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Making The Most Of Mandel: Exploring WPB's Mandel Public Library · Inside West Palm Beach

• 0:00
  Cooler weather means things are heating
• 0:02
  up at the Mandel Public Library.
• 0:05
  Welcome to the City Center Podcast.
• 0:06
  I'm Jerry Marcello.
• 0:08
  The Mandel Public Library is always
• 0:10
  hopping with events and
• 0:11
  activities, and this winter
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  promises more events than ever before.
• 0:16
  We'll get a preview next
• 0:17
  on the City Center Podcast.
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  Joining us now is Christina Carollo, who
• 0:27
  is a digital marketing
• 0:29
  strategist for the City
• 0:30
  of West Palm Beach.
• 0:32
  Christina, welcome.
• 0:33
  Thank you so much for having me.
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  A lot of people are surprised about just
• 0:36
  how much stuff goes on at
• 0:38
  the Mandel Public Library.
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  It is amazing and insane, actually,
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  because they have so many
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  programs, over 100 every
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  single month for kids, for teens, for
• 0:47
  adults, anything from like
• 0:49
  painting or even some music
• 0:52
  if you're interested.
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  You have kids where you could rent out
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  ukuleles and learn how to
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  play that instrument, or
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  you have like rhythm and hues
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  up in story time with the kids.
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  There's so many good things going on.
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  So you have programs that are designed
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  just for children, or
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  are things happening for
• 1:10
  adults as well?
• 1:11
  Everybody, adults as well.
• 1:13
  So even if it's like technology, you want
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  to learn a new
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  programming like for Photoshop
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  or something like that.
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  You can go to the second floor, that's
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  the technology floor,
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  or you could head up to
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  the third floor, there's lecture halls
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  there, and there's always
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  a different lecture going
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  on with a different topic.
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  And they usually have like a
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  third party person come in.
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  It could be historical.
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  It could be, you know,
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  tutorial, anything and everything.
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  They're always
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  looking for new activities.
• 1:40
  Sure.
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  You said something that intrigued me.
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  You said that the second
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  floor was the technology floor.
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  I'm used to a library being full of
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  books, you know, so tell
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  me what a technology floor
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  involves.
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  Of course I would love to.
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  So the technology floor
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  has a lot of technology.
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  Let's start with the computers.
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  There's public computers there.
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  People can use them.
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  They can print stuff.
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  They can ask a librarian for help if
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  they're working on something.
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  So we'll start with
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  that, you know, floor.
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  But then if you go into the technology
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  and innovation center,
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  that is very special.
• 2:19
  So if you want to record a podcast
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  episode, we have a sound
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  booth in there so you can
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  go in.
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  Everything's nice and quiet.
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  You record.
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  There's a mic.
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  There's a computer.
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  So you can start your new podcast.
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  Well, that's really cool.
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  So you can actually just go in here and
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  do your own podcast using
• 2:35
  the library's facilities.
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  Absolutely.
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  Or if you're a musician, you're into
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  music, you want to sing,
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  you can also use that booth.
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  Or if you want to learn a new program
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  like Photoshop, you can
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  do that in there as well.
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  Or if you've never used a VR
• 2:49
  headset, you have, you love it.
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  You can also do that.
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  And there's a cool new
• 2:53
  chair that you could sit in.
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  You put the VR and it's very immersive.
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  Very nice.
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  Well, very, very cool.
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  And you mentioned the third floor.
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  There are there's many
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  programs that go on as well.
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  Yes.
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  So the third floor is
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  predominantly the children's floor.
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  But there is a whole area where you have
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  those smaller rooms and
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  a lot of lectures will go
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  on in there.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  The auditorium as well.
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  What sort of lectures
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  are you talking about?
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  So there are many.
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  But what comes to mind is there's usually
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  some kind of historical lecture in there.
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  I can't think of anything
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  at the moment, of course.
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  But they'll have sometimes even
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  professors from local
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  colleges come and speak about a
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  certain topic.
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  They've had a really cool
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  series before about Jane Austen.
