Have you ever wondered how the small towns dotting the landscape of Oklahoma got their names? Well, George Shirk did, and he wrote a book about it. Not only the mayor of Oklahoma City back in the 1960s, George Shirk was also a noted historian of all things Oklahoma. On this podcast we talk about his life and some of the things he wrote down in his …

If you're as excited about the Oklahoma State Fair as we are, then you're going to love this episode! Judie from the library's Special Collections department talks about the history of the state fair. If you're interested in learning more about the things you can see from our Special Collections, you can see them here: https://www.metrolibrary.org/…

It's almost time for one of Oklahoma's favorite things, college football! Not only does the University of Oklahoma have one of the most illustrious histories in all of the sport, but many other colleges have had an impact on the landscape of college football at many different levels. In this episode, OU super fan Donna from the Belle Isle library t…

Did you know that national French Fry day is in July? We just found out so we thought it would be a great time to talk about who has the best fries in Oklahoma City, and what library resources you can use to learn more about Oklahoma City restaurants past and present, fries, and frying things. And if this podcast inspires you to learn more about th…

It's time for summer reading again at your local library, so Emily from the Metropolitan Library System's Outreach and Engagement office took some time out of her busy schedule to talk to a couple of this year's teen volunteers about what's going on at the library this summer and what it's like being a volunteer. If you'd like to know more about su…

Ever wonder what a makerspace is or what you can do in one? Lindsay, Nell, Reagan, and Alex from the Metropolitan Library System's makerspaces talk about the many things you can do in our wonderful makerspaces, and about the upcoming MakerFest program at the Belle Isle branch.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

April is poetry month, so on this month's podcast we talked to Betty Blanks, author of Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel. Miss McDaniel was an Oklahoma born poet that moved to California during the Great Depression, but never stopped writing about her home in Oklahoma. Betty Blanks was kind enough to talk to us about…

Did you know that March is craft month, or that the library offers lots of programs teaching different crafts? On this month's podcast we talk about some of the resources you can use through the library to help learn how to do a wide variety of crafts.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Erin Brown from the Oklahoma Territorial Museum tells us the stories of Oklahoma's first African-American territorial legislator Green Currin, and Oklahoma's first State Legistlator A.C. Hamlin.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Kristine from the library's Collection Development department talks about some of the new books we'll be getting in 2025.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Looking for something interesting and different to read during the upcoming holiday season? Librarians Lindsay, Maddie, Reagan, and Tyler share some recommendations from the library's collection of Christmas and winter related horror and mystery novels, graphic novels, and novellas.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Did you know that Bethany has a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian coming soon? Librarian Anna from the Bethany Library tells us all about the Smithsonian's exhibit "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" coming to the library, the upcoming festivities surrounding the exhibit, and a few interesting facts about the history of voting and democra…

Local author and expert in all things haunted in the state of Oklahoma Jeff Provine talks with us about his top five favorite haunted places around the state. If you'd like to learn more about Jeff's books or take one of his ghost tours, you can find him at http://www.jeffprovine.com/بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this month's podcast Oscar Hokeah talks with us about his PEN/Hemingway Award winning novel, Calling For A Blanket Dance.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Did you know there's a Museum of Telephone History in Oklahoma City? What about the Pigeon Museum? In this month's podcast, self-proclaimed museum nerd Meg from the library's Special Collections Departments tells us about some of the many interesting and unique museums in Oklahoma City that she's visited. If you'd like to hear more about interestin…

July is Parks and Recreation month, so we thought it might be fun to make book recommendations based on some of our favorite characters from the show Parks and Recreation. As always, if you want to check out any of our recommendations, you can find them on the library's catalog. https://catalog.metrolibrary.org/?browseCategory=staff_picks And if yo…

Did you know that many of the people involved in getting Americans into outer space were from Oklahoma? In this month's episode Special Collections librarian Jennifer Green talks with us about some of the many Oklahomans involved in the early days of the space race, both behind the scenes and in the shuttle.…

In honor of the library's upcoming author visit on June 23, librarians Meg and Scott discuss the works of award winning author TJ Klune. Klune's works include the best seller, The House In The Cerulean Sea, The Greencreek series, The Extraordinaries series, and many more. If you'd like to listen to more of Scott's book reviews, you can find them on…

In this month's episode we talk about what makes us pick up a book in the first place, some of our favorite book covers, and the books behind those covers.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

April is poetry month, so on this month's podcast we're joined by poets Durell Carter and Yoko Hill to talk about their organization, Red Dirt Poetry, and the wealth of talented poets currently writing in Oklahoma.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

On this month's episode we talk about some of the books and movies available at the library by and about women, many of them about women with interesting Oklahoma ties.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this month's episode, some of the librarians from the Metropolitan Library System's Special Collections team talk to us about the library's John Dunning III Collection, a collection of thousands of Oklahoma City items housed in the library's archive. If you'd like to learn more about what is in the collection, you can contact the Special Collect…

In this episode we talk about some of our favorite things that came to the library in 2023.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Over 70 years ago in Oklahoma City a fight promoter/state legislator named Red Andrews started inviting people to an annual Christmas dinner that has gone on every year since, and has grown to a crowd of nearly 6,000 people annually. In this episode of the podcast Mary Blankenship-Pointer from the Red Andrews Christmas Dinner foundation talks with …

On this month's episode we talk about our favorite cookbooks available for check out from the library just in time for all of those family holiday get togethers coming up.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

With Banned Books Week coming up, we talked with Janeal and Melissa from the library's Collection Development department about book challenges and how the library handles them.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this month's podcast librarians Sheldon and Juliana discuss what part of America Oklahoma belongs to. Is Oklahoma in the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, or do we need to be made into our own region with Texas? We'll examine history, geography, and of course food to see what area is the Sooner state best represents.…

On this month's podcast librarians Annika, Kimberly, and Danielle talk about the library's upcomind Litfest, and share some of their favorite resources for writers.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Librarian Lisa from the Metropolitan Library System's Special Collections department talks about the postcard collection in the library's archive, and shares what they tell us about Oklahomans throughout the state's history.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

On this month's episode Kristin, Emily, and Kimberly talk about one of the library's biggest events and longest running traditions, the library's summer reading program.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Bricktown Ballpark, we sat down with the Oklahoma City Dodgers' Alex Freedman and talked about the history of baseball in Bricktown.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Did you know the Metropolita Library System's libraris have a whole collection made up just of graphic novels? On this episode of the Metro Library Podcast librarians Kimberly and Kristine talk about some of their favorite things in the graphic novel collection.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this month's episode Suzette Chang talks about the history of Oklahoma's All-Black Towns.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

On this month's episode Meg, Josh, and Corey talk about some of their staff picks for best fiction, poetry, and movies available from the library that came out in 2022.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Historian Dale Ingram tells the story of an often forgotten and sometimes controversial Oklahoma vaudeville star named Ruby Darby.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this month's podcast we talk about some of the resources the library has to offer for Native American Heritage Month.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this episode Chantry and Lisa from the Overholser Mansion talk about the Overholser family and their contribution to early Oklahoma City.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Librarians Gloria and Lupita talk about library resources and events celebrating Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this episode we talk about all kinds of things invented in the Great State of Oklahoma!بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Ever wonder what the whole K-Pop phenomenon is all about? Listen as librarians Kimberly, Anna, Mary, and Gloria talk about all things K-Pop and all of the K-Pop related resources the library has to offer.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this episode historian Erin Brown tells us the history of Oklahoma's state flags.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

This month we're starting a new segment on our podcast where librarians share their vast knowledge of library resources. Since May is Mental Health Month, we're talking about some of the library's mental health resources. But don't worry if you're looking for more Oklahoma history, that'll be coming right up next month!…

In 1964 Oklahoma City was bombarded with sonic booms everyday for months. Ted Hopkins, one of the pilots that flew the jet that created the booms, talks about the sonic boom tests and what it was like to fly over OKC at the speed of sound.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Archivist Scott Grimwood talks about the history of the first hospital in Oklahoma Territory, St. Anthony. If you'd like to contact Mr. Grimwood about more St. Anthony history you can reach him at [email protected]

In this podcast we discuss the little known story of the murder trial of Dr. Richard Thacker.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Historian Michael Williams joins us to tell the story of outlaw/sideshow attraction/mummy Elmer McCurdy.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

Historian Michael Williams tells the story of journalist and nature lover Frederick S. Barde.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

In this month's podcast historian James Gregory tells the story of Oklahoma vaudeville star Cora Youngblood Corson. It's a tale of tubas, cultural appropriation, and entertainment in vaudeville's heyday.بقلم Metropolitan Library System

When most of us think of witch killings we think of Salem in the 1600s, but did you know that the last witch killings in America were in Oklahoma? Historian John Truden talks with us about Solomon Hotema and the 1899 witch killings in Choctaw country. If you think the podcast is interesting and you'd like to learn more Choctaw history, you can visi…

Sitting between two sundown towns in Oklahoma, the Threatt Filling Station was a safe haven for African American travelers on Route 66 during the time of Jim Crow. Cousins Charles and Ed Threatt talk about the filling station and its importance to our state's history.بقلم Metropolitan Library System