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Rob Lee: Welcome to The Truth in Art Your source for conversations exploring arts, culture, and community. These are stories that matter, and I am your host, Rob Lee. Thank you so much for joining me. Today, my guest is a dedicated leader committed to the transformative power of libraries. He's an innovator focused on modernizing and expanding the reach of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. So I want to welcome to the program the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Chad Helton. Welcome to the podcast.
Chad Helton: Thank you so much for having me.
Rob Lee: So as a part of the series for this year, I'm prioritizing sort of, you know, running it back and interviewing people who have previously been on the podcast. And you're a new person on the podcast, but I was able to years back interview your predecessor, Heidi Daniels.
So like, you know, as we're running it back, we're going forward sort of where we're at with these guys. So if you will, could you, you know, introduce yourself before we get to these larger topics, introduce yourself and share your story. What brought you to Baltimore? What brought you to the Enoch Pratt Free Library? Give us that rundown, if you will. OK.
Chad Helton: So as you all are probably aware now, my name is Chad Helton. I am originally from Mount Airy, North Carolina, which is the basis of Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show. So very, very small town. And if you remember the Andy Griffith Show, there was one black character one time that was hanging out in the gas station. So that will tell you a little bit about what it was like growing up where I grew up. My parents and my grandparents, they grew up in Jim Crow.
So they didn't really have the, they didn't really have the opportunities that were presented to myself or my brother. I started my undergraduate degree at UNC Chapel Hill and in 2000, I just decided, I'm going to quit. So I did. I dropped out in 2000. And during that time period from 2000, there was 2008, 2009, I was homeless, sleeping on couches, chronically under employed. And I didn't really have my life together, but it was a conversation that I had with my grandmother about what it was that not only I owed to myself, but I owed to all of the black people that lost their lives trying to create these opportunities for me to just squander them. So I decided then there that I wanted to make education the biggest priority of my life. So I went back to school, got my degree in African American studies. Then I went on to get my master's degree in library and information studies. My master's in public administration and I'm on leave right now, but I'm working on my doctorate in education. So education is very important to me. I feel that education is a great equalizer and that's really what's going to help lead us in the future. So I started off working in libraries, driving a golf cart, delivering books at UNC Chapel Hill.
My friend got me that job because he was hoping that it would help me get back in the school, which it did. And I just worked my way up through libraries from there, from academic libraries, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State, UC Davis, Stanford. Then I went to public libraries where I was in Palo Alto, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, director of Hennepin County, which is the Minneapolis area. And Enoch Brad. And what really drew me to Enoch Brad is my grandmother's sisters, all of them except for one, moved to Baltimore. So when I was a kid, I would come to Baltimore and the family would come down from Baltimore and I always had this connection with my family in Baltimore.
So Baltimore has been a part of my life story. Whenever this opportunity came up, this is an amazing institution. And the people like Heidi, and when you look at Dr. Carla Hayden and the people that came before me and all the amazing work that they did, and all the amazing work that the staff here does and the ideas that they have and what it means to the community and the support of the mayor and support of legislators, like everyone loves this institution. And most importantly, the people of this city love this institution. And having that support and having people really invested in the outcomes of the future of the people in this city, that's what really drew me to this organization. And I'm completely honored to be a part of it and to really help this city and help the people of this city create the future that it is that they want to see for themselves.
Rob Lee: Thank you. And that's, you know, admirable. We're going to, you know, dive into that a bit further. And, you know, as I like to say to the folks when they make my job easier, right? See, kind of like covered two other questions right there. So you make it mean look like I know what I'm doing.
Chad Helton: You know, you know what you do. You wouldn't have gotten this far if you did.
Rob Lee: This is true. Folks like, man, Rob, you're a really good interviewer. I was like, I know when to shut up sometimes. I don't know. But so I, so there are two things I want to, I'm going to kind of combine them. It's sort of the, you know, sort of the, the skill side, but also the challenge side. So leading into this, this period, right? Where you're, you're here at, you know, in Baltimore at Pratt Library. And when did you come into this role? This specific role? Yes.
Chad Helton: September 30th of 2024.
