Tune in to the first episode of our new podcast!

If you’re one of the 80 million-plus regular podcast listeners in the United States—or just curious about the exciting things your neighbors are up to—you’ll want to keep an ear out for Renewed, Johnstown’s newest audio offering. Produced by the staff at Cambria County Library, the Renewed podcast spotlights the local people empowering, entertaining, and educating us in different, often surprising ways.

“We’re in the midst of a lot of exciting new changes in our community, especially downtown, fueled by the amazing folks who live and work here,” said Ashley Flynn, Executive Director at the Library. “Calling the podcast ‘Renewed’ honors those positive changes, and also refers to the idea of renewing your Library loans, so we love the double meaning there.”

So what does podcasting have to do with Libraries, anyway? Much more than you might think. “Promoting books and reading is a big part of what we do, of course, but in the twenty-first century, libraries connect people to meaningful information in so many different ways,” Flynn explained. “By using the technology available to us, the podcast medium is a fantastic way to do that, and people can listen from anywhere.”

At about fifteen minutes per episode, Renewed delivers casual, bite-sized conversations with guests who will inspire listeners to take advantage of what our community has to offer, said show hosts Ryan Stacy and Jen Greene, who work in the Library’s Reference Department. Eventually, the Library also plans to offer free workshops to the public on creating podcasts, Stacy added.

Our first episode launched on March 11, and new episodes will be posted every other Monday on popular listening platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.