Advertise on podcast: OFF THE SHELF at the Susquehanna County Library

Summer is almost over! Sit back and listen as we recap the 2025 Harford Fair. I'll be back in October with our new format focused on Library programs, community events and other podcasts to check out! Till then, thanks for listening! Howard

Blueberry picking season is about over in Susquehanna County PA, and the 44'th Annual Blueberry Festival was held on Friday and Saturday, 2-3 August. This podcast covers our PRE-BBF event held at the Montrose Library Community Room, and two days of interviews at the festival. The weather was the best we have had in many years, and we are waiting for the final fund raising dollar amounts to be determined, but it might very well be the BEST YEAR EVER! We even had a special, limited to 100 bottles, of Blueberry Mead with a festival label on it. (Thank you Dan!) The media coverage was excellent, bringing in people from hundreds of miles away for the event. As you will hear, Chris in the podcast came all the way from Arizona! We had so many people tell me that it was the first time they had attended. Congratulations to the Noonan family, who won the Blueberry Snack raffle basket. The Amazon Show device will be awarded to a random person after we record at the Susquehanna County fair this week, including additional people into our drawing. Thank you to everyone that supported the event! Be sure to take time to contact the library to let them know how happy you were with the event and with any suggestions for next year! Enjoy a blueberry muffin and give us a listen! Howard

Hey there, I'm Howard and I'm glad to invite you back to our first episode of 2025. It's been a while since we have released an episode, but we are back for what should be a monthly episode talking about: * What new library and historical society events are going on. * A highlight interview with a Susquehanna County business or organization. * A review of a GREAT PODCAST that I would recommend to you! Please subscribe, so you get our next release. ****************** This episode highlights AG Day 2025 in our county, with interviews of individuals that were at the event. We are sharing this recording with our partner podcast, DIGGING FOR ANSWERS, as we kick off the 2025 season.

Hey there, A sure sign that fall is coming is when the Blueberry Festival and Harford fair are over! I was at the fair last week supporting the Library, the Master Gardeners and the Beek Keepers. I took the laptop with me and recorded in the Master Gardener hut, people that were attending the fair. Master Gardener Anson provided us with year three information on the history of the fair. I know you will enjoy what he "dug" up this year to share! This podcast is going out on the libary "Off the Shelf" podcast and the Master Gardener's "Digging for Answers" podcast. Next episode we will start our focus on county businesses and organizations and will highlight podcasts you might want to check out! Till then, be well and go find a good book or podcast to enjoy! Howard

The 2024, 43rd annual Montrose Blueberry Festival was held on 2-3 August, on the Montrose Green. Lots of blueberry items to eat, new/used books to buy, GREAT live music and so many activities. Even a blueberry pie eating contest! The annual fundraiser helps to fund 20% of the annual Association budget. MANY THANKS to our VOLUNTEERS and STAFF! Listen here to interviews with several individuals/groups that attended. Starting in our next episode, we will be focused on local businesses, and recommendations for GREAT podcasts, books and events to investigate. Like our Red Cross Blood drive this Friday on August 9'th. Give blood and get a $20 Amazon Gift Card! Hope to see you at the county fair in a few weeks or when you visit the Historical Society or one of our four library locations! When you visit, tell the staff that you listen to our podcast and to tell Howard that you said "HI!". Subscribe so that you get our future episodes! Now, go read/listen to a good book! Howard......

Hey there, The Master Gardeners of Susquehanna just wrapped up their biggest SPRING CLINIC every! It was a sell out event with some GREAT speakers. This episode of the podcast is going out to both "DIGGING FOR ANSWERS", and the Susquehanna County Library "OFF THE SHELF" podcasts. We have interviews of people that attended the Spring Clinic and a list of upcoming community events in the Montrose area. Starting in our next episode, we will go back to an individual format for the two podcasts. There is a lot going on in the area this spring, so here is a way to listen to those that attended Spring Clinic, and find out what's going on in the next few months! Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe and don't be nervous about sending us comment! Howard

Welcome back to "OFF THE SHELF"! This is our first library podcast in 2024 after taking a bit of a breather to determine what kind of format that you might have interest in! We decided that in 2024, will focus on local community events and in a recommendation of other podcasts that you might have interest in listening to. At the library, we are noticing a growing number of patrons using electronic services like e-books, online magazines, comics, podcasts, streaming video services and audio books. This podcast is focused on the recent Susquehanna AG Day. We had a table at the event and interviewed people on why they came to the event and a few other questions. At the end, I left in a short "hot mic" recording from when we were talking to a group of youth, and I forgot the mic was still recording! So............ It's a shorter episode, but you can hear some great comments about AG Day. We will b doing this at some other community events and will have a drawing for some nice prizes if you record with us at the event! SUBSCRIBE so you get future downloads automatically!

