Greetings Friends,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We are so excited for 2023!
We begin our newsletter with a column by one of our Friends, Jane Lamal.
Create New Year Solutions
Do you dread it when someone asks if you’ve made any New Year’s resolutions? Do you immediately feel some anxiety not knowing how to answer? Do you feel annoyed because New Year’s resolutions invariably fail?
Ah, worry not . . . you have a friend in me. I feel the same way.
So, I started to think about this more deeply. A person can make life changes on any day of the week,
month, or year. We don’t have to make them at New Year’s. However, it seems we look to the New Year as a
brand spanking new untouched stretch of time where we can chart a new course. So, how can we create success where there has been none?
What if we didn’t make “resolutions” but instead created “solutions” for the new road ahead? Think of
a problem . . . a small one would be best. For instance, are you bummed your car is always a mess when you have people ride in it? Are you throwing water bottles, napkins, receipts, and all assorted items under the seat or in the trunk? What would be the solution . . . what small effort could be made so that
this problem had a New Year’s SOLUTION?! Would a waste basket in the garage help? Could you make
a point of just taking napkins, receipts, etc. and tossing them in the waste basket as you get out of your car? It could help and it could create happiness through one small success in your New Year.
Now, granted . . . this might sound silly because it seems so obvious. However, that’s the point about creating solutions. The little stresses in life tend to pile up until the number of things that bother us seems overwhelming; we don’t know where to begin.
So, when someone now asks if you’ve made a New Year’s resolution you can tell them those are just “so old school!!” Let them in on the New Year’s Solution Revolution! You’ll be doing a public service! And,
fear not, next January we’ll focus on emptying the wastebasket in the garage!
©
Recap of Recent Events
Friendsgiving 2022
We had a wonderful time celebrating our Friends at the annual Friendsgiving event held on Friday, November 11 at the Clearview Library. About 30 people were in attendance and had a great time with the white elephant style book gifting and eating pie from Fat Albert's. We were excited to have some of our sponsors in attendance from Fransen Pittman - Tommy Sporleder, Colton Dillavou and his wife. We also want to thank Ratio for their sponsorship.
Click on the button below to see some pictures from this wonderful event!!
Book Giveaway #2
On December 3, before the library began its remodel, the Friends and Foundation hosted a second book giveaway. It was quite a success as patrons of the library took home 1000 books that the library needed culled to make room for new ones! Parents, kids, teachers and many more people picked out wonderful used books to use and enjoy.
So many books!!
The F&F Board plays Santa Claus
The Friends and Foundation Board played Santa Claus and had a great time treating the library staff to coffee gift cards at Christmas time. We love taking care of our hard working library staff!!
Some members of the board in front of the "gift card tree."
Upcoming Events
Keep a look out for the upcoming Kathy Murphy Speaker Series Event in April!!
What is your Favorite Book? "Friend" Randia Morrow
Randia at the Book Giveaway!
There is no way for me to choose a fixed favorite as there are just too many books and too many moods to consider; but I always love contemplating this question. There are some titles that have endured, either because of the timing of when I read them in life and/or because they are brilliant. These include East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, and The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. The more recent reads that I really enjoyed all share the common thread of making me feel as if I had lived the experiences I was reading about. These books evoke strong feelings and I remember how I felt while being lost in these stories. For that same reason, they are not light reads. (My friends have learned that I am not the person to come to for fun, “beach” book recommendations). However,these are books that create empathy and highlight our common humanity. They include A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, and Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett. Of these books, only The Warmth of Other Suns is non-fiction so it offers, in my opinion, the most important opportunity for empathy. Wilkerson has a way of beautifully sharing painful American stories that help us all understand how history is alive and reflected in society today. One last favorite that I want to say a little more about is The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It is a novel about family and identity. Not only did I empathize with Lahiri’s main character, Gogol, but Gogol also helped me see myself a little clearer. I related to having a unique name and navigating that name in two cultures. I found myself having so much in common, emotionally, with the main character even though I have nothing in common with him demographically. This surprised me at first, but then not at all, as that is what good fiction does—it emphasizes shared human experiences and helps us see ourselves more clearly. Additionally, I also really loved Lahiri’s short stories The Interpreter of Maladies.
Interview with a Friend
