Summer Reading Program -Not Just for Kids!

Me! The girl in the pig tails receiving her cherished award, 1975.

Many of us remember eagerly joining the summer reading program at our local library when we were kids. Each summer vacation during elementary school, my cousin and I would sign up at the North Babylon Public Library, New York and get a bookmark and a themed page – a jungle or a castle, for example – with a reading log on the back. Each time we’d read a book, the librarian would give us a lion or giraffe sticker, or a princess, knight, or dragon to decorate our page.

Of course, the more books you read, the closer you came to finishing the colorful picture.


At the end of the program, the library hosted a ceremony for the kids and parents, and we’d go up on stage, shake hands with the librarian, and receive a ribbon and a certificate of completion. A photographer took our photos, as if we were Hollywood stars. And, you know? We were stars! We read all those wonderful stories and learned about different people, places, and things! What a great achievement it was to read all those books!

My cousin Neil, front row, center.

The joy of immersing myself in a good book didn’t fade when I reached adulthood – and not just because I’m a librarian. Many of us read for pleasure or edification on a regular basis, as we can see by the many patrons who come to our libraries each day to check out books or to attend our book discussions. It is because of our patrons, who asked for more book-related events during the summertime, that we started a summer reading program for adults.

Since summer is a busy time, instead of offering a formal book discussion series – which requires a lot of time and commitment – we decided to provide a summer reading program modeled after the children’s perennial favorite at my library, the Palm Beach County Library System. We learned that other libraries around the country were having success in engaging adults in this self-paced reading activity. By using the same theme as the state’s Florida Library Youth Program, we teamed up with our Youth Services Department to produce programs that appealed to all ages of the community. Now adults, as well as children and teens, can participate in a fun reading program like the one my library sponsors. Please visit your local library for more information or see the full story at http://www.pbclibrary.org/story-srp-2011.html

Namaste.

Walking in Circles

Some days all I feel like I have been doing is walking in circles: in tackling my daily chores at home, my assignments at work, my plans for the future, my path in life. I even walk in circles when it comes to writing. My blog is an obvious example, having not written an entry in months. Same goes for my print journal. Yet, it's not that I haven't written at all: I've tweeted (Follow me on Twitter @literarylattes), I've updated my status on Facebook, I've met my deadlines for my Library Journal book reviews, and I'm writing publicity for the events we are planning at my library. I've even achieved a major writing goal: I'm getting a chapter published in a forthcoming book (one with "real" editors and a reputable publisher, too). Stay "tuned" for more exciting details!

For the past few months, though, one area of my life in which I am trying to not walk in circles is my quest for the elusive "Ideal Body Weight." (See "Healthy Weight Chart"). One of the tools I'm using on my journey is, in fact, writing. I'm keeping a Food Journal to track my thoughts, feelings, what I eat and drink each day, and how much physical activity I do. It's hard work, this journal. It's time-consuming, it's emotional, it's eye-opening, but ultimately, it's a writing-related activity that is very much worth my time, my facing my emotions, my achieving awareness of how I treat and care for my body.

We are starting a 12-week health challenge at work, so I've joined up for extra motivation. I am growing my circle of support among my friends and co-workers, one of whom has started her own weight-loss blog (See Yvette Morales' inspirational Seriously Seeking Skinny).

I'm even finding snippets of humor to help me "get over myself" and just enjoy my journey:

"Of course, this is what writers do when they're not writing, they walk in circles around food an decide whether or not to eat, as if taking a bite will somehow make a bit of dialogue work or help create a missing scene (it never does). This is why the Weight Watchers meetings at Fourteenth Street and Ninth Avenue are packed with women writers, including Kit, who has reached her goal weight twice in the last year. Eating and writing are the husband and wife of creativity." --from the delightful novel Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani.

The best advice I can share from all this is to just stop walking in circles. You never know what you may achieve if you don't.

Namaste.