Casting for pods

Ah ha! So that's what POD stands for! I've been wondering for ages. But I won't spoil it for you. It would be like telling you the end of a movie =)

After looking at the podcast pages of several public libraries, I see it is most commonly used for book reviews and author talks. I think it could also be used for certain community events held in the library. For example, a staff member at my library organised a "Digital Libraries" event which involved several experts giving a half hour talk about their area of expertise. Typically at these events about 20-30 people attend. Making such events available as podcasts would add value by allowing many more people to access an event they would otherwise have been unable to attend.

Another very important thing I noticed about other public library podcast pages is that many of them have a dedicated area for teenagers. Typically teenagers are a difficult demographic to bring into the library. Teenagers today have grown up with advanced technology from a very young age and are quite savvy with using it. Podcasts offer teenagers a new, fun way of contributing and accessing the library. From what I saw of the other public library pages, it does work =)