The Harvard Business Review just put up an interesting post about how readers tend to be more successful as leaders. In addition to just being fun, and reducing stress, readers generally have higher verbal and emotional intelligence, more skills in organizational management, and increased abstract reasoning skills. And here I thought I was just kicking back with a good book.
Reading and Relaxing
Here’s a great idea for promoting library love this year! Heidi Has a Hobby photographed the fabulous image below, which a co-worker created.
Love Your Library, indeed!
Posted in Fun
We’re already four days into 2013, and most everyone should be back on the floor or at their desks. You’ll probably see an upswing on circulation of diet and exercise books, but librarian Joy Weese Moll, a contributor to The Huffington Post, distills three crucial bits of advice gleaned from books for making those resolution dreams come true.
This site has been around for a while, so you may have heard of it already. ReadingGroupGuides is helpful, because not only does it list discussion questions for thousands of popular book club titles, but it also has a list of what is the most popular, and how to get a book club going.
In addition, it also offers some opportunity for interaction, with polling questions, and becoming a formally registered book club. Authors, librarians and booksellers are interviewed as well, and there are giveaways and opportunities to win books.
So, the next time a patron asks you what their club should read, you can wow them by giving them a title, and a list of discussion questions to go with it!
If you’ve ever helped a new computer user, or taught a class as part of your library’s services, you should relate to this hilarious video. Unless you speak Norwegian, make sure you have your reading glasses on. The subtitles are pretty small. View it here.
Yalsa has released its top ten nominations for teen reads. Check it out here!
The news is going crazy over these new lending libraries that are sweeping, if not the nation, then rural areas. Check out the video of one of the cutest little libraries to ever exist here.
The Little Library below though is from Faribault, Minnesota, where it is amenably managed by retirees filling in the book availability gap between monthly bookmobile visits.
If you are interested in having a little fun professional reading, you might want to check out some blogs from folks in the profession. Here’s a link to 25 different offerings. My personal favorite is #16, A Librarian’s Guide to Etiquette. It shouldn’t be taken as any kind of career advice, however.
Congratulations to our very own Luis Herrera, of SFPL, who has been awarded Librarian of the Year by Library Journal! Read the story here.
Luis Herrera
Take advantage of having a special month dedicated to creating a love of libraries (aside from also being the month for romance and presidents) and create a display to draw your patrons in. Send us the photos, and we can share them! 
Posted in Fun