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© 2025 Sunshine & Stories from the Colorado State Library
Description
Sunshine & Stories is a Colorado State Library (CSL) podcast dedicated to all things public and school libraries. Our podcast aims to offer fresh insights, as well as spark creative and practical ideas for diverse public & school library settings. Whether you’re a veteran in the library world, a newbie looking for a little professional support, or someone who's considering shaking things up in your library (a little or a lot), we hope this podcast will be a valuable resource for you.
During our 2025-26 season, keep an eye out for new episodes from September to May. This season, we're expanding our scope and exploring not just summer programming, but all sorts of exciting library topics featuring interviews with our fellow library professionals around the state and lively discussions between Colorado State Library consultants.
If you want to dive into various topics further and hear even more about what other Colorado folks are up to in their libraries, check out LibrariesLearn.org for all our past and future learning opportunities.
This podcast is offered at no cost to listeners thanks to the time, effort, and dedication of CSL Library Development consultants, as well as our State Library colleagues and all our volunteer guests from across the field.
CSL projects like this one are funded in part by the Grants to States program which is administered by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the Colorado Department of Education, the Institute of Museum and Library Services or the U.S. Government.
22 Episodes
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You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine & Stories Episode 206: Unearthing CSLP Summer Program Resources Episode Summary: The Collaborative Summer Library Program’s 2026 program manual is now live! So the Kates chat about all things summer from toolkits, printables and all that CSLP has to offer to fun ways to interpret this summer’s theme of “Unearth a Story” and the America 250 - Colorado 150 celebrations....
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine & Stories Episode 205: Compassionate Makerspace Projects Episode Summary: Suzi Tonini chats with Carin Barrett, Teacher Librarian at Berthoud High School, about implementing compassionate makerspace projects that connect students with their community through service. Learn how Carin's students create items like fleece blankets, stuffed animals, birthday cards, and port...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine & Stories Episode 204: “Health access should never depend on your Zip Code.”: Telehealth and Rural Communities Episode Summary: Kieran Hixon chats with Colorado Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera and Ashley Heathfield from the Office of eHealth Innovation (OeHI) about the "Connect to Health at Your Library" project in Colorado. This initiative establishe...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine & Stories Episode 203: Trends in Colorado Public and School Libraries Episode Summary: Sit down with Polly Gallagher, Kieran Hixon, Suzi Tonini, Kate Brunner, and Kate Compton, members of CSL’s Library Development Team, as they share trends they are noting around our libraries in Colorado and consider the impact on services, resources, and governance. 00:0...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine & Stories Episode 202: Creating Autism-Friendly Libraries Through Sensory Audits Episode Summary: Kate Compton and Suzi Tonini chat with Gloria Perez Alvarez and Terri Faulkner from Jefferson County Public Library about their innovative sensory audit process for creating autism-friendly library spaces. Discover how they're partnering with local autism organizatio...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 201: CSL Kits: A Librarian's Library Episode Summary: Kate Compton learns all about Colorado State Library book club and circulating program kits from Mike Peever the CSL Kits Program Coordinator. Hear all about how the program works, popular items in the collection, and how to get in on the borrowing action. [CSL Kits are available for circulation to Colorad...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! If you give us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode. Your feedback helps us grow and provides us with important reporting data for our funder. CSL projects like this one are funded in part by the Grants to States program, which is administered by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. The views, findings, ...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 114: Today’s Teen Volunteer, Tomorrow’s Future Librarian If you give us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode. Your feedback helps us grow and provides us with important reporting data for our funder. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the US Institute of Museum and Library ...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! If you give us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode. Your feedback helps us grow and provides us with important reporting data for our funder. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the US Institute of Museum and Library Service. Episode Summary: Designing an inclusive summer program benefits everyon...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! If you give us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode. Your feedback helps us grow and provides us with important reporting data for our funder. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the US Institute of Museum and Library Service. Episode Summary: Time to chat tweens and teens! What’s up with this dev...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! If you give us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode. Your feedback helps us grow and provides us with important reporting data for our funder. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the US Institute of Museum and Library Service. Episode Summary: Ever felt completely burned out even though you’re only hal...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! If you give us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode. Your feedback helps us grow and provides us with important reporting data for our funder. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the US Institute of Museum and Library Service. Sunshine and Stories Episode 110: Summer is for Adults Too Episode Summary:...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 109: Artful Play for Itty Bitties & Kids Episode Summary: Kate Compton, Early Literacy Consultant at the Colorado State Library, chats with all of us about her ideas for art-themed programming for our youngest library friends. Join her for a quick review of developmental stages for children 0 to 8 years old and a discussion of the many benefit...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 108: Performers, Experts, & Marketing, Oh My! Episode Summary: Kate and Kate share their own experiences working with performers and experts to provide a variety of public library programs not only during the summertime, but throughout the year. They also chat marketing strategies as well as tips and tricks they’ve picked up from Colorado libr...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 107: The Nuts & Bolts of CSLP and CSL Summer Resources Episode Summary: The Collaborative Summer Library Program’s 2025 program manual is live! So we’re digging into all the resources CSLP and the Colorado State Library (CSL) have available to help you plan next summer’s library program in and with your community. Manuals, toolkits, printables, pro...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 106: Hispanohablante Communities & Your Library Episode Summary: The Kates were thrilled to have Cristy Moran, Adult Library Services Senior Consultant at the Colorado State Library join them today to talk about summer library services and Spanish-speakers in our communities. Kate, Kate, & Cristy sat down to talk about why vocabulary matters, strategi...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 105: To Prize or Not to Prize Episode Summary: This week Kate & Kate talk summer library program tracking strategies, as well as the pros and cons of offering different types of incentives during the summer. They also explore how both tracking strategies and incentives programs might connect to and support the outcomes you set for yourself bas...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 104: Perfect Summer Partners Episode Summary: Special guest, Suzi Tonini, Colorado’s School Library Leadership Consultant, joins Kate Compton to chat about the school library landscape in our state and how public library professionals can partner with school library professionals for summer and beyond. If you’d like to connect with Suzi to learn m...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 103: The Art of Capturing Impact Episode Summary: What happens when one Kate asks another Kate what she thinks about how we capture the impact of what happens during our summer library programs? A whole lot of reflecting on why capturing impact might be meaningful to us, what playful ways might be out there to collect the numbers and stories we can use ...
You can now use the survey link below AND text us your feedback via Buzzsprout with this link right here!! Sunshine and Stories Episode 102: The Why of Summer Episode Summary: Join Kate and Kate as they discuss why we might want to ask ourselves “Why do we do summer programming?” They also consider how reflecting deeply on our why as well as engaging with our communities of service around their summer needs may lead us to discover what’s really working well and where our opportuni...
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