Rob Lee: So, you know, you still got, you know, the anchor's dry, right? But you still got like the plastic around, you know what I mean? Like, yeah.
Chad Helton: Yes. Yes. We've kept the plastic on the screen. That's great.
Rob Lee: So for, for you in the role that you're in, what is, what is the skill that you look at that makes you like, just feel like, aside from the, the CV, aside from the, you know, which you've, you've broken down sort of having this long track record, frankly, of education and in, you know, around and in libraries and having the tide of Baltimore as well, which I think is really important too. But what would you say is like another, you know, a trait that you have that adds to this, this background that you have that makes you like, this is going to be great. This is going to work out really well.
Chad Helton: I think that the trait that I would say is that I completely am of the understanding that I don't know everything and that I will admit that I don't know everything and I will admit and be very open about there are things that I am terrible at. And I think that that is very, very, very important to acknowledge whenever you're in a leadership role and understanding how we look at the work that we do. So what I mean by there are things that I'm terrible at. There are things that I'm completely awful at that people in this organization are amazing at and vice versa.
There are things that they are terrible at and I'm amazing at those things. And what helps is that that's how we become a cohesive unit. That's how we become a cohesive team. What I really try to explain to everyone is in an organization, no one's job is more important than anyone else's. So you look at, you look at my job and someone might say, yes, my job is more important than, you know, someone that's doing this particular job in facilities. And it's like, no, it's not.
It's just different. I have a different set of responsibilities. But if, you know, our buildings are not cleaned, if circulation staff don't show up at the circulation desk, we're in trouble. So you really have to understand that all of us play a role and that it is important to really highlight all of the amazing work that everyone does in their roles to make sure that we have a successful organization. So I think that my willingness to really admit that there are so many things that I don't know and to work within that framework, I think, has made me personally successful because I've worked with people who just at times they knew everything. And it's like, it was clear that they had no idea what they were talking about. But just the refusal of just admitting like, hey, I don't know this. Right.
You help me with it. And I think that that, I think that that's been very beneficial and also allowing people to shine within their roles. Like I have a very distinct thought about leadership and I say this often that most of my ideas around leadership I get from jazz musicians and Miles Davis in particular. So whatever Miles Davis would play, he noticed that whenever Herbie Hancock or Wayne Shorter was soloing and he was on stage, people would continue to focus on him. So he started walking off stage.
So Miles would walk off stage so that people would pay attention to the soloist and then Miles would come back on stage and he would lead everybody back to the melody. So I think it's made me very successful that I've allowed people to shine when they deserve and they need to shine because I don't need to be in everything. Like he said, you know, if you want to work with somebody who doesn't want their face all up in the videos, like that's kind of like, that's me. But I'm not a tyrant like the person who said that just put that out there. But I allow people the space to shine to excel and have the highlight on them. But as the leader, I'm the one that brings us back to what the mission is and everyone's aware of that. So that I think that that's what's really equipped me for being in the role that I'm in.
Rob Lee: That's a great insight and before I move to the second part of the question, I'll just comment. It was a game I watched last night. I was watching an NBA game.
It was OKC, right? And their best player shy with these being interviewed. They're like, man, you're an all star. You're crushing it.
You're going to be the MVP all of these different things. And he's in the interviewers like your support people and he's like, no, I'm an all star. He's like, but they're all all stars in their roles. And and that team there around him, they look at him.
It's like not even a question of him being the leader of the team, rebarring stats or anything. It's just like there's a respect and it's like, we'll fight follow you through hell for this goal. And it's something there when you acknowledge the contributions of something, you know, scoring, right? Hitting a three-pointer might be more valuable than setting a screen that sets up that three-pointer. And I think when you have the person in that sort of top visible sort of spot, acknowledging that contribution or man, he tip that ball and I got that steal.
Those things don't really show up in the stack columns. But when you can see that the leader of the team is getting all this attention or their role dictates all of this attention acknowledges that contribution, it's that's how you keep your people around. And that's how you keep everyone showing, you know, seeing that you're that that leader.
Chad Helton: And you're right. And to go with the basketball analogy, like I would always tell people all the time that, you know, the person that scores the most points isn't necessarily the leader. That's not who they look to the lead.
