Ep 407 - How to Protect Libraries From Fascism + Bookshop eBooks!

Summary

Reading Glasses Podcast Episode 407 Summary: "How to Protect Libraries From Fascism + Bookshop eBooks!"

Release Date: April 17, 2025
Hosts: Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara

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1. Introduction

In Episode 407 of Reading Glasses, hosts Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara address pressing issues threatening libraries today. This emergency episode delves into actionable strategies to protect these vital community institutions from governmental overreach and funding cuts. Additionally, the hosts introduce exciting news about Bookshop.org's foray into the ebook market and offer thoughtful book recommendations for listeners navigating complex personal relationships.

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2. Hosts' Current Reads

Bria Grant shares her recent read: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, a highly anticipated prequel to The Hunger Games. Bria describes the book as "very stressful" and praises Collins' ability to maintain suspense (00:32 – 02:03). She highlights the focus on Haymitch, the only victor from District 12, and notes her admiration for Woody Harrelson's portrayal of the character in the subsequent films.

Mallory O'Meara discusses The Secret History of the Rape Kit by Pagan Kennedy, narrated by Claire Danes. She emphasizes the book's exploration of the rape kit's invention in the 1970s by Marty Goddard and its subsequent appropriation. Mallory praises the narrative for its blend of personal stories and true crime elements, stating, "it's very, very, very compelling" (02:20 – 03:49).

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3. Listener Feedback

The hosts take a moment to engage with listener feedback. Dana provides insightful information about the Libby app's Deep Search feature, explaining its functionality and limitations within different library systems (03:56 – 05:34). This segment underscores the podcast's commitment to empowering listeners with practical tools to enhance their reading experiences.

Another listener, Bela, shares a heartwarming testimonial about how the podcast has become a reliable tool for falling asleep, despite the hosts' self-deprecating humor regarding their speaking styles (05:34 – 06:11). Brea gratefully acknowledges Bela's support, highlighting the community aspect of the podcast.

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4. Event Promotions

Mallory excitedly announces her participation in the upcoming LA Times Festival of Books on April 26th and 27th. She recounts the initial disappointment when the 2020 event was canceled and expresses renewed enthusiasm for the in-person experience, describing it as "like walking around outside" with numerous authors, book signings, and food trucks (06:21 – 08:00).

Additionally, the hosts promote Clarion West's upcoming event, Steamy in Seattle, themed "Alien Romance Tea Party". They emphasize its role in supporting early-career and underrepresented writers in speculative fiction, highlighting notable alumni and encouraging listeners to participate as a fundraiser for the Clarion West Writers Workshop (08:39 – 11:00).

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5. Member Spotlight

The podcast features Kelly, honored as the Max Fund's Member of the Month for April. Kelly shares her eight-year journey as a dedicated listener, expressing gratitude for the laughter and comfort the show brings her. The segment reinforces the podcast's appreciation for its supportive community and encourages others to become members (11:00 – 12:11).

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6. Main Topic: Protecting Libraries From Fascism

In a serious turn, Brea and Mallory address the alarming threats facing libraries under the current administration. They underscore the essential role libraries play in communities, providing not just free books but also critical services like internet access, job application assistance, and support for underserved populations (12:11 – 25:27).

Key Points Discussed:

• Understanding the Threat: Bria highlights recent legal actions, such as the American Library Association (ALA) suing the Department of Government Efficiency (DGE) over funding cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) (14:20 – 15:34).

• Actionable Steps for Listeners:

  • Research Funding: Utilize IMLS.gov to investigate federal funding allocations to your state.
  • Advocate Directly: Contact local senators and representatives to urge the protection of library funding. Mallory provides a script for phone calls, emphasizing personalization and the importance of leaving one's address to validate constituency (15:27 – 18:07).
  • Participate in Protests: Attend and organize library support protests, leveraging collective voices to influence policy changes. Bria encourages forming "library blocks" with friends to amplify the message (18:07 – 19:38).
  • Engage with Library Boards: Attend public library meetings or virtual sessions to express support. Mallory quotes a Book Riot statement to emphasize the irreplaceable value of documenting and voicing library support (19:38 – 21:30).
  • Promote Library Membership: Encourage others to obtain library cards, broadening support and demonstrating the community's reliance on these institutions (21:30 – 23:37).

Notable Quotes:

• Mallory O'Meara (12:29): "Libraries are one of the most important, important institutions that we have."
• Bria Grant (15:34): "This library job was very important to me and helped me save for a lot of stuff and also gave me the confidence to work and to love books."
• Mallory O'Meara (17:16): "Please show up for our libraries and urge the White House to hold back its attack on their funding."
• Bria Grant (19:38): "These protests do make a difference. Like, think about what happened during Black Lives Matter."

The hosts stress the immediacy of the issue, urging listeners to act swiftly to prevent further erosion of library services. They also mention the role of organizations like Every Library, which provides petitions and additional resources for advocacy (05:27 – 25:27).

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7. Book Tech: Bookshop.org Ebooks

Shifting focus, Bria and Mallory introduce the groundbreaking development of ebooks from Bookshop.org, positioning it as a significant alternative to Amazon for digital reading. They discuss how Bookshop.org is expanding its offerings to include ebooks, partnering with platforms like Kobo and IngramSpark, thereby supporting indie authors and providing more options for readers who wish to avoid Amazon's dominance (25:27 – 33:31).

Highlights:

• Exclusive Availability: Ebooks are currently accessible only through the Bookshop.org app, with future expansions planned to include partnerships with Kobo and IngramSpark.

• Support for Indie Authors: Purchases through Bookshop.org benefit local independents and podcasters, fostering a more community-centric literary ecosystem.

• User Experience: Despite minor technical hurdles, such as purchasing through a browser due to app store restrictions, the hosts remain optimistic about the platform's potential to rival Amazon's convenience.

Notable Quotes:

• Mallory O'Meara (27:47): "Bookshop.org is working with some of those self-publishing platforms to get those authors off of Amazon or get them at least also on Bookshop."
• Bria Grant (30:03): "The bookshop.org app is a lifesaver for e-readers. It feels luxurious."

The hosts express enthusiasm for the shift towards more ethical ebook purchasing options, highlighting personal plans to adopt Bookshop.org's platform exclusively.

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8. Listener Recommendation Request

Listener Morgan seeks recommendations for books featuring a female protagonist navigating the aftermath of confessing romantic feelings to a best friend, ideally without a reconciled friendship at the end. Bria initially struggles but suggests All About Love by bell hooks, focusing on self-love and varied relationship dynamics. However, Mallory corrects this by recommending The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kahn, which aligns more closely with Morgan's request. This novel explores unrequited love and the complexities of maintaining friendships post-rejection (36:04 – 38:23).

Mallory’s Recommendation:

• The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kahn: Follows an asexual female protagonist who, after being rejected by her best friend, teams up with an ex-boyfriend to fake-date, hoping to rekindle feelings (36:42 – 38:23).

Bria also suggests Normal People by Sally Rooney as a potential fit, albeit with spoiler warnings about their own reading experiences.

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9. Closing Remarks and Promotions

The episode concludes with acknowledgments of the podcast's supportive online communities on Facebook and Discord, thanks to their dedicated moderators. The hosts promote their merchandise store, encouraging listeners to purchase items like T-shirts and stickers to support the show financially. They reiterate the importance of library advocacy and invite listeners to stay engaged through social media and email (38:23 – End).

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Conclusion

Episode 407 of Reading Glasses masterfully balances urgent societal concerns with uplifting literary discussions. Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara effectively mobilize their audience to protect libraries while celebrating advancements in book technology that empower both readers and authors. Through heartfelt interactions, actionable advice, and community-building promotions, the episode exemplifies the podcast's commitment to fostering a resilient and informed book-loving community.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mallory O'Meara (12:36): "We really do."
• Bria Grant (18:07): "Go to a protest. Your friends are there."
• Mallory O'Meara (25:28): "Think about how sexy that person is going to be when they have a library card."

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Resources Mentioned:

• IMLS Website: imls.gov
• Five Calls Resource: fivecalls.org
• Every Library Organization: everylibrary.org
• Bookshop.org: bookshop.org
• Clarion West: clarionwest.org
• LA Times Festival of Books: latimesbooksfestival.com

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Stay connected with Brea and Mallory on Instagram @ReadingGlassesPodcast and support the show through merchandise or membership. For book recommendations and questions, email [e-mail].

Transcript

[Bria Grant]

Foreign.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're listening to Reading Glasses show about book culture and literary life designed to help you read better. I'm author and book devourer, Mallory O'Meara.

[Bria Grant]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. This episode we're doing. It's an emergency episode, I hate to.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Say you've ever heard.

[Bria Grant]

We just really felt like we needed to talk about what you can do to protect libraries, because libraries are under attack right now. Plus, we talk about bookshop.org ebooks and recommend books about being in love with your best friend.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Grant]

I just finished a very stressful book. I read. I read Sunrise on the Reaping the new Suzanne Collins.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, very stressful. Very. The buzziest book right now, I would say.

[Bria Grant]

It's the new Hunger Games, which is a prequel. Prequel. It's like a. It's. It's called the 05, which is interesting.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, it's like when the wind through the keyhole came out in the Dark Tower. It's like a. Like a in between ebook.

[Bria Grant]

I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That.

[Bria Grant]

Yes. Because there was the one actually didn't read the very early one, which was like the 10th Hunger or the first Hunger Games or something.

[Mallory O'Meara]

The Ballad of Songbirds.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And this is before. This one stars. Stars. This one. The main character is Haymitch. Haymitch is the only person ever to win in District 12. And we know that because of the Hunger Games books that come after this. This is not a spoiler if it is. I don't know, maybe you should read those other books first because it's gonna be a little bit confusing. Although they do. She does explain what the hunger again, which I was like, oh, good. So it's the 50th anniversary of the Hunger Games, and they take twice as many tributes. So instead of it being a boy and a girl from each different sector, it is. It's two boys, two girls. So here's the thing about this book. You know, Haymitch survives. This is not a spoiler because he's in the future books and the movies. He's played by a lovely Woody Harrelson. Woody Harrelson, who does a great job. I love Woody Harrelson, so. But it was so stressful. And I. I was reading it and I was just like, this is just such good writing. Good, stressful. Like it just keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's a mark of a good writer, is when you. Even though you know the end, you are very Stressed out to see how, how you get there.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, yeah. And, and she does a great job. I could see why it's buzzy. Look, this is if you like the Hunger Games books. I, I think Suzanne Collins, you should write these forever. They're so good. There's, there's so many Hunger Games to choose from. I would read any of them.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow. So many games.

[Bria Grant]

Uh huh. What are you read?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I am listening to an audio book that is a tough read, but it's amazing so far. It's called the Secret History of the Rape Kit by Pagan Kennedy. It is narrated by Claire Danes.

[Bria Grant]

Wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Which is, she's obviously an incredible narrator. And it's this really fascinating history of the invention of the rape kit in the 1970s by this woman, Marty Goddard, and how like her invention kind of got taken away from her. I obviously like kind of relating to this author following this woman's story because she had like made this amazing thing and it kind of got taken away from her and the author's like trying find out what happened to her while also sort of like charting the history of the rape kit and how it changed and how the criminal justice system deals with this. So very tough read obviously. Content warnings for a lot of stuff. The author shares personal stories of things that happened to her and like other like sort of true crime stories of like things that happen to people across the country. But it's, I mean it really is like a fascinating secret history and like when you find out how women and people who were assaulted were treated in the 50s, 60s and 70s, it is horrifying. And this hit kind of changed everything. And this woman kind of single handedly trained doctors, trained police forces on like how to deal with this. It's very, very, very compelling. And even though it is a tough read, it's, it's the kind of book where I'm like, yeah, maybe I should walk another 20 minutes around the neighborhood because I just want to do another chapter. Like it's very, very, very good. Okay. So that's the Secret History of the Rape Kit by Pagan Kennedy and narrated by Claire Danes.

[Bria Grant]

And my Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Foreign.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Dana wrote in to say hi Mallory and Bria, I have some more info to share about Libby's Deep Search feature.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, go on.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I learned this through the collection department team at the library I work at.

[Bria Grant]

Just so people know, if you are looking for a book that hasn't come out yet, you can press Deep Search and then you can pre order that, let them know, have them notify you when it's available. Basically sort of a pre order because they don't let you do that anymore.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It does make me feel like a spy every time I do it, where I'm like yes. Computer Enhanced Deep Search so Dana says not all libraries have the deep search feature, and a library has to pay extra in order to have it enabled. So it might not be in the budget for all libraries. Or they may be prioritizing other ways patrons submit purchase requests, such as an online form. If a library does have the deep search feature enabled, a patron can mark a title as Notify me for if the library adds it to their collection as you touched on in your episode. Meanwhile, on the library's end, the titles under this tag go onto a list that the collection team can see. I'm fairly sure that a title only ends up on this list once a certain number of people tag it, like four or five patrons. It probably depends on library Depending on how in demand this item is, the library may or may not choose to purchase. So if a book is more obscure or not as buzzy, it may be worth it to also request it on the library's website so that you'll be sure the library's collection team sees the request. Or ask a librarian what's the best way to ask for a title to be added to the catalog. It really just depends on the system you're in and how they prioritize purchase requests. Thanks as always for the awesome show and Happy Max Fund drive. This is interesting. A little behind the scenes library knowledge. Behind the books, behind the books, behind the stacks.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, okay, that's interesting and good to know. If you want a book, ask your librarian how to do it. Bela wrote in and said, hi YouTube. I've been meaning to write you for years, but here I am now. In the spring of 2023, my anxiety spiked in a new way. I tried many techniques to fall asleep at night and the one that stuck was reading glasses. Makes me laugh so hard every single night since. And I emphasize every single night you've helped me fall asleep while we're just like in your ears.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Which is. I'm sorry, like this is made me laugh so hard because of the two least soothing voices I could think of, our two yapping ladies who are talking a million miles a minute. Like the fact that someone could fall asleep to us is incredible to me.

[Bria Grant]

Very incredible. There's something about the podcast that just works for me and it's been one of my most reliable tools. So thank you for doing what you do. I realize it may be a little backhanded to say thank you for putting me to sleep. No, we love it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, love it.

[Bria Grant]

So I do want to say that I'm absolutely not bored by you. It's just become a comfort thing. I've been gradually adding to my wheelhouse and it's definitely not done, but are they ever. Do you want to read again?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I just. It we talk so fast and we. I laugh so loudly that the thought that someone could fall asleep to my laugh.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Is the night maybe the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.

[Bria Grant]

It is nice.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So incredible. All right. Bayless wheelhouse is spunky aunties or auntie like supporting characters, proper ladies making cutting remarks, witty Victorian banter. Literary fiction with a mystery plot line, a life transition, career shift or confidence journey. Mysteries in a big house. I love that so much. Women's fiction, leading romance novels and food.

[Bria Grant]

Great.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Incredible. You can email us@reading glassespodcastmail.com if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month. You can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show Notes, quick bookmark. At least me, maybe Bria as well, but at least me is going to be at the LA Times Festival of Books. I am so excited, folks. Okay, let me tell you a little story about this. I have one of my dream events of all time is to be at the LA Times Festival of Books to have a panel to do a signing. And I got booked in April of 2020 to do it.

[Bria Grant]

Oh no.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I was so, so delighted and then equally as devastated when obviously the Festival of Books was canceled in 2020. So when my publicist let me know that I'm doing a old Hollywood panel there to talk about daughter of I am so delighted. I'm so pumped. It's truly like one of my favorite literary events across the whole country. You get to walk around outside.

[Bria Grant]

You get to look April 26th and 27th for people who are wondering at the USC campus. It's great.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I will be there at on the 26th. So that's Saturday. Come on out, wear a sun hat, walk around, hear authors talk, go to a signing. There's so many places to buy books. It is like it's so. And there's all these food trucks. Get a snack, walk around, sit in the grass. It's so lovely. Maybe Bria and I will be doing something else. We're in the Trying to figure that out right now. But at least me, I will be there. Very, very pumped. Please come on out. I will put a link in the show notes. Come on out to my panel. Listen to me talk about old Hollywood. Get some stuff signed. I'm so pumped. So before we talk about what you can do to protect libraries, we're going to take a quick break.

[Bria Grant]

Reading classes is brought to you in part this week by Clarion west and their upcoming event, Steamy in Seattle. Hey. This year's theme, Alien Romance Tea Party.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I mean that's a bunch of words that are amazing together. What more could you possibly want?