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  I don't want to say I don't know the
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  exact name of the organization.
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  But if you're a Jane Austen lover, you
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  love the books literature.
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  It's really fun to come and listen about
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  Jane Austen and her writing process.
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  But it's not just these
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  lectures are not just about books.
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  They could be about anything.
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  Anything.
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  Yeah.
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  OK.
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  So it's really cool.
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  I know we'll talk a little bit more about
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  where you get information.
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  But just since we're talking about it,
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  how would I find out
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  what upcoming lectures are
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  coming up?
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  That is a great question.
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  So there's a few ways to go about it.
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  You can go to the library and there's
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  actually a booklet, a
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  physical booklet that every single
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  month this is printed
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  and available for people.
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  And it goes through.
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  It has all of the different sections for
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  teens, adults, kids across the board.
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  So you can go in and see
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  what's happening on what date.
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  Also if it's registration based, if it
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  is, you need to go online.
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  And that would be WPBCDlibrary.org, which
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  is on the back of the
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  booklet, including all
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  of the hours for the library, which is
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  also important because
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  pretty much any day of the
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  week they're open up at different times.
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  And now where do I get that again?
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  So you walk into the library on any
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  single floor that you're on.
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  You can get one of these and go right up
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  to the first floor desk and grab one.
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  But if let's say you don't really like
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  physical copies, you can go online.
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  And there is the online calendar that the
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  library always has
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  set up and it's updated
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  or they actually have a digital version
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  of this booklet that
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  you could flip through as
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  well.
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  You know, I, one of the very first things
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  I did when I came
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  here to the city of West
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  Palm beaches to visit the library.
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  And it was, it was an amazing experience
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  because the one you're
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  used to thinking of a library
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  just being books, maybe a couple little
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  reading rooms, a magazine rack.
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  That's not what Mandel is.
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  It's got so much going on.
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  It's just simply insane.
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  It really is.
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  You know?
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  And so it was a tremendous experience.
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  And, you know, it takes me back to when I
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  was a little kid, I
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  grew up here in West Palm
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  beach and I remember very
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  plainly going to the old library.
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  It was, I think it built like in 1964.
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  That was down at the end of Klimatis.
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  And it was, it was, you know, a beautiful
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  building, but it was a
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  lot smaller than this.
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  And that was traditional.
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  That was a traditional library of just
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  whatever books that the
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  city had in a couple of small
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  rooms and a meeting space.
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  The Mandel public library takes it to a
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  whole new level of involvement.
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  And I think involvement is just the right
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  term because a library
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  used to like grabbing
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  a book or grabbing a magazine, sitting
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  down and being quiet.
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  The Mandel library is not like that.
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  They want you to become
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  involved and do stuff.
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  Absolutely.
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  Yeah.
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  They're not like
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  getting community involvement.
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  So they want people to come in, of
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  course, check out a book,
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  but also engage in a program,
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  meet new people.
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  It's a lot of like
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  shared community spaces.
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  So it is the little library still that
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  you don't love from
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  childhood, but it also is
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  like a lot bigger.
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  It's a big part of like the
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  city's social infrastructure.
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  Again, it's a place where people from
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  like all backgrounds
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  and walks of life can come
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  in and just use the
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  library for whatever they want.
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  Everything is free.
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  That's the best part.
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  Every single program
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  that you go to is free.
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  Checking out books is free.
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  It's really lovely to be able to offer
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  everyone an opportunity,
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  you know, whether it's an
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  art program or to learn a new piece of
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  technology to come in,
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  even if maybe they don't have
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  the means at the time, they can still
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  participate and learn something new.
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  You mentioned going in and visiting the
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  library and taking part
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  in the resources there.
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  How hard is it to get a library card?
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  So hard.
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  It's a journey.
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  I'm kidding.
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  It's not hard at all.
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  So you literally walk in, you go up to
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  the first friendly face
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  you see at the desk and
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  you say, hello, I
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  would like a library card.
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  And they'll probably ask you, well,
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  they'll say welcome.