Like you don't have as long. He was the leader of that eating and he never got on the court his last few years on the team. So just this just to show that you can be a leader and you can contribute no matter where you are, you just have to display those qualities and you have to have that mentality of you're going to work for your team to make sure that your team is successful. Yeah, 100%.
Rob Lee: So the other side of it, you know, we recognize sort of the sort of sweet things, those those opportunities to really show out and show off, if you will. But there's always challenges and especially in the last, you know, five years, but you know, we always have have challenges.
I think as we're recording this, we're at that anniversary time for for COVID, you know, when that presented itself in 2020 and shut down a lot of things and shut down the world, frankly. So for you in your career, maybe within the last five years or so, what has been like a challenge that's been instrumental for you in your growth as a leader, your growth as a professional, your growth as a person?
Chad Helton: Going blind in my left eye for sure. I had a so that I had seven surgeries to repair a detached retina in my left eye. So I'm permanent. I'm permanently blind in my left eye. And the reason why I want to want to highlight that you what really the thing about it is, I learned a lot about the world. And I learned a lot about life. And I learned a lot about conversations that we are afraid to have.
So this is sort of taking it outside of the work room. So I have no problem saying the reason why I'm blind in my left eye. So the reason why I'm blind in my left eye is because of diabetic retinopathy. And the way that diabetes has affected our community and the fact that we don't really talk about it, we really don't have conversations about it is something that going forward in my career trying to figure out ways that in the position that I'm in, how can we start to have these difficult conversations? I did not realize that so many people in my family were diabetics.
Never talked about it. And it was sort of like there's sort of this embarrassment and there's sort of this shame that diabetes is something that you cause to yourself. But we have to understand that the Western diet that we have been fed as black Americans isn't really conducive to our health.
And it creates situations to where a large majority of us are diabetic or pre-diabetic. So what ended up happening was not to get super duper technical, but whenever you're diabetic, your eyes don't get enough oxygen and your body starts to create new blood vessels and those blood vessels rip through my retina. And I had to relearn how to walk because my depth perception was off. I was homebound for six months. I had to be face down for two months to make sure that the retina would stay in place. And just during that time period, I just kept thinking, you know, if my family and all of us had conversations about this, you know, just thinking like not only how different my life would have been, but I've had two cousins that have passed away from complications related to diabetes.
And they were in their early to mid 40s. And it's like, you know, not to get on the tangent, but it's like, you know, right now I'm in a position of information. And that is what we do.
And that is what we provide. So being that I've experienced this and I know, especially during COVID, talking about the past five years during COVID, not everybody had the most healthy habits, whatever they were stuck in their homes. And I know a lot of people's health declined being stuck in their homes and not being able to exercise and not being able to get out. So being in the position that I'm in right now as an information professional, I mean, we have programs where we have attorneys in the library and we introduce people to people in the healthcare industry.
But what are some of the things that we can do to really provide people with information and create a space where people can have conversations about something that really is killing our community?
Rob Lee: Oh, thank you. That is, I mean, it's huge and it's important. And thank you for sharing those personal details. And, you know, I relate to it in this way where as far as the information piece, you know, I'm one line, I'm one of the the Graham as it were.
And, you know, you look up one weightlifting technique or one diet question and now your feed is reset to all of this is that and I find that I have conversations like in the last year I've dropped about 100 pounds just weightlifting and changing changing diets, what have you and, you know, people throw out there and kind of getting a context, especially doing this podcast and going out and oh my gosh, Rob, you look so different. Are you okay? Are you an ozentic? All of the weird things that people will say unfettered and, you know, I find in looking for this information and being able to weep through what's real and what's not, especially being what I am and we relate on that level. I have conversations with people and like this is my view. And maybe this will work or have you. And as an information person as a person that seeks it out and as a analyst and an educator actually in the in the day job life.
I start thinking I was like, I don't want to be rolled. I want to find like information and it's so hard to find information. So taking it back to that aim as you're touching on of taking on that responsibility and that that sort of goal of where an information space and quality of information has been this varied over the last five years. And it is. So being in a spot to have that as a goal and recognizing what the community is comprised of and something that's affecting the community in that way, whether it you know just sort of health awareness and just information generally, you know, I think that that's a big thing and I think it's, it should be out there. It should be out there. So I appreciate that.
