Ways to Celebrate Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week will be from September 29-October 6, 2007. Are you celebrating your freedom to read? How?

AP Poll: 1 in 4 Read No Books in Past Year!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070822/ap_on_re_us/reading_habits_ap_poll_6

Here's the link to the AP story from Yahoo! News. Can this be true? Sad to say, but I can believe it. While I find myself in a panic if I'm not reading at least one book at all times (and numerous magazines, too), I know many Americans don't feel the same way I do. I must have 50 or more books at home (mostly paperbacks that I've bought at FOL sales, yard sales or the Book Exchange) just waiting for me to find the time to read them. It brings me comfort to know that I'll always have a selection of books nearby to browse when I'm finished with one.

It's no wonder I love working at the library! Books, books, everywhere!

The AP Poll consisted of telephone interviews with 1,003 adults and has a margin of sampling error of + or - 3 % points.

From the AP Poll article:

"People from the West and Midwest are more likely to have read at least one book in the past year. Southerners who do read, however, tend to read more books, mostly religious books and romance novels, than people from other regions. Whites read more than blacks and Hispanics, and those who said they never attend religious services read nearly twice as many as those who attend frequently."

Quest 4: RSS and Newsreaders

Even though I have attended the SCSL Tech Tracks program which included RSS and newsreaders, I was hesitant to take Quest 4 on. I set up a Bloglines account during the SCSL training and then returned to it only on about two occasions over the past several months. I was surprised Bloglines had not forgotten me, but this demonstrates what I find hard about newsreaders--finding the time to check them on a regular basis. I really like the idea of being able to subscribe to feeds and then loging in to Bloglines to see them all in one convenient place, but I just can't seem to find the time to check them. As of today, I'm subscribing to 16 feeds. My hope is to get into a routine of checking my Bloglines account each day and keeping informed. I've got my fingers crossed. Wish me luck!

By subscribing to library-related or professional feeds, I can try to keep on top of what's happening in the world of libraries and librarians. When I find time for a hobby, I can look for related feeds--I already subscribe to a few "fun" ones--Joke of the Day and New Urban Legends. I've made my Bloglines account public and here's the URL if you want to check out what I've subscribed to so far: http://www.bloglines.com/public/BookLoverLady

Back to School

I'm already learning from other CCPL blogs...saw someone recommend http://www.imagechef.com/ on a Tech Trek 2.0 blog and I was able to quickly personalize the animation above--AWESOME! I'm definitely going to play some more at this site!

Quest 3: I'M IMing

I started Instant Messaging earlier this year after attending the State Library's workshop in the TLC and fell in love with Meebo.com. My friends outside the library do not IM. I have a few close friends who live "long distance" from me and I would love to get them all on meebo to IM. I'm a fair typist, so I don't become too frustrated trying to keep an IM conversation going, but I do see where it could become an issue for the inexperienced or non-typist.
I find it easy to talk with one or two people via IM, but groups of more than a few people can get tricky. It easy to "talk over" someone else and several conversations to be going on at once between different group members.
Regardless of these difficulties, I still find IM fun and so much better than waiting for an email reply!

Quest 2: To Blog or Not to Blog...that is the ?

I wasn't sure that I would like blogging at first. I tend to keep my inner most thoughts to myself--I've never kept a diary. So "opening up" in an open medium like a blog is new to me. I find it kind of exciting but also somewhat scary! I don't expect I'll disclose my deep, dark secrets here, but I might just throw out an opinion or thought...or two!
I recently went to Beaufort, SC to visit some close friends and to see the Beaufort Big Swim. The Big Swim is 31 mermaids scattered around the town and decorated in a wide variety of ways. If you want to learn more, check out this website: http://www.beaufortcountyarts.com/mermaidsplash.html
Here's one of my favorite mermaids, Miss LaTina Princess of Tides:

She is holding a mirror and looking at herself--This mermaid is covered in mirrors and cool blue tiles.

Quest 1: I've Blasted Off with Tech Trek 2.0!

Well, I've just finished Quest 1 and watched the 7 1/2 habits of highly successful lifelong learners. I am a believer in lifelong learning...which is obvious to anyone who knows me. I went to Graduate School almost 20 years after completing my Bachelor's degree! I love to learn new things.

The hardest of the 7 1/2 habits for me is Habit 3: View Problems as Challenges. I don't always see problems as learning opportunities. It's more normal for me to see problems as obstacles--at least at first. After the initial panic subsides and I can think more clearly, I can see the challenges in the problems.

The easiest of the 7 1/2 habits for me is Habit 7 1/2! PLAY! But finding time to play is sometimes a problem...or do I mean a challenge?! Habit 4: Have Confidence in Yourself as a Competent, Effective Learner is also fairly easy for me. I was a good student and enjoyed learning from a young age.

I'm really excited about learning more fun skills during Tech Trek 2.0!