Circulating Ideas

298: Why I Love Horror by Becky Siegel Spratford

Steve chats with Becky Siegel Spratford, editor of Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature, about her deep involvement and interest in the horror genre, the inspiration and process behind her book, the diversity of voices in horror, how horror can foster empathy and address real-world anxieties, and the dangers of quicksand (it’s everywhere). Read the transcript! A love letter to the horror genre from many of the most influential and bestselling authors in the industry. For twenty-five years, Becky Siegel Spratford has worked as a librarian in Reader Advisory, training library workers all over the world on how to engage their patrons and readers, and to use her place as a horror expert and critic to get the word out to others; to bring even more readers into the horror fold. Why I Love Horror is a captivating anthology and heartfelt tribute to the horror genre featuring essays from several of the most celebrated contemporary horror writers including, Grady Hendrix, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, Josh Malerman, Victor LaValle, Tananarive Due, and Rachel Harrison. SHOW NOTES: Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror LiteratureRA for AllRA for All: HorrorWhy I Love Horror: The Book TourStokerCon 2025 Keynote Speech: “Why We Need Horror Authors in the Fight For the Freedom to Read”

297: The Library Leader’s Guide to Human Resources by Steve Albrecht

Steve chats with Dr. Steve Albrecht, author of The Library Leader’s Guide to Human Resources: Keeping It Real, Legal, and Ethical, about the importance of library leaders learning about human resources, handling performance reviews, onboarding, and why civility is the key to a healthy and effective workplace culture. Read the transcript! The human resources (HR) function for libraries can range in size and scope, depending on the size of the library. The complexities of HR today call for a guiding manual to help keep the multitude of processes fair, legal, and accurate. This book provides the level of detail for new and seasoned HR leaders to use to staff and operate their libraries with the best employees they can find. It offers legal advice from labor law attorneys, and operational steps, policies, and processes from Dr. Steve Albrecht, a longtime HR consultant for municipal government. Even with the support of an HR Department (however large or small), all library leaders who have supervisory responsibility over their staff (hiring, firing, performance evaluation, assigning job duties) must have a working, updated knowledge of HR issues related to employing people in their branches. (And don’t forget that even student interns, unpaid volunteers, and part-time employees have similar employment rights as full-time, paid employees.) This means that besides the myriad of other duties required to run a safe, efficient, useful library for the community, library leaders – from the Director, to the department heads, to the managers, to the frontline supervisors, to the PIC (Person in Charge on each work shift) – each must know what they can and cannot do when it comes to HR laws, policies, guidelines, and best practices. This includes: legal issues related to screening interviewing, and hiring applicants; successful on-boarding and new-employee orientation programs; coaching for improved work performance or employee behavior; mentoring employees for both promotional opportunities and succession planning; the challenges of attendance, sick leave, ADA and FMLA issues; fair and legal performance evaluations; working with employees in a union or an association; HR practices related to testing, promoting, disciplining, or terminating library employees; and keeping all employees motivated and connected, using wellness, stress management, and programs to prevent burnout or “quiet quitting.” Other books for library leaders may touch on HR issues as part of a broader look at supervising employees. This book will focus on it. Dr. Steve Albrecht is well known in libraries for his workshops, webinars, podcasts, and articles on library service, safety, and security. He has worked as an HR consultant and security trainer for several decades. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (www.SHRM.org) and has been board certified by them as “Professional In Human Resources” (PHR) since 1996. SHOW NOTES: The Library Leader’s Guide to Human Resources: Keeping It Real, Legal, and EthicalLibrary 2.0

296: The Legacy of Black Women in Librarianship: When They Dared to Be Powerful by Nicole A. Cooke

Guest host Troy Swanson chats with Nicole A. Cooke, editor of The Legacy of Black Women in Librarianship: When They Dared to Be Powerful, about the history, impact, and ongoing contributions of Black women in the library profession, what drew her to the University of South Carolina, and preserving the stories of trailblazing librarians whose legacies continue to inspire. Read the transcript! Nicole A. Cooke is the Augusta Baker Endowed Chair and a Professor at the University of South Carolina. Her research and teaching interests include human information behavior, critical cultural information studies, LIS Education, and diversity and social justice in librarianship. She has been awarded the 2019 Association of Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2021 MLK Social Justice Award presented by the University of South Carolina, and the 2024 American Library Association (ALA) Lippincott award. She has edited and authored several books, including Information Services to Diverse Populations (2016) and Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-truth Era (2018). She is the Founding Editor of ALA Editions/Neal-Schuman’s Critical Cultural Information Studies series, and her latest book is The Legacy of Black Women in Librarianship: When They Dared to Be Powerful (2025). SHOW NOTES: The Legacy of Black Women in Librarianship: When They Dared to Be Powerful