Chad Helton: Well, thank you. And you know, it should be out there and we talk about information like, you know, I, to be honest, I went to school a lot. And being that I went to school a lot. I still wasn't aware that this was even something that was happening to me because I was, you know, I had my diabetes in check. But I no one ever said anything to me about getting regular eye exams to make sure that everything was okay. I didn't know that was a thing. And I found out about it too late.
So it's like, even if you are a person that is in a position where you have a lot of information around you, if you're not aware of that information, and it doesn't really matter if the information surrounds you.
Rob Lee: I hear that's really true. And, you know, especially in weeding through the stuff and just getting it getting into the timely fashion. And, you know, I think folks have been a bit more critical of how they get their information and how they parse through it. But in this advent, and I'm speaking purely of like social media and it's sort of the importance of places that have information of libraries where, you know, this information is sort of the history and the archive of things is being kind of parsed down or bring burden to question.
That's something that's, you know, it's been around for a while, but it's definitely at the forefront where we can change information and we have to get to a spot where we're fact checking and that's kind of gone that Congress on up and down over the years. So in in segue into this sort of next question, I can speak firsthand on the power and the impact of libraries like it's a space that when I go there I go to I think the downtown branch right and have the laptop with me I feel extra productive for some reason I was like man is a place of work type type type. And even years ago, you know, earlier in my career, I had this year and a half period where I was just unemployed I was like 27 unemployed, not sure what I'm doing.
And my brother was in the same spot easy year younger than me, and he and I would go to one of the branches. And it's like we got to get our skills up. We got to figure some things out we got to do some research got to use the resources. So, and it helped both of us kind of get out of the spot where we could have just been sitting there covered in Dorito dust hanging out. You know what I mean. So, from your perspective or experience, can you speak on the just witnessing the power of libraries of places of information.
Chad Helton: You know, I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the library. It changed my life. And not only did it change my life it changed the lives of a lot of people around me. I think that what's what's so important about the library. And it's in our name. It's free. And that free can be taken in a lot of ways. It's free because you don't have to pay. It's free because you can come into this place with any idea and you can explore that idea until you can't explore it in a.
And it opens up your mind to just be able to do all of these amazing things. And we are nonpartisan. We will remain nonpartisan. You can come in here and do whatever it is that you want to do. And on top of that, we also provide all of these amazing programs.
Like I said about Lawyers in the Library, just to name one of those programs. And the way that I look at it, I look at it like, you know, we care as one. It's edutainment. Like, you have the ability to come in and entertain yourself. And you have the ability to come in and educate yourself. And that is why this library has been around for over 100 years.
Because we will always have that impact in the community because the community is the one that makes us who we are. And another thing that I talk about a lot is, so everybody knows I'm a fan of music. And that first Most Deaf solo record, when he's talking black on both sides, when he's talking about hip hop. And it's like people treat hip hop as like if it's a giant that's coming down and talking to the townspeople. And it's like, like we are hip hop.
So if we're smoked out, hip hop is going to be smoked out. It's like, I think that so many times people don't want to acknowledge that the future is our creation. It's not something that happens to us. The future doesn't happen to us. If the future happens to us, it's because we've done everything to make that future happen to us. So the people of this city and the people of this community, they have ideas about what it is that they want us to see and what it is they want us to do. And that's why we have been successful and we've been such a strong part of this community for the past hundreds of odd years.
Rob Lee: Thank you. And that makes a lot of sense. And I love the music references. This is giving me a new question to add later into the rapid fire portion. And this is connected to it. This next question, you know, library, as I said, I go down there and I, you know, try to get some work in. And I'm very efficient when I'm there. And also I've done, you know, movie screenings there. I've attended conversations there. I remember one of the last ones I went to, like Misty Copeland was there.