Christmas and New Years are still weeks away, but we are all ready planning for Valentines Day 2024! In a discussion with one of our library patrons, he provided us with a copy of a song he wrote and performed that fit right in here, because the song is "Love at the Library". We were talking to a couple of staff and patrons at several of our locations and thinking of several movies where the "Love at the Library" story was a focus. SO.... we decided to create a podcast to showcase the song, and YOUR STORIES about the topic. Take a listen to this special episode, listen to Mike Power's GREAT song. We are so happy he shared it with us and gave us permission to use it. After you listen, we hope if you have a REAL or imaginary story of "Love at the Library", that you go to our website, and enter the contest. The top ten stories will be voted on by patrons in early Feb for the BEST "Love at the Library" story. Here is the link to submit your story: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11y14ccE0l6HJESllaq6qwIQGSoZqv7_unN064STdgpo/edit Good luck, enjoy the event and the great music. See you again in a few weeks! Howard

Hi there, It's been a while since we have released an episode, but with the winter season here at the library, things are a bit slower, so we are kicking off in early December with a special episode that asks the question, "What to the following have in common?" * Our Association Board Member Ann Reed * William Penn and his sons * The Pennsylvania Indian wars of the 1700s * A wonderful song by a local artist Well after you listen to this very special episode, you'll know the answer! Thank you to both Ann Reed and Van Wagner for their contributions to this episode. Think of this episode as a Pennsylvania History Lesson about how Indian attacks against European Settlers, during a period of over 20 years, in revenge for being swindled by Thomas Penn and others, of more than a million acres of prime real estate in 1737, an area which would later become northern Bucks County and Northampton County areas of northeastern Pennsylvania. Leave us a comment on our library web site or Facebook page and you might win one of Van's albums! We will be back in just a few more days with another special episode that will highlight a special library contest that you can enter. It will also have a great piece of music created and performed by one of our local patrons! Have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year! Howard

The 165'th Annual Harford Fair is over! I had a wonderful time at the fairground last week, manning a table on Thursday in the Penn State Susquehanna County Master Gardener's building. I was representing both the Master Gardeners and the Susquehanna County Library. I have not heard the final head count yet on how many people visited us, but I'm going to guess it had to be close to 1,000 people. I was at the table with a microphone in hand to talk to people about a couple of areas. I'm going to replay their conversations in this episode. Everyone that spoke to me has been entered into a special drawing for an Amazon echo dot device and some $25.00 gift cards. This episode is going out on both the "Digging for Answers" podcast and the "Off the Shelf" podcast, since it is a great community event! Be sure to subscribe so that you will get notice of all of our future releases! Have a GREAT week, a safe/fun Labor Day weekend, we will talk to you again in September! Howard

It's FAIR WEEK! This special episode is focused on the 2023, 165'th Annual HARFORD FAIR, in Harford PA. Here from Penn State, Susquehanna County Master Gardener Anson on what the Master Gardeners are sharing at the fair this year. The event runs 14-19 August, the booth is open 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. each day of the fair. Come talk to us, bring your questions and get some information that will help your garden/trees/flowers/yard. If you didn't listen to last year's fair podcast from Anson, you should find it, download it, and listen about the history of county fairs! Howard will be there on Thursday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. with the podcast microphone to capture your comments for a future podcast. If you talk to him, you can get the drawing for an Amazon Echo Dot device or a gift card! Hope to see you at the fair on Thursday! Howard

I don't know what you were doing on Friday and Saturday, 4-5 August, but myself and over 1,000 others were at the 44'th annual Montrose Blueberry Festival! Listen in to hear about the event and WHY people were attending the event! Thank you to all that were involved with the event!

Welcome to "Off the Shelf", a podcast from the Susquehanna County Historical Society and Free Library Association. Welcome to our 2023 Season! This 2023 kickoff episode is a little different.  We are going to hear about the 33'rd Susquehanna Farm and Home Day 2023. Eight organizations that were at the event are going to give us a brief "Who are we, what do we do, and what can we do for you!" We will be back in a few weeks with more of our traditional format, including info on new books, new library programs, local events and businesses! We hope to hear some feedback from you!   You can email us at: [email protected].  

Happy Holidays!  We want to thank you for listening to our podcast series, OFF THE SHELF and DIGGING FOR ANSWERS.  We have a special treat for you as we end 2022.  We have the SECOND return of our five part reading of one of the most famous holiday stories,  The Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.  The book was first released on 19 December 1843, We are excited to share five chapters starting today with Chapter #5 and the remaining releasing before Christmas. about every 3-4 days. Each episode is resented by five different readers. Our readers are all members of our local community that have an important connection to the library.  You may know who they are by listening to them, but we are not going to tell you who they are till the end of their chapter. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so that you will get a download when each segment is released.  Thank you for all your support in 2022 and we look forward to supporting  you in 2023.  Be SAFE and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS! Talk to you in 2023! Howard Heads Up!  We will modify our OFF THE SHELF podcast format starting in January 2023.  The focus will be more on what's NEW at the library with programs and events, a brief reminder of the on-going programs and then a quick report out on the top FIVE checked out authors from the prior month.

As Christmas Eve approaches, we wish to share this reading of a poem that was written in 1823 by Clement Clarke Moore, The Night Before Christmas.  It's a short piece, but one of the most well known writings about Saint Nick. Our reader of this wonderful poem is Susquehanna County Commissioner Allen Hall.  Commissioner Hall was kind enough to have recorded this with us in 2019, and we replayed it last year in 2021 and are happy to bring it to you again this year in 2022.   We are also releasing this special episode for the first time on our other podcast, "DIGGING FOR ANSWERS", a partnership between our Association and the Susquehanna County Master Gardeners. And as Saint Nick says at the end of the poem...... "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."