295: Generative AI and Libraries, by Michael Hanegan and Chris Rosser

Steve chats with Michael Hanegan and Chris Rosser, authors of Generative AI and Libraries: Claiming Our Place in the Center of a Shared Future, about generative AI as an arrival technology, why librarians should play a central role in shaping an ethical future of AI, practical frameworks for AI integration, and how libraries can leverage their trusted position to guide community’s through rapid technological change. Read the transcript! Addressing a topic of great concern with both urgency and clarity, this book offers a compelling vision for libraries to claim their central role as trusted stewards of knowledge and architects of a responsible and equitable AI-driven world. In the form of generative AI, libraries are facing technological transformation of unprecedented speed and scale. Both controversial and disruptive, the sudden ubiquity of AI has already triggered uncertainty as well as the need for rapid adaptation. As AI reshapes how humans learn, work, and interact with information, libraries across the ecosystem—from public to academic, from school to special libraries—must resist the temptation to merely serve as static support and instead claim the center by becoming a dynamic, positive influence. Because, as the authors of this book persuasively argue, libraries are uniquely positioned to lead AI’s ethical and human-centered integration within communities. Blending theory and concepts with an unswervingly pragmatic approach, from this book readers will be introduced to foundational principles and frameworks for navigating the so-called “Age of Intelligence” that provide useful guiderails no matter how AI technology actively evolves; delve into the complex ethical considerations of AI, including bias, equity, privacy, misinformation, and the potential impact on human agency and dignity; receive guidance related to stakeholder engagement, resource allocation, and the need for continuous learning and adaptation; discover practical models for evaluating and implementing AI tools thoughtfully and effectively in ways that align with libraries’ values and mission; become familiar with STACKS, an approach for learning, problem solving, and innovation with generative AI; explore AI literacy as an expression of metaliteracy using seven frames for instruction and learning; and walk away with a sense of how libraries can actively define their essential role as leaders and shapers of the AI landscape, ensuring their continued value and preventing marginalization. As this book demonstrates, by embracing their unique position as ethical stewards and trusted guides, libraries have an unprecedented opportunity to shape how AI transforms society—not from the margins, but from the center of a shared future. Michael Hanegan is the founder and chief research officer of the Center for the Future of Learning and Work. He is an adjunct professor at Rose State College and the University of Central Oklahoma. His research and practice spans K–12 schools, higher education, the library ecosystem, and industry to cultivate and sustain human-centered approaches to the future of learning and work. He lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. Chris Rosser is First Year and Transfer Experience Librarian at Oklahoma State University. From 2009 to 2024, Chris served as an instructional and Theological Librarian at Oklahoma Christian University. His expertise centers around pedagogy, instructional design, and innovative approaches to learning, including gamification, and AI-empowered learning. His work has been featured at the American Library Association annual conference, American Theological Librarian Association, Oklahoma Association of College and Research Libraries, Transformative Learning Conference, and Christian Scholar’s Conference. He lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. SHOW NOTES: Generative AI and Libraries: Claiming Our Place in the Center of a Shared Future

294: The House of Two Sisters by Rachel Louise Driscoll – Summer Reading Spectacular

Continuing the 2025 Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Rachel Louise Driscoll, author of The House of Two Sisters, about her background as a librarian, the blending of Victorian Gothic and Egyptian mythology in her book, sisterhood (real and mythic!), and why Victorian England was primed for Egyptomania! Following the interview, in The Circ Desk segment, Rebecca from Library Reads and April from NoveList offer reading recommendations related to Rachel’s book! Read the transcript! A young Victorian Egyptologist traverses the Nile River on a mission to undo a curse that may have befallen her family in this spellbinding novel.Essex, 1887. Clementine’s ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at her father’s Egyptian relic parties, which have become the talk of the town. But at one such party, the words she interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. As her childhood games about Isis and Nephthys—sister goddesses who protect the dead—take on a devastating resonance in her life, and tragedy slowly consumes her loved ones, she wonders what she and her father may have unleashed.Five years later, Clemmie arrives in Cairo desperate to save what remains of her family back home. There, she meets a motley crew of unwitting English travelers about to set sail down the Nile—including an adventurer with secrets of his own—and joins them on a mission to reach Denderah, a revered religious site, where she hopes to return the amulet and atone for her sins.With each passing day, she is further engulfed in a life she’s yearned for all along. But as long-buried secrets and betrayals rise to the surface, Clemmie must reconcile the impossibility of living in the light while her past keeps her anchored to the darkness. SHOW NOTES:The House of Two Sisters Find out if your library has NoveList! Learn more about Learn with NoveList Plus and get a free infographic! Library Reads The Circ Desk recommends: London Seance Society by Sarah Penner Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef