Celebrating 3 Seasons of the Richfield Branch Library Podcast
Photo by Vika Strawberrika on Unsplash
In 2021, my boss Jen and I were able to leverage our proto-podcast, The Library Ideas Podcast, as proof of concept (and ability) and launch a new, official podcast at work: The Richfield Branch Library Podcast.
This summer we wrapped Season 3, (that’s 30 episodes produced, recorded, edited and published in just over a year… no small feat for our upstart little band of curious library employees!) and I wanted to share some of what I've learned about setting attainable, sustained goals, and meeting them.
And keep any eye out for Season 4 this fall, we just recorded our first episode!
Plan Ahead To Be Flexible
Library Ideas published once a month, and that was too long between episodes for audience members to remember us. For RBL, we decided to publish every other week, with 8-10 episodes per season. We do a season in the spring, and a season in the fall, so we’re recording for a few months, and then take a break for a few months.
I try to make sure we have 3 episodes recorded and at least 2 fully edited and scheduled when that first episode posts. That built-in pocket only grows as the season progresses: we try to record every week, but are only publishing every other week. That means if a week gets hectic and we don’t end up recording, it’s no big deal. From the audience side, that’s invisible.
I also like to stop us from continuing to record episodes after about 10, so that it stays fun and fresh. That gives us some time to read more books to talk about, and to look forward to recording again.
I actually learned to plan and pace content from writing this blog :) When I’m blogging regularly, I get a few drafts going, and schedule them in advance. That way people can start to look for your content at a certain time, but you’re not under the gun each week trying to come up with new content.
So, plan to take breaks. Assume you’ll keep being a human being & keep needing them. :D Don’t announce a schedule you’re not sure you can keep.
And as an side, remember that all this content has a longer “tail” than you might imagine, so keep hosting it (resist that urge to delete everything when you’re feeling low.) You’ll continue to grow an audience over time if you create quality work and keep it available.
Assign Yourself Projects
What would you like to be good at? Start finding ways to weave that into your art practice, your daily life, even your work tasks. You might not be compensated in your current role for skills you’re volunteering to acquire, but remember that A) that doesn’t mean they’re not super valuable skills for you to have, and that will benefit your employer whether or not they recognize it, and B) that time is the most valuable resource, and so finding ways to invest yours in ways that can grow you is the best investment you can make. Bet on yourself, even if it feels like no one else will.
It won’t happen overnight. The newer the skills are to you, the more uncomfortable it will be to try them, but everything, EVERYTHING, no matter how complex, really truly gets easier over time. As kids, we had to learn new things a lot and didn’t even think about it. As adults, especially if you’ve gotten really cozy in that comfort zone, it’s going to feel crazy at first. So, break it into pieces. You can eat an army of elephants if you make those bites small enough, and keep them coming steadily over time.
Having your own goals and looking for opportunities to incorporate them into other people’s goals for you is a great way to keep up your elephant diet. The satisfaction of getting “credit” for things you want to be doing is highly addictive; so don’t say you weren’t warned!
In terms of the podcast, this was something I knew I could do, and I had to do it on my own time for a while to prove that I could. But now I get to do it at work, and that means I’m getting better at it more consistently, and it’s helping my work in other ways (for instance, I’ve gotten way more comfortable talking to patrons about what I’m reading currently. I worked in the library for 16 years before we started this podcast, you’d have thought I’d have gotten better naturally! But somehow, forcing myself to articulate my thoughts in a professional way, as a sort of midpoint between book report and natural conversation, has led to better patron conversations. It’s changed the way I think about the books I’m reading, and the way I think about the value of reading culturally as a conversation I’m having in the community.)
Allow It To Grow Organically (Don’t Fight the Magic)
Creativity is a sort of organism, and creative acts really do grow. Planning and organizing are a good way to create an environment that is friendly to creativity. The context of your creative practice as planting a garden in a series of pots and planters if you don’t have all the land you wish you had for a full garden. Start where you are, and it will grow over time. But also remember at a certain point, you’ve got to get out of your own way, turn off your analytical brain, and tap into that magical, ethereal, flow state.
Library Ideas was heavily scripted. I think we were both insecure about our abilities, and so that felt comfortable. We were also talking about big ideas, and wanted to think out arguments in advance and make a solid case. But that’s A LOT of work, and it fought against that magic that was the organic conversations we were having that inspired the podcast in the first place.
For the Richfield Branch Library Podcast, we realized it just wasn’t going to happen if we were scripting each episode to the same extent; we simply did not have that kind of time. So we come up with outlines, but then largely just let ourselves chat. Yeah, we go on tangents (we did on Library Ideas, too!) But some of my favorite moments in the podcast are those tangents. It’s where the muffin breaks free of the pan and does it’s own thing.
All creative pursuits, I’ve found, is about hunting down and attempting to stay within that glorious balance of planning and happening. If you approach it like an experiment, and know that each attempt won’t be your last, you might find some beauty along the way you never could have planned for. Be looking for that, don’t let yourself miss it because you were so focused on the plan.
Our last episode of Season 3 posted this week; we talk about Magazines! I share some arts and culture magazines, as well as some self-published zines by local artists and friends Free Period Press, Kate Atherton, and Justin Micheal Will! Check out that episode here.
My favorite episodes are probably:
National Poetry Month: A Bunch of Suckers In The Woods
In this one, we talk about poetry that makes you think, helps you feel, and boosts your confidence.
For this episode, Jen and I just run down our huge list of books we’re wanting to read. And it’s our most popular episode!
The Earth Is Rural with Special Guests Rachel & Scott Luther
Season 2 featured some great conversations with special guests, including this one which took us all over the world and back through time in Richfield.