prejudice and helps build culturally competent organizations. She is bilingual and bicultural, has advanced degrees in theology and organizational development and is a member of the Sisters of the Holy Names.  

Learn how to create a richer, more fulfilling life, with new meaning and purpose.  Consider preparing a portfolio for your life after 50 and refocus your energies on meaningful pursuits.  Couples can prepare together for what may be 20 or 30 years of healthy living.  Hear Jay Bloom speak about the opportunities and challenges of this new age of life and the need for developing a "Portfolio Life”.

Recommended reading: Portfolio Life: The New Path to Work, Purpose and Passion After 50 by David Corbett.

Jay Bloom coaches leaders, managers and individuals in the private, philanthropic and government sectors through his consulting business, Bloom Anew. He also does leadership and management consulting for nonprofit and private organizations. He has been an interim President and CEO of United Way of Columbia-Willamette and President and CEO of Morrison Child and Family Services.

In this economy, we need all the help we can get to support our healing and maintain our good health. Often referred to as “acupuncture without needles,” Energy Healing is a no-touch healing technique that offers specific, tested, step-by-step procedures for treating ailments and preventing illness.

In this program, you will hear about your energy anatomy and how to treat common first aid issues such as cuts, scrapes and burns. Energy healing is easy to learn, easy to apply, totally portable -- and best of all -- you don’t need any special tools! Presented October 4, 2009 by PNW Pranic.

How would you describe Oregon through poetry? Do you have a favorite Oregon poet? Have you written a nature poem about Oregon?  Liz Nakazawa, editor of the anthology "Deer Drink the Moon," read from her book, which features the works of 33 esteemed poets of Oregon. She also invited audience members to share their favorite Oregon nature poems. 

A community discussion moderated by architectural writer/Portland Monthly editor Randy Gragg, featuring historian Jan Dilg and Chet Orloff (director of the Museum of the City) and Philip Niles, author of Beauty of the City: A.E. Doyle, Portland's Architect, exploring the intersections of architecture, wealth and  power and social justice in turn-of-the-last-century Portland.

Cosponsored by AIA Center for Architecture, in conjunction with the Portland Architecture and Design Festival and Portland Center Stage.

Remember junior high and high school required reading? Did you sleep through The Scarlet Letter? Read the CliffsNotes for The Canterbury Tales? Adults are rediscovering - and enjoying - the classics that bewildered them as students. Listen to Library Director Vailey Oehlke; Martha Gies, writer, teacher and author of Up All Night; Robert Brock, Professor Emeritus, University of Montana, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Craig Johnson, who taught Language Arts and Foreign Languages at the Metropolitan Learning Center, as they talk about the highlights - and lowlights - of those classic novels.

Date recorded: October 6, 2009

In a touching and compassionate presentation, part of Multnomah County Library's Helping Your Aging Parent series, Nelson shares his thoughts on working with people with Alzheimer"s. Learn better communication approaches and new ways to engage mind, body and spirit, while compensating for age-related losses.

Chris Nelson is the Life Enrichment Director at Emerson House, an Alzheimer’s residence in Portland. He has worked with the senior population for the last seventeen years.