Sunday, April 19, 2009

ipodder fodder

I'll admit that I've always dreamed of reading something I've written on NPR.

As a child of the Bay Area, I spent considerable time in the car, traversing 101 and 280 with my mother, who dutifully drove me back and forth between my myriad activities. The car stereo-enabled soundtrack to my uncomfortable yet swift changing from school clothing into my gymnastics leotard, and my scarfing down of the snack du jour to fuel me for a 4 hour practice, was always NPR. The voices of guest readers and regular hosts filled the car cavity and my brain cavity with information, sure, but mainly, unfailingly, with comfort.

When, years later, I met Prairie Home Companion's Garrison Keillor at a library conference, I stood as close to him as possible (he was signing at the Penguin adult group booth which neighbored the Penguin Young Readers booth at which I was working, managing a concurrent author signing session), for as long as I possibly could, inhaling the sound of his voice. When we were introduced, I hardly knew how to articulate what his voice meant to me, and it occurred to me that I had literally never been so excited to meet--or be in the proximity of--a celebrity. I asked Mr. Keillor to sign a copy of his latest to my mom and dad, and then boldly requested a photo as he joked about my looking far too young to actually work at Penguin. He said to me, "Be still my beating heart, of course!" and I've yet to fully recover, which explains why I'm sharing the story on this blog, like a blushing pre-teen.

The story, the feeling, demonstrate how powerful and wonderfully experiential voice and story telling can be, and there's nothing like the calm that I find when fully engaged in a beautifully designed radio program or podcast.

So. Since I know what I love and what I respond to, I'm really excited by the idea of creating podcasts... and not just to hear my own voice. These are a few podcast ideas I've come up with thus far (favorites in bold):

- How to conduct an effective search using MVA library's home page and database subscriptions
- REACH grant feedback from students and teachers, to post on planned REACH grant blog detailing purchases / use / evolution of library
- MVA book club: opinions on book, direction of the club, etc.
- Sample of MVA's upcoming drama production, advertising participants, date, etc.
- MVA students reading self-written poetry, explanations of the writing process
- Individuals reading their favorite quotes and explaining what the significance is (fair use: quote inspiring their original thought)
- Teachers or students reading brief excerpts of their favorite books, then explaining why it's a favorite and to whom they'd recommend it
- Students sharing their thoughts on the whole college preparation / selection / application process. Hopes / fears about college in general. Resources they'd recommend.
- Students sharing a research success story, detailing the search process, emphasizing what they learned and how they applied or will apply the results
- Interviews on stereotypes of librarians, and where they come from, how/if they're changing, and why/why not
- Interview with student library patron of the week, to be posted on MVA library site

1 comment:

  1. Stef, all these ideas sound great, and I really appreciated your opening explanation of the power of voice. I am curious though, as you know I am far from "in the know" about grade school education environments today: where would podcasts be published/distributed in schools? Do most schools know manage internal and/or external web sites that are used by the students, as part of curriculum? If not, it sounds like you have definitely hit on a reason they should!

    ReplyDelete