Got Your Card?
My husband is a fan of television games. His favorite? Jeopardy! He likes to record new episodes for us to watch together whenever there’s a half-hour break in our day.
Lately, I’ve noticed that librarians are among the more successful contestants. It makes sense, I suppose, because
a primary requirement for both jobs is to love the knowledge that books impart to us.
This is National Library Week in the U.S., and today is National Library Workers Day. Librarians have recently been on the defense, having to fend off a posse of self-appointed book-ban vigilantes. So, let’s all sound the clarions for librarians, those dutiful guardians of our collective cultures.
Librarians these days perform a variety of useful services that go way beyond sorting and cataloguing books. Chances are that your local library offers internet access, dvds, video games, board games, city passes, discounts to other venues, community meeting rooms, research assistance, lectures, craft lessons, Bookmobiles, and more.
And it’s all free and available to everyone.
My brother and his wife take their grandkids to the library every week for story hour and games. It’s a great way to introduce the young ones to books and the comforts a library can provide.
In our neighborhood, there’s a branch that specializes in family history research. They’ll even help with access to certain genealogical sites and publications that may hold the key to your Great Grandpa Jedediah’s war record or criminal record, as the case may be. I’ve donated a few items to them, and there are plenty more to give, including high school and college yearbooks from the last century. I also have boxes of fiction and non-fiction books ready to drop off at our central library donation center. Even if they already have enough copies of a book, they can add them to the inventory for the next fundraising sale.
My guess is that if you’re still reading this post, you may have a few tomes crowding your shelves that you could donate, too. At any rate, in an increasingly cluttered world, getting rid of excess stuff feels like a much needed catharsis to me.
You’ve got questions? Librarians have answers. So let’s give a shout-out to libraries and their caretakers this week. And if you don’t have a library card already, why not get one?
Do you have memories of going to the library as a child?
Gay Yellen is the author of the award-winning Samantha Newman Mystery Series including:
The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and The Body in the News!
But I am firm about sticking to set writing hours and setting word and page count goals to keep me focused. I eliminate most distractions, and I reward myself frequently… lots of snacks!
Between the time I outlined Walker Prairie (2021) and when I wrote it (2024), I acquired two Alaskan Malamute sled dogs, Willett and Sibley! They seemed like the perfect lighthearted addition to Jenn and Aaron’s world, so I wrote them in, and just like in real life, they proceeded to WOO and HOWL and JUMP AROUND until they’d pretty much hijacked the book. The plot remained the same, but the adventure elements surrounding the climactic scenes changed to feature two beautiful, often-naughty, and occasionally terrifying FLOOFS (my term for fluffy goofs.)
If ever a book begged for an abridged version (I thought back then), Melville’s was a good candidate.
Gay Yellen
Or, perhaps we just want to work at developing a new and improved version of ourselves.
Yet I heartily agree with #29. Dogs absolutely make make us better humans. And though I can’t remember the last time I waved at kids on a school bus (#33), I always wave at them when the zoo train comes around. Hopefully that counts.
One, they’re married. And two, the award-winning books they write include a few murder victims along the way. 
His latest, The Kingdom of Hatch, features a disillusioned attorney who flees the craziness of Manhattan for the peace of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont only to find trouble in paradise. Hilarity ensues.
We attend conferences together. We do appearances and book talks together. 
My own high school reunion happened just this past weekend, which made me wonder what the children returning to class will be learning, and what they’ll need to figure out on their own after they graduate.
Come to think of it, that long-ago betrayal may have fed my subconscious as I created E.B. Odom, the villain in 
As a lifelong book lover, I read newsletters and articles by literary critics on what they think is important to read. So in January, I usually check the various “Best” book lists for the past year.
Reader’s Digest doesn’t stop at mere books of the year. It also publishes “The 100 Best Books of All Time.” What they do when new books are published is a mystery. They could easily drop Hamlet from the current list. It’s a remarkable piece of literature, but it isn’t a book. But what about the other 99?
There are lots of things to love about November. Cool, crisp mornings. Warm, cuddly clothes. A lovely fire in the hearth. And hints of cinnamon spice everywhere.
How to Celebrate
Later that day, I looked through the material he’d left and noticed that one item was an interview he’d conducted with the manager of Jimmy Connors, who was a world-class champion at the time.
I went to my back files, found the issue I was looking for, and flipped to the page with my interview on it. Everything was identical, down to the last comma and period, except for the photos and the freelancer’s name instead of mine in the byline.
