Hello, everyone.
My name is James Tyner. I am a librarian
with Fresno County Public Library.
I'm a published poet, and I'm also
a graduate of the MFA program,
all the way back in 2009.
So, Jefferson reached out to me to see
if I would do a video of
my workspace and my writing space, and
I thought that was an awesome idea.
So for me-- mine's going to be a little
bit different. It's not exactly my home.
I'm going to show you my work desk.
And the reason why is,
I do, do a lot of writing on my
work breaks and on my lunch. And then also,
so much of what I do as a librarian
is tied into writing. You know, not only
because I work with books, but a lot of
the programs that I do,
such as free workshops for the public,
book reviews, all that good stuff.
So, I think you're going to see a couple
secrets around the desk.
So, definitely keep your eyes peeled.
There might be some books of poetry out here,
so see if you recognize anybody.
But yeah, so this is my workspace.
Let me-- 
give you a view here. This is my desk.
A lot of the writing I do takes place
here. But let's start on this end.
So, I always have books coming in, people
donating books, giving me books.
And these are just a few I'm going through
right now. There are some books
of poetry in there.
This here-- all that scribble there
on the paper is actually the
programs that I'm working in-- working on
for the fall, including free poetry workshops
for the public. So much of what--
I love, being a librarian and being able to--
make things free, make things
accessible.
I mean, so much of what a library is--
we're not just warehouse
for books anymore. We're about
access, connecting people, getting them
what they need.
And what better way to connect people
than through writing and through poetry.
It's such an honor to be able to do that,
and to go out to these small communities
in Fresno County and be able
to share writers. To go to Fowler
and talk about Juan Felipe Herrera,
and other things like that. It's just--
it's a lot of fun to be able to do that.
So yeah, let's go a little bit further.
So-- I'm a big video game nerd,
so I always have some sort of
video game materials around.
I love movies and all that stuff.
And then, this is a stack of books
I'm working with right now.
I'm doing a video series on horror book reviews,
so these are all ones I'm going through.
And then, I'm going to do something
similar with poetry.
So, see if you recognize any--
books of poetry here.
All right. Back here is a little award
I was given for a program we did
for Sherley Anne Williams. It's just
beautiful-- made by a local artist.
One of my favorite poets-- one of my
favorite poems-- "Slaughterhouse Dream,"
by Burlee Vang, signed by him.
And I have that-- just keep that around
as inspiration.
Some other books that I'm working with.
This is a wall that I keep--
not only for my calendar, but I keep it
as inspiration.
Some different newspaper articles that
have me in there, and stuff like that.
And I don't know if you can see,
a little poster down here with some poets
you might recognize. I see a few people there.
So yeah, this is-- that's my desk. I'm at the
Betty Rodriguez Regional Library in Fresno,
on Cedar and Shields. I-- my job
is to make programs
and things like that, of all kinds of fun stuff
coming out for--
pretty soon, including free poetry workshops,
are going to be on Wednesdays,
once a month. So yeah, definitely keep an
eye out for that.
If anybody's ever interested in becoming
a librarian and want to know more about it,
and how you can use writing,
use your MFA degree, here at the library,
please shoot me an email.
I think it's a-- it's a great job for writers.
A lot of opportunities for us to practice
our writing in other ways, to help
build community and all that good stuff.
So, I'm always down to talk about that.
But, thanks for having me.
