Friends
of the Reston Regional Library are proud to announce proceeds from
Charly’s Attic Mini-Sale July 19-21 of just over $2,500! Thanks for volunteering and buying to benefit
your library! Children and Teen Used
Book Sale coming up August 22-25. Fall
Book Sale September 25-29! Donate books
now, then volunteer and buy at the sales!
So
how are the lazy hazy crazy days of summer treating you so
far?? Once school and many meetings have
a summer hiatus, we often pick up something to read that we couldn’t fit in
during busy regular time… Whether it’s a
beach read or a mountain hammock retreat, enjoy those guilty summer pleasures!
Goodreads.com
website gives us a few interesting stats below gleaned from readers.
First, the top five most abandoned classics (Couldn’t get
into them? Hated them for whatever
reason) are:
1. Catch-22,
Joseph Heller
2. Lord
of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Ulysses,
James Joyce
4. Moby-Dick,
Herman Melville
5. Atlas
Shrugged, Ayn Rand
How long does it take you to decide continuing a book is a
bad idea?
Fewer than 50 pages – 15.8%
50-100 pages – 27.9%
100 pages – 7.6%
100+ pages – 10.6%
I always finish, no matter what –
38.1%
Top Five Most Abandoned Books
1. J.K.
Rowling’s Casual
Vacancy (a far cry from the Harry Potter series)
2. Fifty
Shades of Grey, E. L. James (not for everyone)
3. Elizabeth
Gilbert’s Eat
Pray Love (heroine seems whiny and self-obsessed)
4. The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (slow beginning and
hard to wait for something to make me care)
5. Wicked,
by Gregory Maguire (only started because I saw the Broadway show)
Maybe
you are a list maker! How
does your list of things to accomplish this summer stack up against the time
remaining? Uh oh… Go ahead and schedule those household
repairs, but while you’re waiting for parts or workers, grab a book to keep you
company! Feel daring? How about picking up a Banned Book for the
summer’s read?
Commonly banned classics include The Great Gatsby,
by F. Scott Fitzgerald; J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye;
John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and Of
Mice and Men; Harper Lee’s To
Kill a Mockingbird; Alice Walker’s The Color Purple;
Ulysses;
Catch-22; (see both as abandoned above!); Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita;
and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
The
Pew Internet & American Life Project’s June report indicates
libraries are very important to both young and old! Here are some highlights, especially young
Americans’ library habits and expectations--—
Americans ages 16-29 are heavy technology users,
including using computers and internet at libraries. At the same time, most
still read and borrow printed books, and value a mix of traditional and
technological library services.
One major surprise in a
new report from the Pew Research Center is that even in an age of increasing
digital resources, those in this under-30 cohort are more likely than older
Americans to use and appreciate libraries as physical spaces – places to
study for class, go online, or just hang out.
The report paints a textured
portrait of younger Americans’ sometimes surprising relationships with
libraries’ physical and digital resources:
• Online: Almost all those in the
16-29 age group are online, and they are more likely than older patrons to
use libraries’ computer and internet connections, access library websites,
and use a library’s research databases.
• On paper: However, younger
Americans are also more likely than older adults to have read a printed book
in the past year: 75% of younger Americans have done so, compared with 64% of
older adults.
• On-site: Younger adults are also
more likely than their elders to use libraries as quiet study spaces.
Moreover, they are just as likely as older adults to have visited libraries,
borrowed printed books, and browsed the stacks of books.
Library
habits and priorities for libraries
The under-30 age group remains anchored in
the digital age, but retains a strong relationship with print media and an
affinity for libraries. Moreover, younger Americans have a broad
understanding of what a library is and can be—a place for accessing printed
books as well as digital resources, that remains at its core a physical
space.
Overall, most Americans under age 30 say it
is “very important” for libraries to have librarians and books for borrowing;
they are more ambivalent as to whether libraries should automate most library
services or move most services online. Younger Americans under age 30 are
just as likely as older adults to visit the library, and younger patrons borrow
print books, browse the shelves, or use research databases at similar rates
to older patrons; finally, younger library visitors are more likely to use
the computer or internet at a library, and more likely to see assistance from
librarians while doing so.
Additionally, younger patrons are
significantly more likely than
older library visitors to use the library as a space to sit and ready, study,
or consume media—some 60% of younger library patrons have done that in the
past 12 months, compared with 45% of those ages 30 and older. And most
younger Americans say that libraries should have completely separate
locations or spaces for different services, such as children’s services,
computer labs, reading spaces, and meeting rooms: 57% agree that libraries should
“definitely” do this.
Along those lines, patrons and librarians
in our focus groups often identified teen hangout spaces as especially
important to keep separate from the main reading or lounge areas, not only to
reduce noise and interruptions for other patrons, but also to give younger
patrons a sense of independence and ownership. A library staff member in our
online panel wrote:
“Having a separate children’s area or young
adults area will cater solely to those groups and make them feel that the
library is theirs. They do not have to deal with adults watching them or
monitoring what book they pick or what they choose to do—it’s all about them
and what they want with no judgment. Children and teens love having their own
space so why not give them that at the library?”
Younger Americans’ priorities for libraries
reflect this mix of habits, including various types of brick-and-mortar
services as well as digital technologies. Asked about what it is “very
important” libraries should offer, for instance, librarians were at the top
of the list:
- 80% of Americans
under age 30 say it is “very important” for libraries to have librarians to help people find
information they need
- 76% say it is “very
important” for libraries to offer
research resources such as free databases
- 75% say free access to computers and the
internet is “very important” for libraries to have
- 75% say it is “very
important” for libraries to offer
books for people to borrow
- 72% say quiet study spaces are “very
important”
- 72% say programs and classes for children
and teens are “very important” for libraries to have
- 71% say it is “very
important” for libraries to offer
job or career resources
However, even as young patrons are
enthusiastic users of libraries, they are not as likely to see it as a valuable
asset in their lives. Even though 16-17 year-olds rival 30-49 year-olds as
the age groups most likely to have used a library in the past year, those in
this youngest age group are less likely to say that libraries are important
to them and their families. Parents and adults in their thirties and forties,
on the other hand, are more likely to say they value libraries, and are more
likely than other Americans to use many library services. [
For the
full report, visit http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/06/25/younger-americans-library-services/]
Now pour a glass of lemonade and start reading! So many books, so little time…