[Bria Grant]

Uh huh. And it is a fundraiser for the Clarion West Writers Workshop and a celebration of early career and underrepresented writers, particularly women who write speculative fiction or science fiction and fantasy. It's broadcast free online and held in person in Seattle on May 10 and is moderated by Jasmine Silvera and authors Anne Aguirre and Elizabeth Stevens.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So this is the third year for Steamy in Seattle and it raises money for Killarian west writing workshops. If you are unfamiliar, it's kind of a prestigious thing to like be part of Clarion west. These amazing writing workshops. There's a lot of genre stuff and so they have the sliding scale tuition, they have scholarship programs and they broadcast the author talk portion for free. And folks in the Seattle area can purchase tickets. They enjoy tea and treats at Seattle's beautiful Nordic Heritage Museum. Folks, Clarion west is fantastic. They work with over 1200 writers from around the world annually, truly bringing together an international community and supporting writers who are working on your next favorite read. They've been around for 40 years and they're best known for their they have this intensive six week workshop where 18 participants from around the world are selected to hone their writing with the guidance of successful authors. What's cool is there's been a lot of amazing alumni from Clarion west that you all appreciate. Elizabeth Kanye, Daniel Abraham, Cat Rambo, Aziza.

[Bria Grant]

Boy and Lecky Cadwell Turnbull, Stephen Graham Jones, N.K. jemisin and Kelly Link are all alumni.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, it's pretty awesome. So this is supporting writers, supporting people that you love and people that you're probably going to love in the future. Who doesn't want to go to the Alien Romance tea party?

[Bria Grant]

Go get you some tea, go have some romance, go dress up, go have a nice night. This sounds amazing and like something that we really would love to see.

[Mallory O'Meara]

If we were in Seattle, we would be there for sure. So tickets for Steaming in Seattle are going Fast. Grab yours now and support early career writers on the Clarion west [e-mail] you'll also find links to their classes and workshops and other programs to sign up for. So that's clarionwest.org we have a lot of writers who listen to this show. Maybe you are trying to develop your career. Why not go meet some other writers, check out Clarion west, and then, you know, maybe you'll find an alien to fall in love with. So that's Clarion.

[C]

Hi, is this Kelly?

[D]

Yes, this is Kelly.

[C]

Hi, Kelly. This is Jesse Thorne, co host of Jordan Jessico.

[D]

Hi, Jesse.

[C]

I'm calling because you were just named Max Fund's member of the month for April.

[D]

Oh, wow. This is so surreal.

[C]

How long have you been a Georgia Jesse Go listener?

[D]

Probably eight years. I actually saw you guys at the Bell House in Brooklyn in 2019.

[C]

Was seeing us the reason that you started listening to the show?

[D]

I didn't know I had been listening for a while.

[C]

Why did you end up becoming a member?

[D]

It's really just been such a dependable source of laughter and joy and comfort. I just appreciated that, and I didn't want to take it for granted. So I wanted to contribute and show my support because I don't want it to ever end.

[C]

Kelly, thank you so much for talking with me and thank you so much for being a member of Max Fun.

[D]

Absolutely. It's my pleasure. It's totally worth it.

[E]

If you're a Max Fund member, you can become the next Max Fund member of the month. Support [e-mail] join.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This week. Wow. Everything is bad. Our current administration is attacking, well, everything good in this world. And one of those things is libraries. So we're going to talk about the things that you can do to protect your local library from the clutches of fascism. I hate that we have to do this episode well.

[Bria Grant]

And I think also we. We both like to talk in giant exaggerations a lot.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This is not an exaggeration for.

[Bria Grant]

For humor sake. This is actually not that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Nope. We live in hell. Yeah, we really do.

[Bria Grant]

And I know we say that a lot, and we say that in, like, kind of a funny way. This is a little bit more serious. And I don't know, like, how to like. Anyway, this is a true serious thing. And we're gonna still make jokes, but we just wanted to, like, be open and talk about what's happening.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. We know that a lot of readers are concerned about this. We're really concerned about this. Libraries are. They're very important to reading glasses personally, but they're also, I mean, they're one of the most important, important institutions that we have. A lot of people rely on libraries. There's a lot of underserved communities that rely on, on the resources that libraries provide to do all kinds of shit. I mean, we talk on the show constantly about all the amazing things that libraries do with Internet access, with resources, with help, from everything to applying, applying for a job. It's not just free books. Libraries are very, very important for communities. And we're not going to stand by and, and, and let them get attacked. We are going to mobilize us and the Glassers. We've both already done a lot of the things that we're going to talk about in this episode, and we wish that you would too. I mean, really the point of this episode is instead of just feeling afraid and scared and nervous, here's some things that we can actually do to help and that, that's really the important thing.

[Bria Grant]

So first you should know, as of this recording, we're recording this on, well, recording this probably about a week before it comes out. And this administration is moving quite quickly. There's a lot of things happening there. I think it still will be relevant by the time we put this out. But as of this recording, yesterday the ALA sued Doge over gutting the IMLs. IMLs, for those who don't know, is the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And DOGE is the Department of Government Efficiency.

[Bria Grant]

Right. And ALA is the American Library Association. Thank you. So they have sued doge. Hopefully something comes of that. But I'm going to tell you right now how to find information on what is happening in your state. And I'm going to use California as an example, because that is where I live. So I'm just going to start with giving you this information and then giving you what you can do. So all this information, everything that is funded by the government, everything that is funded imls, is available for you to look at. So you can go to imls.gov and you can go, there's a little interactive map and you click on your state. And primarily what you want to look for is grants to states. So that's what the government, that's what the, the federal government is giving to your state. Right. And, and also Google News reports about your local state. So, you know, cutting to IMLs, your state budget cuts, that kind of thing. We know some states already have received notices that grants are being canceled and that may be your state. So if I go to IMLS and I look at California, there's $15 million under grants to states. And that $15 million is at risk, which is a lot of money. And you can put in a lot.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Of money that it's not just cool free audiobooks, folks like, yeah, this is a lot of, a lot of families who really need libraries.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. So if you click into that, you can actually see what they are doing and Google it. So I went through and I said, okay, what is the California budget for the mls? What is it funding? And you can pull it up because all this stuff is public. This is your right to know because you are a citizen and you paid for this. So, for example, what California. I googled what California spends this money on. And they have a program, they've been. This is a five year grant that they had and they have better summer reading programs, teaching, a program where they taught people how to write. Grants, literacy initiatives, including ones for adult learners, which I know that might mean a lot to people who might have people in their lives or, or want to encourage literacy. Internship programs. This is one that hit home with me because I worked at a library in high school and I was functionally an intern. And this is to help pay those interns. And I would not be doing this podcast without that job. That job was very important to me and helped me save for a lot of stuff and also gave me the confidence to work and to love books, so those kind of things would be cut. Also ebooks for all program and all sorts of book exchange programs. But those are just very few things that this covers. And we just wanted you to know, go look up, see where that money's going in your state. See what's being financed by this, what's being funded and what could be defunded or is already defunded by the time this comes out. Or if your state has already received one of these, these letters saying that they're being defunded. So know where the money is going and then call your local senator and start advocating for what is needed. Show up to your local library board, show up to those kind of places, advocate there as well. We're going to include a link to five Calls, which is a really great resource. If you don't know what to say when you call your representative. It's a, it's called five calls. Just Google five calls and they tell you what to say. But it could sound something like this. Mallory, you want to read it?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Now, you can say you're Mallory O'Meara if you want, but go for It. So all you do is say, hi, my name is Mallory O'Meara and I am a constituent from Los Angeles, California, and I'm urging Adam Schiff. Adam, hey, what's up? To protect federal funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Libraries and museums are vital parts of our communities and provide so many essential services. And here, after you did your research about looking up what your library provides, you can add some stuff. You can, you can put your own little spin on this. And then I would say, adam, please show up for our libraries and urge the White House to hold back its attack on their funding. Thank you for your time and consideration. Then you leave your street address, which I'm not going to tell you.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. If you, if you're leaving a voicemail, make sure you leave your street address to. So they know, they will tally your call and say, oh, this person who lives in my district called me. We're going to put this, you don't have to memorize it. We're going to put it in the show notes. We're going to put a link to five calls and this exact little thing that five calls wrote out.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And the cool thing about calling instead of emailing, because, folks, I don't like being on the phone. I don't hear super well. Being on the phone is stressful. Millennial.

[Bria Grant]

You don't like it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I really do not like being on the phone. So we understand that this is difficult. Find a, find a Gen Xer in your life who does like being on the phone. There, there's, that's, it truly is a generational divide. Find someone who likes me or, or you know what? Make a little party with it with your friends. I get it. I hate talking on the phone. But the cool thing about it is if you call, they have to tally it. They have to make a record of it. So it's harder to, to ignore phone calls. The numbers for the, the, all those tallies are, are being, are being recorded also.

[Bria Grant]

Go to a protest. Your friends are there. Your library friends are there. Go. We think a good idea might be going and making a library block. Like, go with your friends who support the library and go to these hands off protests, say, hands off our libraries and find other people who believe in this. Go together, invite a friend. There are a lot of people who went to hands off the hands off protest last weekend. Last weekend, I guess, yeah. When this came out, it'll be a couple weeks, but there's a lot of people who, this was their first protest. And it, there's Nothing that makes you feel better than going and being a body, a part of a protest. And you're like, okay, something's happening here. And if they're. If a certain percentage of the population starts protesting, it will be heard. Like, peop. These protests do make a difference. Like, think about what happened during Black Lives Matter. Like, things did change. Things. People were suddenly heard. So go to the protests. Use your feet. Use voice.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I do really love. I saw one. One sign I saw from Hands off was so bad. Even the introverts are out here, folks. Let's show them what those bookworms are calling. The fact that you're calling the millennial introverts are. Are getting on the phone. And so I'm going to include a link. There is a organization called Every Library, and they've kind of put a lot of this information together, which is really great. They have organized a petition that you can sign. So I, you know, I have done this. I have contacted my representatives. I have signed these petitions. I'll put a link in there. Also, folks, is really good to know what the fuck your library is doing. Show up at your next public library meeting. Again, I get it. We're introverts. We don't like leaving the house. But you are going to the library. So it's not, you know, a lot. Some of them have. Have virtual ones that you can check out, but a lot of them are in person or you can write them an email or letter, tell them how much the library means to you. Show up. Even if you aren't comfortable enough to speak, show up at these meetings in support, you know, so this is what. Something I got from Book Riot is a quote that says, in an era where information that is not written down and documented simply doesn't exist, nothing is more crucial than having your name attached to some words about the importance of your public library. Again, folks, this does not need to be an incredible essay. This is not a. Not a writing prompt. Just speak from the heart. Say, libraries are really important to you. You know, they're really important to. I literally could not write my books without libraries. The amount of. I had to. I think it was like 500, 600 different books for girly drinks. I would have used my entire advance that I used to pay my rent on research books. I like. The work that I do is impossible without libraries. And this is. This is the stuff that I say, you know, just tell. Tell the library how you use their services, how much they mean to you as a person who pays taxes. You know, like, folks, I. I get it. This stuff is very stressful. It feels like nothing you do matters. If we all get together and yell about how much libraries mean to us, we can make a difference here.

[Bria Grant]

And, y'all, look, there's a lot going on, and we know this may not be a top priority for some people. We know there's a lot of other stuff going on. There's so much going on. But this show, we do talk about libraries so much. We both use the library so much, and we know that it's something that our listeners are very passionate about. And we just want to make sure you have the resources to empower yourself to go and have your voice heard at a time when they are really trying to choke our voices out.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

So go out there and don't let them.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So. And this is preaching to the choir a little bit, but I want you all to maybe talk to other people in your life. Make sure you have your library card. Even if you don't use it, get it. Because the funny thing is, you might not think you need it. And then you get it and you realize all the stuff that your library card can do. And then if we increase the number of people who have library cards and use it again, it's just showing. Showing them how many people are here, how important this is. So are there people in your life who don't have a library card? Guys, when I was dating, you know, that was one of my questions. I literally be like, do you have a library card? Like, it. Talk to the people in your life. I. I cannot tell you how many times I've had friends who'd be like, what? I can get free audiobooks, free ebooks. I have taken movies, free movies in la. You can get passes to national parks. You could they. You can even borrow a hiking backpack at. From the Los Angeles Public Library if you want to go hiking. Make it a cool thing. Talk to people about it. Like, okay, so when me and HWB started dating, I am so used to having to explain the library to people. And we were talking about books and libraries, and I was like, oh, do you have your library card? And I was trying to expl Libby to him, and he was like, you think I don't have Libby on my. He whipped out Libby and showed me his Libby account on his phone. Folks, I've never been so horny in my life. You, too, can have that experience, folks.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I mean, in the library. We've said this before, and the. The library is one of the few places you can go where you don't.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Have to spend money.

[Bria Grant]

You don't have to spend money. You can go. I go there sometimes just to work when I need to get out of my house. When I first moved to la, it was definitely a place of comfort for me where I would go get books, I would work there because I lived with a million roommates and did not have any privacy. And it just felt like a place that I could go and be comfortable. And I know a lot of people feel that way.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

And so it's not just about having ebooks delivered to your phone, which I do love. It's like it is a place where you are actually. It is a comfort to people who need it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'll never forget we had. I had a conversation with a mutual friend of ours who I will not call out on this show, and this friend was describing to me about. He had just signed up for this really expensive co working space and he's like, yeah, they have places you can sit and free WI fi. And I was like, like my guy. You're describing the library. You are paying however much money, three figures a month when you could just go to the library. And he was like, what? Like, it's such a special place. So again, we know that there's. That. I mean, there's attacks on trans people. There's a t. I mean, there's a tax on. On everything that is.

[Bria Grant]

We're not covering all that right now because this is a book podcast.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This is a book podcast. There's a lot of terrible going on. 1. But one thing you can do that's simple. Get your library card, write an email to your. To your representative, give them a call, show up at your library board meetings or email your library. There's. There's stuff that is. Doesn't take you that much time. I know that it is stressful making a phone call. This will take you maybe less than five minutes.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. But they will mark down that you called and this is important.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. So there. There's stuff that we can do. I. I said this and during a live event recently, but like, listen, folks, I thought we were in Return of the King a few years ago. Turns out it was the Two Towers and we had a whole nother chapter of Nightmari to go through. But the. It's really important not. Not to give in to that despair. I know it's very easy and things are really bad right now, but there's things that you can do. Get again, get your friends together. Go. Maybe you. You all get together. Go to the go get your library cards together, go out for brunch and then go to a protest. Yeah, go to a protest. Bria, should we have a reading glasses pro library protest?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Hell yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Maybe we should do that.

[Bria Grant]

Okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Be kind of fun.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Think about how cool the signs would be from the glasses.

[Bria Grant]

So clever, all this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All you Sarahs out there, we are, we are, we are mobilizing you folks. We, we appreciate, we, we know that you, you tag us and send us stuff. Like Bria's been posting a lot of stuff on, on our Instagram account of what's going on with libraries and stuff. You can help. But here's some pretty easy stuff that won't take you that much time. We're going to put links in the show notes. At least do one of them. Even if, even if you don't want to make the call, sign a petition, send an email, get somebody in your life to get a library card. Think about how sexy that person is going to be when they have a library card. It's good for you, it's good for our world. And we're not going down without a fight. So you can send your thoughts to reading glasses podcast gmail.com before we look at some book tech, we're going to take a quick break.

[E]

This season on the Adventure Zone. Abnormals. Get ready for a brand new crime fighting trio here to protect the anthropomorphic muscular animal citizens of river city. Featuring Justin McElroy as Axolisle, the firefighting axolotl. Clint McElroy as Roger Moore, the debonair cow of mystery. Griffin McElroy as Navy SEAL, the Ross seal that has never served in the armed forces. And Travis McElroy as every other swole critter in River City. This swear free Saturday morning cartoon, an inspired story airs every Thursday on MaximumFun.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Time to look at some book tech advances in bookish technology. This week we're looking at some really buzzy new book tech. It's ebooks from bookshop.org thank God. Oh my God. This was like. This was huge.

[Bria Grant]

Life changing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Life changing was. The glassers were.

[Bria Grant]

There's some good news out there. It's ebooks from bookshop.org it's not all bad, folks.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So readers have long been awaiting ebooks from Bookshop, especially as an alternative to Amazon. I put this in this episode because this is the anti evil episode.

[Bria Grant]

There we go. So as of this recording, these books are only available through the Bookshop app, right? So you can't get them on Kindle, you can't get them on Kobo. But according to Bookshop, they are working with Kobo.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So I'm super pumped for this.

[Bria Grant]

I would make me get rid of my Kindle.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, like I am very, very pumped about this.

[Bria Grant]

They're also working on relationships with companies like IngramSpark, which I don't know anything about.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So IngramSpark is one of the like self publishing platforms. Oh cool. So we were actually, we're just talking on our friend Tom Merritt's show, Daily Tech News show, about how a big stumbling point for a lot of people who are trying to get away from Amazon is that Amazon is such a popular and easy platform for a lot of indie authors and people who want it. Like, like we, we talk about it with our, our other podcast, Reading Smut. A lot of like self published erotica goes on Amazon and it's not really available on other platforms. So bookshop.org is working with some of those self publishing platforms to get those authors off of Amazon or get them at least also on Bookshop, which is very, very exciting. And that'll, I think that'll convince a lot of people. I mean this happened. Our friend, patron saint of reading Smart, our friend Robin sent me a bunch of recommendations and a lot of them were only available on Amazon. Luckily I was able to find some of them in print at the ripped bodice. But this could change that. And that's, that's huge. And so in the way that it works, because of how the percentage that Apple and Android stores take off of, off of these apps, you can't buy books in the app. You have to buy it on a browser on like on their website and then it gets transferred to your account.

[Bria Grant]

Which is, which is not that weird because Kindle, you also can't buy in the app. You can, you can't buy like on the app on your phone or. But you buy on the app on the kit. It's very confusing. So like that. Totally. I don't think that that is any sort of barrier for entry for most people.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. And so the most exciting thing, just like buying print books from Bookshop, your ebooks can benefit your preferred local indie or your preferred podcasters. Hello? Hello. So if you want to support us, you can click on one of the book links in the show notes and you'll see Reading glasses podcast pop up in the top left corner of the Bookshop screen. If that is there when you buy the ebooks, it'll support us. Or again, your local indie. It's it's. It's pretty cool. So what. What Bria, you really tested this out. What do you think of this?

[Bria Grant]

I was so excited about this because it is something that I get most of my books from the library, but I have been buying more and more books lately just because financially I'm able to. And it just to me feels like I should be giving some of that money back. But so the technology is still limited, but it's getting there. So if you're an Android user or you read on your iPad or iPhone, great, you are set, you're ready to go. But it doesn't work for my Kindle, which is my primary choice of reading obviously. But we have a books. B, O O X.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

Something I want to call a books but I am not allowed. It is called a books. Yes, but honestly, rebrand. Call yourself books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It sounds like spooky books.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. The boobs. And we have an onyx. It's called like an onyx books or something.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

Someone sent this to us a while ago and we really appreciate it but at the time we were like, oh, you have to like buy the books on the. The books. The books. I'm gonna call it books because otherwise I'm saying books books, books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

Like it's just too confusing. You if you. You had to use the book store.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

But you can get the bookshop.org app.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Which honestly I think that's a huge plus for the books. E readers Lifesaver.

[Bria Grant]

Like so it's ink because I don't like reading on my iPad and I got. I did try down on the iPad and I was like, like. Because I always feel like it's too bright. But the. The book. The book. Now I don't know how to say it. The boots is a. Is e ink which I just read a book on it. I read the book that I just talked about sunrise on the reaping on this app and there's a learning card within the app itself because it is an app. There are man gotta. When you first get that books you gotta change the hotspots of where to turn the pages because it's a little confusing. But I didn't have to buy anything from Amazon. I am happy.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Pretty cool.

[Bria Grant]

I am happy. I'm gonna start pre ordering my books through here. I'm going to. I mean I'll have two e readers going but eventually I may just move on over to that boox. Which.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's nice. It's a nice e reader.

[Bria Grant]

It's a nice e reader. It's bigger than my Kindle, but I like that though.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It feels luxurious.

[Bria Grant]

It does. It feels really luxurious. There's a lot of words on the page. More words.

[Mallory O'Meara]

More words.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow.

[Bria Grant]

What did you think? What do you think about this?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm wicked excited about this. Oh my God. Because it's so convenient for me personally. Like, I buy a lot of print books through bookshop. The thing that I'm most excited about is the Kobo because I. I do have a Kobo, but I don't really buy ebooks from the Kobo store. It's like I don't want another account where I'm like, it would just be so easy for me to do everything through bookshop. I use my Kobo almost exclusively for library books. Sometimes I get arcs and I'll put them on there. But once they set up a relationship with Kobo, I'll be getting all my ebooks through bookshop and like extra excited for them to be working with companies like IngramSpark. Like I said, I want my smut. And it is frustrating because the only way that I can read Amazon ebooks is on my phone and I don't like it. Like, I read. There's a couple. I read Unhinged. I read our Boko book Squeak through there and it's not fun. I don't like reading. I don't like reading on my phone especially. I'm a big tub reader. I am.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I be careful.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Terrified I'm gonna drop my phone in the tub. Like being able to read on my waterproof Kobo Libra. So excited. And I think once they get Kobo involved, it's gonna be a huge game changer for readers.

[Bria Grant]

It means that the next e reader I buy would be a Kobo or another Boox. Because if, if, if I'm able to do my library and my bookshop.org it just changes everything. And I don't. I would prefer. I'm trying to not buy anything on Amazon anymore. But I was still buying books and I like buying books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Someone. A few people have reached out. We are. And I, I am in the process of researching putting our wish list on another website.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, maybe that will be. When we started our wish list, it wasn't possible because I looked at. I was like, could we do an Etsy one? And we can't. I mean then I was trying to do. But. But I haven't looked into it in a minute.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, there's a. There's a couple different alternatives. We are looking into it and hopeful will will be a completely Amazon free show. Be nice very soon. Very exciting. But congratulations to Bookshop. It's so fantastic. And this will be kind of the final piece because they have a great relationship with Libero FM where they link to Libro FM audiobooks and Audi and Libro FM links to bookshop.org print books and if they get ebooks sorted.