You know, talking about a new book and my partner's a huge Misty Copeland fan. So I got to look like I was bald on a little bit. And I didn't bald because, as you said, free. So I'm like, great. So the library has this reputation of, you know, not only being a lifeline for literacy, internet access. And I think this, this idea that I'm very curious about a third spaces, you know, of like, this is a place where people can go and connect, you know, and that's, that's important when it relates to the community. So with that in mind, like, what are some of the goals and some of the thoughts that you have on your radar, you know, as far as the library goes, like you're, you got the reins. So what do you have in mind that you could speak on at this stage? Okay.
Chad Helton: So I really want this to be the library of the people. And what I mean by that is I look back on my childhood growing up and my best friend's grandmother was the head of the NAACP. So she always had the ability to comment at the city about what was happening and what it is that the people next to her wanted to see Mount Erie do. And then I thought about it as just like, there's so many people that are not connected to her, which leaves them not connected to having a voice or say in what it is that they want to see. Because usually whenever you have community leaders, community leaders are great, but those community leaders are already connected. You know what I mean? They have those contacts.
They have those contacts. So I want to go to the people that normally don't have a space to say what it is that they want to see from us. So I've been doing these series of town halls to where I go to the town halls. And I think in the beginning, everyone expected for me to like give like a presentation.
It was like, that's kind of not what this is. I want people to talk to me. Like, what is it that you want to see us do? Because my again, like people have heard this before, but the big motivator for me with all of this is the movie glory. And I tell people all the time that if you watch the movie glory, like what's it about? And they're like, oh, yeah, it's about, you know, the all black regiment. And I'm like, well, who tells story and people pause. And I'm like, it's Matthew Broderick in letters to his family.
And I'm like, we have to stop being the movie glory. Everything that we do, it's like, if the people did not ask you for this, why are you doing it? Like, let's really talk to the people, let them tell their own story. And in telling their own story, we magnified their story, rather than us just doing something because we think it's cool. Now, are we going to do some things just because we think it's cool? Of course we are.
But the thing about it is, it's like, you know, out of out of these these meetings that I've had, it's really come up that a lot of neighborhoods want to focus on the black history of their neighborhoods. And it's like, we have the ability to do that. We have the records, we have the information, we have the art.
All right, let's do it. You know, we have things like the free market. People express that. So we brought that to them. So it's just like, I think that that's what's really, really important to me is just really making sure that we have this library for the people. Because that at the end of the day, that's who every single one of us works for.
Rob Lee: Yeah, it's great to hear that because I'm at this vantage point where I have my personal biases, and maybe that dictates like, kind of who I might reach out to, but I'm an independent, you know, do my own thing. And, you know, I kind of go with what makes sense and what makes sense for the most people and what supports the most people. And I keep coming back to, especially with the season of interviews, community, community, community. So it's really great to hear that, hey, we're, you know, taking an account what folks are saying, we want to do rough stuff as well. But what are folks saying? What do they value about this place?
And I say it all the time, people don't get it, you know, that if your entity, whether it's your business, whether it's your organization, whether it's your school, if you don't have people that you're trying to do the work for showing up, then it doesn't need to exist. And even as this podcast started to grow, and thinking of why it started, you know, it was, we're back to it right now, as far as this current, like, regime. And, you know, in some of the responses and just the sentiment and how people are talking to each other.
I just remember a lot of negative talk and a continued negative talk about Baltimore. And I was like, I think we can speak for ourselves. Why are you trying to, you know, if this place is so bad, why are you guys always got our names in your mouth? Like, what are you saying? And I was just like, let's, let's have interviews with people. And it's not for goal of let's do an art conversation. Let's do this.
Let's do that. I'm not an art history guy. I'm a culture guy. And I try to have conversations with people that drive that sort of the thinking and the insights in their work, but also sort of how is it connected to community? And that's really what it is, but trying to let the person speak for themselves. And we find a truth somewhere in there. So that's, that's the intent.
So it's great to hear that, you know, it's getting that feedback from the community. So I got one last real question and a few rapid fire questions as we, you know, get towards the closeout portion here. And this next question is this last question kind of connects to what you were just touching on, but I want to be a little bit more pointed with it. So, you know, there's a quote that I'm seeing from, from the Afro back in 2024, have you, that there are not a lot of black men that do this work. And this is, you know, a very interesting thing.
And I relate to it as well. I've heard the, you don't look like a podcaster. I was like, I didn't think of a look. I guess it's the height. I don't know that. And this quote that I'm crediting to you is, is, was said shortly after becoming the CEO of the Pratt Library. So given that Baltimore's predominantly black, we see people that look like us all the time, right? Could you expand on your, your thoughts about sort of the responsibility of being a black man in this position and sort of running the library or being credited for running the library. And that way I know it's a lot of moving parts, obviously, but being the CEO and president, you know, as a black man in a black city and sort of, you know, your thoughts or be sort of any responsibility or impact or considerations that you have regarding that relationship. Huge responsibility.
Chad Helton: And, you make that question. So throughout my career, I have been part of the cleaning crew. I've been an undergraduate student. I have been the security guard. What else have I been?
I've been the delivery driver. And not that those are bad things, but it's like, I was actually running either the department or the particular organization. And it's like, huh, okay.
I walk in and I'm not dressed the way that I should be dressed. You name it. You name it. I've heard it. I've heard that I wasn't articulate.
I wasn't polished. And I just sit back and think like, I think that one thing that people don't understand is what my friend Lynn would always used to say. It's not like somebody came to my door one day and said, Hey, you want this job? It's like, nah, that's not how this works.
If you see someone black that is in a position, the amount of work that they had to do to get there is incredible. And to be referred to as not that is problematic for me. And you know, and this is one of the things like, I don't want to upset people in saying this, but this is something that somebody said to me a long time ago. And I think it's very important that everybody knows this. The black American, you are in a place that rules were designed for you to not learn how to read.
Rules were designed to where the Constitution had to be amended for you to even be three-fifths of a and now look at where you are. Right. So you have to know that if you are black American in this country, you are already a superhero. And you're succeeding.
And I just want everybody listening to this to know that like never lose sight of who you are, never lose sight of what everybody before you did to get you to where you were at, and never lose sight of what you did to be where you're at. So I don't know if that answers the question. I might have got on a tangent.
No, no, no, no, that's that. But it's just really funny. Like I will see people and we have a lot of great black library directors in Maryland. It's really funny. The person who is the interim here, she's now a director, Baltimore County director, Prince George's County director. And there are a few other people that I apologize for feeling the mist of missing them.
But it's like non black directors. Not. I was in California, there was one. We're talking about California, which is a much larger state.
Right. But you have to look at what Baltimore is and what Maryland is. You know, I go into a room and like you said, most of the leadership is black. And it's like, Oh, like I'm like even I am not accustomed to seeing it. And it's like, well, even as a black, like even as a black man, this is new for me.
Right. And I think that the responsibility that we have, and I think that I can speak for all of the black directors that I know in Maryland, the responsibility that we have, we understand that and we work together and we support each other. And we are trying to create these new ways to get people in the field. Because I think when I was the director in Hennepin, I think at that time, there might have been 15 black men in the United States, there were library directors, 15. And it was really funny. I knew 10 of them. And unless you are in a very, very, very specialized field, you shouldn't know everybody that looks like you that does what you do. Right.
And that was kind of the case. So I'm trying to create pathways for people of color to be introduced into the field of librarianship and to really understand that people look to me and people look to my counterparts for what we do and what we don't do. Right. And what we say, if I said things that upset people in this podcast, you know, then I said things to upset people. But the thing about it is, this is the reality that so many people wake up to and they don't talk about it.
Rob Lee: Wow. That's a great place for us to close out on really good insights and perspectives. And if there is some flex, just tell them I said it. Just use AI and just a little mason Berger there from Hannibal. Tell them I'm wrong.
Chad Helton: I don't think people would be too upset about what I'm saying. But it's the truth. I mean, it is the truth. Like as a black person in this country, it's hard. It is hard. And I just, I don't like seeing that we get reduced to these things. It's not acknowledging the fact that, oh, they have a PhD or, you know, it just gets old. And then, you know, what does it, doesn't matter what position you're in. Like the people that work here do amazing work in all the positions that they're in and everybody that got here, they earned it. And let's acknowledge that.