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  And then they'll ask for your ID and some
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  information and we'll get that set up for
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  you right away.
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  And do I can I should I assume that I got
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  to live in the city of West Palm Beach to
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  get a car?
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  No.
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  So yeah, the Mano Public
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  Library is a magical place.
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  And one of the magical qualities is that
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  you don't have to live
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  directly in the city or
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  even the county.
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  We really welcome everyone around Florida
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  as long as you're able
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  to put like an address
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  and you know, show ID and set that up.
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  You can get a library card.
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  But there's also a cool point.
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  So let's say you're not ready for a
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  library card or you don't
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  have your ID with you, but
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  you just want a computer use card.
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  So you could still go online, browse the
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  Internet, hang out in the library.
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  You can get one of those.
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  OK, so I actually it's a great thing.
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  The computer use card that's different
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  than a library card or?
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  Yes.
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  Yeah.
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  So it's a library card that's full.
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  We have like your
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  address, all of that, you know.
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  So if you don't return a book, which of
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  course we all return our books.
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  Sure.
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  I do.
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  But it's good to know where to send the
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  mail to the letter to
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  say, hey, just a reminder
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  you owe your books.
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  But let's say you don't really care about
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  checking out books at
• 8:55
  the moment or you just
• 8:56
  want to go on the computer.
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  You don't you came with
• 8:58
  literally just your phone.
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  That's it.
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  You could say, could I please sign up for
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  a computer use card?
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  OK.
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  And they'll usually
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  work with you with that.
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  Or if you're visiting for a day, because
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  we get a lot of
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  visitors, especially with the
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  airport nearby, people will come.
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  They can just get like a day pass, which
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  is really nice, too.
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  So you get your day pass.
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  You can hop on the computer
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  if you need to print something.
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  Sometimes people are here for business.
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  Sure.
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  So they can get a study room if they need
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  to make like a phone call.
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  That's cool.
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  It's awesome.
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  And then if they have to print a document
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  of some kind, they can do that, too.
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  That is incredibly useful.
• 9:32
  That is very nice.
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  And again, the theme I'm seeing over and
• 9:35
  over and over again is
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  that it is a place for
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  community folks to gather.
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  It's a place where
• 9:41
  people can come together.
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  They can interact.
• 9:44
  They can be creative.
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  They can be productive.
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  And it all happens
• 9:48
  within these four walls.
• 9:50
  It's true. Yeah.
• 9:51
  Four floors of just goodness.
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  Four floors.
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  That should be their stance line.
• 9:57
  The four floors of goodness.
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  I love it.
• 10:00
  OK, so once again, let's touch base on
• 10:03
  what is a very important thing.
• 10:04
  You showed us the library events and it's
• 10:07
  a jam packed season of events coming up.
• 10:10
  Obviously, it's only
• 10:11
  October in that book.
• 10:13
  And we were going to be talking about the
• 10:15
  first months of 2026 coming up.
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  And there's going to be stuff going on
• 10:19
  during that period of time.
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  But how if I'm just online, how do I get
• 10:24
  to see that information?
• 10:25
  How do I get to know what's going on?
• 10:27
  So, yeah, if you go, you can even start
• 10:29
  at the city's website.
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  So you go W.P.B.
• 10:34
  .org. You can start there.
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  The library has a little
• 10:37
  icon right on the homepage.
• 10:38
  Or you can get really specific.
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  And if you need this little handy dandy
• 10:41
  book to remind you,
• 10:43
  it is going to be W.P.
• 10:44
  B.
• 10:44
  City library dot org is on the back.
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  And that will take you
• 10:47
  directly to the library's page.
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  And then when you go there, it'll have a
• 10:53
  little tab for events and you can start
• 10:55
  browsing through all of the upcoming
• 10:56
  events on the calendar.
• 10:58
  It's usually for that month.
• 11:00
  But if we're towards the end of the
• 11:01
  month, then you might
• 11:02
  start to see next month's
• 11:04
  filling in.