[Bria Grant]

Wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So exciting. And so if you have book tech ideas or you have thoughts on Bookshop ebooks, let us know. Send them to reading glasses podcastmail.com now let's answer a recommendation request from one of our listeners. Morgan writes in to say hi, Bran. Mallory. I really adore the show and have written many a time and gotten some wonderful recommendations before. So here I am again. I have recently confessed my feelings for my best friend who politely but decisively shut me down. He said I was beautiful, intelligent and funny and in another life things could have worked out differently. But it sucks either way. We work together and are both foreigners who live in a small town where we know next to nobody and even less people. I'd love for us to stay friends, but it doesn't seem like that is an option for me at the moment. I would love a recommendation about people, preferably female, main character going through the same thing. Ideally, if her and the best friend don't end up together or even friends at the end. I've scoured the Internet for listicles and nothing seemed right. Can you help? Bria? What do you think Morgan should do?

[Bria Grant]

Well, this. Maybe this broke my heart a little bit.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We've all been there though. Everyone's had a. Yeah, Morgan, you are not alone. Everyone's had. Had a situation where you had a crush on someone and they. They shut. They shot you down and it made you feel awful.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. And it's good you were. Your friend was honest with you about that and it's good you were honest with your friend. You gotta do. You gotta. You gotta. You gotta live your life. You know, I had a lot of trouble with this one, Mallory, because I kept trying to think of romances that didn't have happily ever, ever afters. And then I was like, okay, I can't think, I can't came up with those. And then I was like, it is tough.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This is not a googleable thing.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, friendships that about friendships that break up and maybe come back together. The book I kept running across, which was normal people because I guess spoiler like the ending of that book. But I Sean loved that I've never read it, so it's hard for me recommended. So I don't have a recommendation for this, but I'm gonna tell you to read All About Love by bell hooks. I know that has nothing to do with what you asked, but I actually think it will be very helpful for you. I don't think it's what you asked, but maybe it's what you need. Like. And I think sometimes, yes, it will be helpful for you to read a main character in Mallory as a suggestion for this that's going through the same thing, but maybe just a book that will make you feel a lot of comfort about choosing a love that is right for you and being in a relationship that is right for you and have it other different kinds of love and you can have a love for your friends still. I just think that it's a very helpful book. It has helped me a lot. Again, I know you didn't ask for this, but sometimes that's what I'm here for. What's that off the wall recommendation?

[Mallory O'Meara]

What's that? Rolling Stone.

[Bria Grant]

You can't always get what you want.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But sometimes you get what you need. That's right, that's here. I'm the Rolling Stones recommender, okay? That's our policy here on reading glasses.

[Bria Grant]

You have an actual good.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I do have a recommendation that is exactly this. And so it's the Romantic Agenda by Claire Kahn. This is a. An adult romance book and it's about a female main character. She is asexual and she's in love with her best friend. Only to be crushed when the best friend falls in love with a girl named Summer. And the best friend wants to take them all on a getaway. It'll be so fun. And so they all go together away for the weekend. And the main character meets Summer's ex boyfriend and she kind of confesses what's. What's going on. And the. The. The ex boyfriend agrees to help her by the two of them fake dating to make the best friend jealous. Because the main character thinks, well, if my best friend just sees me with another person, maybe it'll like spark something. Only you know where.

[Bria Grant]

Fake dating, yeah, fake dating always ends up in real dating. Not always, but most of them.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A lot of. A lot of the time. And so I've ever fake dated somebody, you know what? No, but I have actually. No, but I've been like, I've like pinch hooded for people. Like I. When I was in high school, I had a couple of two friends actually whose dates dumped them right before prom. So I was like their. Their fake prom date that's great. Which was very.

[Bria Grant]

But a real prom date.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

But I did go to real prom.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes, but we weren't, like, dating. Although a couple of, like, they fake.

[Bria Grant]

Dating ended up dating.

[Mallory O'Meara]

There was. Well, no, but a few people, like, they kind of wanted to make it seem like, sure. In front of the other person.

[Bria Grant]

Sure, sure.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But I think this is the perfect book to read in this scenario because when stuff like this happens and everybody's been there, it feels like that that person is the only person for you. And this per. Like, they're, they're, they're perfect for you. They're. You're meant to be with them. And them turning you down feels like you've just lost your future. Like, it is devastating. And now you are bereft. But they're not the only person for you. Every single time I've ever gotten my heart broken, the next time, like, somebody else came into my life eventually and I was like, oh, my God, this person's so much better for me. I'm so happy I didn't end up dating this other person. There's plenty of other sexy fish in the sea. And this book, the Romantic Agenda, reminds you that there's someone else out there that is more suited to you who will make you happy.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And, and, and it's the perfect time of year to start reading a fun getaway book.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, yeah, sure.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm about to go on a getaway with my. With hwb. I'm very excited about it. But, like, spring has sprung here in la. Perfect time to like. Like, the COVID is really cute. It's like the main character sitting on a dock and like a beautiful summer. Like, it's, it's. I think it's going to be good. I'm recommending the Romantic Agenda by Claire.

[Bria Grant]

Kahn, and I think you should read All About Love by Bell Hooks.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So if you want us to answer your recommendation request, send it to reading glasses podcastmail.com as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Facebook group and our Discord group. Shout Out. I did appoint mods for our. They are so wonderful. I am so appreciative of them. They're absolutely fantastic. And remember, folks, spring is sprung. You need a T shirt. You need a tank top. You need a cute sticker to put on your cooler as you take it out to the beach. Go to our Boyd merch store. Very, very fun, cute stuff over there. And it helps us pay our bills, which we really appreciate. So if you like the show, please write and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. It's great for us and helps us make more glasses. Sounds like we live in a factory and we're like making glasses. You can email us reading glasses podcast gmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks Reading Maximum Fun, a worker owned network of artist owned shows supported directly by.