Rob Lee: So I got three quick rapid fire questions for you that I just want to rock with you real quick and then we'll close out. So we had a nice conversation a couple of weeks ago when I was at OnAirfest and, you know, I noticed you're a movie guy. So what is your favorite genre of movie?
Like expectation films. You get it. This is another thing. This is the second one. It's a fan of music.
You know, that's come up a couple of times in the pod. What was the first record you owned? Lotto Richie Can't Slow Down. Two for two right there. It's not much thinking. It's just like, right to it. I love it.
Now, this is the last one. And part of this, you know, came up, drew out just peppered in the conversation. You've made a career and had multiple stops in various areas that have certain food identities. Like obviously, you're in, you know, North Carolina, North Kalkalaka, some might say. It's barbecue is the thing, right? And Minnesota hot dish is the thing. I researched that. I've never been to Minnesota.
Chad Helton: Man, I'd never had hot dish. Like there's, I will, I will put a plug out. There's a place there is called Revival. Incredible. There's one in Minneapolis. There's one in St. Paul. It's like it's like a Nashville hot chicken place that actually is as good as Prince's. Okay. Who invented hot chicken. It was not had he be the Prince family or the ones who invented hot chicken. Look it up. But that's a whole other thing.
Rob Lee: So I am going to look that up. So the last, last sort of pardon, these stops also see, you know, LA, you know, tacos, right? Known for tacos, right? So, so far here, you know, Baltimore has its food identity. I think we don't get a lot of credit for our food identity. What is your go to like Baltimore, like quintessential food?
Chad Helton: I was told that if I'm ever asked this question, the greatest thing that I've ever had, and you hear the dead band is the greatest thing I've ever had in Baltimore is the crab cakes. The crab cakes in Maryland are the greatest crab cakes I've ever had in my life. They're amazing. They changed my life. I'm reading that also from my script.
Rob Lee: As you should, as you should, we have good crab cakes here. I make really good crab cakes. I'll put you on. I don't know if you, it's the worst when I've interviewed a few people who will say, hey, I'm allergic to crustaceans. I was like, ooh, I
Chad Helton: will say this, Atkins, the original Atkins, the turkey club is the point.
Rob Lee: See, I like a real answer.
Chad Helton: I like a real answer. Yeah, the turkey club is the point. I am a turkey club fanatic. One of my favorite places in LA is a place called Langers, and they have this amazing turkey club. I was trying to find a good turkey club.
There was a member of the board here who was telling me that I needed to go to Atkins, and it's kind of looked at him. He was like, no, this place is really good. This isn't one of the places that people say is good.
It is not good. I said, this place is good. I'm like, yeah, yeah, there's a peanut shop that's right near the library. So I go there and get my peanuts. So between Atkins and the peanut shop,
Rob Lee: I think I know that peanut shop. I will say one day,
Chad Helton: I got two pounds of peanuts, and two days later they were gone. And the lady that worked at the shop is just like, how did you eat two pounds of peanuts in a day? I was like mindlessly. I think the other peanuts.
Rob Lee: That's me with pistachios, and I have to give the degree of difficulty. So I make sure I get the unfalted and what is it, the shell pistachios. So I can't just sit there, Garfield style, just throw them down my gullet. It's just like, I got to crack these.
Chad Helton: It takes time and effort.
Rob Lee: So we've gone into the realm of legumes and nuts. So let me close out here. There are two things I want to do as we close out. One, I want to thank you so much for spending some time and coming on and chatting on this podcast. Two, I want to invite and encourage you to share with the listeners any final thoughts, websites, social media, any of those things that you want to share for the listeners as we close out. The floor is yours.
Chad Helton: Thank you so much. Go to PrattLibrary.org. See some of the amazing things that we're doing. Be on the lookout for some of the amazing things that we're going to do in the future and come visit us and give a shout out to our staff.
Incredible they are. We would not be who we are if it wasn't for the staff, and we would not be who we are if it wasn't for the support of the people in this community. So thank you all so much and we hope to make you proud.
Rob Lee: And there you have it folks. I want to again thank the president and CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Chad Helton, for coming on to the podcast and sharing a bit of his story and giving us some insights. And for Chad Helton, I am Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture, and community in and around your neck of the woods. You just have to look for it.