• 11:05
  A little bit off of what we were talking
• 11:06
  about, but we were talking about the
• 11:07
  resources at the library.
• 11:09
  Obviously, books is a big
• 11:10
  part of what goes on there.
• 11:11
  But there's also DVDs and movies as well.
• 11:15
  So many movies and DVDs.
• 11:16
  I personally just checked out.
• 11:18
  You've got mail for fall, of course.
• 11:20
  One of my personal favorites.
• 11:21
  It's so good. I love it.
• 11:23
  So, yeah, whenever I feel like I want to
• 11:26
  watch something and maybe, you know, it's
• 11:27
  not Netflix and you have to rent it and
• 11:30
  you're like, I don't I would rather do it
• 11:32
  for free.
• 11:32
  You go to the library, you
• 11:34
  browse a collection there.
• 11:36
  I can't even guess how many there are,
• 11:38
  but there is a very
• 11:39
  large collection of movies
• 11:41
  and DVDs up there.
• 11:43
  Anything from my classics and horror and
• 11:45
  action to your
• 11:46
  romance and your dramaties.
• 11:49
  They got everything.
• 11:50
  All right. So the the
• 11:51
  challenge is, is just everybody
• 11:53
  go out to Mandel Public Library.
• 11:55
  Absolutely.
• 11:56
  Explore. Check it out.
• 11:57
  There's so much going on there.
• 11:59
  It's just amazing.
• 12:00
  It really is.
• 12:01
  That's fantastic.
• 12:03
  I want to just thank you, Christina, to
• 12:05
  for all the time that
• 12:06
  you spent with us today.
• 12:08
  Of course.
• 12:09
  Keeping us informed.
• 12:09
  And I look forward to seeing you again
• 12:11
  another couple of months.
• 12:12
  Tell us about what's going
• 12:12
  on during the wintertime.
• 12:14
  So during the winter, it's not out yet,
• 12:16
  but there's going to
• 12:17
  be winter reading, which
• 12:19
  is very exciting.
• 12:21
  So once the theme is
• 12:22
  out, look forward to it.
• 12:25
  You can sign up for the challenge.
• 12:27
  And that's just your reading books.
• 12:29
  Simple.
• 12:29
  If you like reading, it'll be easy.
• 12:31
  And then you log your books.
• 12:32
  And every time you log a book, you'll
• 12:34
  have the opportunity to
• 12:35
  enter a raffle, enter a
• 12:37
  raffle for a prize.
• 12:39
  Wow.
• 12:39
  And there's some really cool prizes.
• 12:41
  It's really nice.
• 12:42
  Yeah.
• 12:42
  And then also it's really cool because
• 12:44
  it's through a program or a
• 12:46
  platform called Beanstack.
• 12:49
  And then you can actually
• 12:49
  see the books that you submit.
• 12:51
  And if you read a review for it, you can
• 12:53
  go back and look at
• 12:54
  the books that you read.
• 12:55
  And maybe you don't remember your review.
• 12:58
  So you go back, you read it.
• 12:59
  You're like, wow, maybe
• 13:00
  I should read it again.
• 13:03
  It's a never ending line of cool stuff
• 13:05
  going on at the Mandel Hotel.
• 13:07
  Yeah.
• 13:08
  Thank you again for all
• 13:09
  your time today, Christina.
• 13:10
  I really appreciate you coming on by.
• 13:12
  Thanks for everything you do.
• 13:13
  Thank you.
• 13:14
  And please, everyone, go to the library.
• 13:17
  And thank you for joining us.
• 13:19
  The City Center podcast is launching its
• 13:21
  second full year of video podcasts.
• 13:23
  And we've got a lot in store for 2026.
• 13:26
  So feel free to follow or subscribe to
• 13:28
  get the latest from the
• 13:29
  city of West Palm Beach.
• 13:31
  This has been a production of the City of
• 13:32
  West Palm Beach
• 13:33
  Communications Department.
• 13:35
  I'm Jerry Marcello, and
• 13:36
  we'll see you next time.