February Director's Dish
Despite yesterday’s news that we still have another six weeks of winter to endure, I’ll resolve to remain as positive as possible during the duration. Extra sunshine and returning greenery aren’t really that far away, and the delay of yardwork will afford more time to indulge in all that the library has to offer, right?
Accepting the above and explaining what follows below, I’m approaching the month of February, both personally and professionally, as a way to put into practice the habit of trying new things, of pushing myself beyond my typical, usual comfort zone. You could even call this a belated New Year’s resolution. Regardless of the label, though, my attempt, each day this month, will be to actively seek something out that I don’t normally do. And to place this in the context of the library, I might use the following as some examples.
In the past two days, I’ve done the following: started reading a science fiction novel, watched a classic Anime movie, visited a new-to-me coffee shop, connected with a local organization with which I’m unfamiliar, and cold-called two library colleagues to seek professional advice. On the surface, I wouldn’t think anything of saying or feeling that none of these actions are momentous or game-changing. However, I’d be remiss to dismiss them as the usual fare: they’re not. They’re active ways, albeit for just the past two days, of changing tried-but-tired patterns.
So while I hope you’ve noticed that my attempts to establish new habits are in the grand scheme of things relatively small and subtle, perhaps this could serve as humble encouragement to, during your visits, during your patronage, of Ida Rupp to seek something out new during the month of February. There are many sections of the library (physical and virtual) that unfortunately don’t receive as much attention and notice as they could or should, a few being our large non-fiction section and magazines. Likewise, if you’ve never perused our extensive digital collection like Hoopla, Overdrive, and Zinio (and further attempted to check out a digital copy of a title you’d like to, say, read), why wait? Help is literally just a phone call or in-person interaction away. You may be pleasantly surprised that reading on a Kindle or other mobile device, for instance, may be more appealing and enriching than what you assumed.
As always, thank you for reading and for considering adopting February, or perhaps every month, as an opportunity to try different and new. Best wishes in your daily pursuits of variety!
Sincerely – Tim
Tim Hagen, Director
