Wrapping Up the Year with Miss Sherry “Let’s Find Joy”

You may recognize some of the faces in the above picture.  This time of year it is so fun to reflect on the past.  What did your holiday look like?  What memories from this Christmas season are you taking to the future?  Did you start something that you would like to make a tradition?  What were your favorite holiday books this season?

For us at the Library we wrap up not only our calendar year, but the reports for our fiscal which closed out in September. 2021-2022 was the highest attendance we have ever seen at the Library.  Increased attendance comes from the growth of our programs.  In 2021-2022 we received around $80,000 to assist in programming expenses.  That money was brought in to our Donnelly community to pay for staffing, programming resources, additional materials, wifi services, healthy snacks, and so much more. We bought microscopes, ipads, shelving, and a playground. Some of our additional funding this past year came from ARPA funds with the  Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho Out-Of-School Network, and Idaho Commission For Libraries. We also had scholarships and books funded by our very own Friends of The Donnelly Library.

Some of our greatest donations this past year came from our Friends group and the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation to jump start our Building Project.  We received $50,000 from the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation to pay for planning of our Building Project and many of the begining steps.  Building is our #1 goal for 2023.    Many people choose a word for the year.  A resolution word or a focus word.  My word for 2023 is EXPANSION.  I want to see the Library expand.  Not just our building, but in our services we offer as well.

If you are wanting to do some year-end giving and need to have it dated by the end of 2022, no worries you can VENMO your donation.

What was the most checked out book in 2022?  Circulation was not what you would anticipate at all.  Our Apple iPads were our most circulated item in 2022.  The top 10 items are a slew of “things.”  Just that tops the list, “things.”  We have become a Library of Things.  American Girl dolls, Airpods, Oculus, Wifi Hotspots, KReady learning tools and so much more.  We circulated books as well in 2022, but our Library Of Things tops the list.

Top books are 5 Little Pumpkins, Star Wars and Unbroken.  Unbroken is a biography of World War II hero Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in the Pacific theater, spent 47 days at sea, and then survived torture beyond words.  It is a story of survival, triumph and so much more.  We have several copies available because it is part of our Book Club In A Bag.  You can come in and check out the entire bag.  Inside the bag is a minimum of 5 copies of the book, a study guide, possibly the movie and maybe a recipe or two.

Our librarians have not had a whole lot of time to read this year, but we did get some reading in.  Sarah shares her reviews on our website. Director’s Corner. 

Summer Reading our big reading accomplishment was reading the unabridged version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.  It was huge! DRC (Dragon Readers’ Club) has read several Roald Dahl books this year including Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, James And The Giant Peach and The Witches.

A few years ago a patron challenged me to keep track of everything I read for the year.  I set out to document everything on GoodReads. I set out to do so.

2018 Reading Challenge

You read 31 of 50 books.

62%

I was pretty proud of myself. Then my friend who challenged me said, you read more than 31 books.  I said well of course, but I do not add them all.

  So, in 2019 I tried to record it all.

2019 Reading Challenge

Congrats! You read 266 books of your goal of 200!

133%

Then there was quarantine and well we all know what happened then.  I did nothing but read.

2020 Reading Challenge

Congrats! You read 466 books of your goal of 365!

128%

That is when I set my goal though to 365 Books in a year.  I read a number of children’s books and so 365 is certainly attainable.  2021 though I only accomplished 52% of my goal.  Part of that was I did not document every kids book I read, etc…

2021 Reading Challenge

You read 191 of 365 books.

52%

2022… That 365 goal is going to be met.  I have until tomorrow at midnight right?

What does my year in books look like?  Well, here is a glance.

My first book in 2022 was Catching Christmas.  A quick little read by Terri Blackstock.  It was on my Libby holds list during Christmas and popped up right after.

My average book length in 2022 was 71 pages.  That is because I read some short books, I also read some really really really long ones.  The Real Anthony Fauci was 934 pages, but felt like 9 thousand 3hundred and maybe 4 million more. 🙂 (Insert smiley emoji) My most shelved book in 2022 was Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  We recently, visited Virginia City, Nevada and the kids learned about Mark Twain and wanted to embark on a reading journey.  My advice as your librarian is if you have a struggling reader DO NOT READ the unabridged version of Tom Sawyer.  Did this crazy librarian just add DO NOT READ as part of her blog????  This crazy librarian will also tell you that if your child is wanting to read something then read it with them.  If you have concerns over a book, conquer it together.  Take on those big challenges from vocabulary to social justice to puberty together.  Grab that book of interest and conquer it together.  Those tough parts are better when the parent is reading along.  Trusted adult readers are important.  Words like the N word in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer make my whole being shake, but as a parent I can also take the moment and engage with my child and my bonuses about what that word means.  The history of that word and why it is used in this story.  I can also praise our ancestors and talk about racism as a whole against not only African-Americans, but indigenous people as well. Seize those opportunities in hopes of bringing more love and less hate.  Condemn the hatred.  If you are not reading with your child that discussion cannot take place.  Read with your children. Also, let your children witness you reading.  Let them see you read.  Let them also see you challenged and pushing for greatness. Let them also see you reading books about diversity. Conquer the fight together.

 My average was 4.5 stars this year.  That being said I did not read a whole lot of books that I didn’t like.  My highest rated book on Goodreads was Let’s Find Joy.  I think that can sum up my year in books.  Let’s Find Joy.   I hope you can reflect back on your reading experience in 2022 and find joy.  As I look towards 2023, I have already started looking for joy.  My word of the year Expansion has a follow up word, JOY.   Find joy in reading and share that with the children around you.  My wish for all of us in 2023 is that we may find joy.

     

Hold up 97%… I need to stop writing and start reading.