While working a summer job, BYU public relations major Hannah Ahlander discovered she really enjoyed podcasts. When Ahlander returned to school in the fall, she asked her supervisors at BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library why they didn’t have a podcast. Their anwer? Go make one.

Ahlander started looking at all of the possible options in the library for podcast episodes.

“There were a lot of different topics in the library I wanted to showcase, and there is so much diversity here that I wanted to get behind the scenes of things since students mostly know about checking out books and the media center,”Ahlander said.

As she searched for the right tools to produce a podcast, she found the process was simpler than she had previously envisioned.

“You just need a microphone and some software to record things,” said Ahlander. And she didn’t have to go far to find those resources. “I checked out a microphone from the library every time I needed to record something and I downloaded software from the internet.”

For her first episode, Ahlander went about as far behind the scenes as you can goat the BYU Library — The L. Tom Perry Special Collections. Her first interview features Special Collections curator Dainan Skeem who works with 21st century Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint materials and Western manuscripts.

All the materials Skeem collects are housed behind locked doors in the stacks and vaults of the Special Collections department. Because of his focus on 21st century history, Skeem spends a lot of time “keeping an eye out for people who are making a name for themselves,” whether that be an author, artist, politician or even a movie producer.

And once he finds someone, Skeem has to evaluate whether that person’s work will be sought out by future scholars.

Ahlander gave listeners another peek behind the scenes with library cataloger Kierste Christensen. Catalogers are key players in keeping the shelves organized. Christensen works to make sure every item in the library has a searchable record including author, title, subject and keywords.

After compiling all of her work into a fluid podcast, the only thing left to do was give it a name. Ahlander christened the new podcast, “Hey Harold!” citing the long tradition of BYU students referring to the library building as “Harold.”

Often, students planning a weekend of homework will refer to their study time as “a date with Harold.”

“Hey Harold!” is available on most podcast streaming services including Apple, Google Play, Soundcloud and Spotify.