Reading Resolutions for 2026: Part 1-- Assessing How I Did in 2025

Today I am back to work for 2026, and as I like I do each new year, I am kicking off 2026 on the blog with my annual 2 part Reading Resolutions posts. First up, I am looking back at the year I just completed by taking an honest assessment of how I did on my 2025 goals. 

I like to lead by example. As the author of this blog, one that I know is used by thousands of library workers all over the country as a trusted resource, I also understand that I must not only hold myself to a very high standard, but also, I need to model the behaviors I think all of you should also try.

This is why every single year, before I set out my own reading resolutions, I publicly assess my resolutions from the previous year. Here is last year's post where I kicked off my 2025 goals by assessing my 2024 resolutions.

Before you run headlong into a new year, any year, I advocate for taking a step back to assess not only the goals you set for 2025, but also taking a hard look at where the goals you set at the start of the year met reality, making those goals harder or even invalid. This is NOT an exercise in feeling bad that you didn't keep resolutions or complete goals. No one ever gets everything done.

Rather the exercise of setting goals is about learning from the past and making adjustments moving forward. I have learned this by living it. This two step process of assessment before goal setting has saved me from burn out by forcing me to look at long held practices and make real changes, changes that have improved this blog and my professional life in general. In fact, if you have not done an assessment before, I highly recommend going back and looking at mine. I just went through the past 5 years of assessments before writing this post and it made me appreciate how much this process has helped me. I can literally see my growth and improvement. It is clarifying and quite honestly, inspiring. And honestly, when you can inspire yourself, that is a win.

But even if you have never done this before, please considering starting now. It is extremely important to look back at the year that was BEFORE you plan for the year to come, otherwise you are simply making goals in a vacuum, which helps no one. I will demonstrate why this is necessary for you today by using myself as your example. You cannot learn from the past without taking a moment to reflect.

But, before I get to myself, I want to make my annual plea to NOT make resolutions about the number of books you will read in a year. Many people set goals based on a number and in my experience this is never a good idea. It makes many anxious and leads to choosing books based on how quickly you can finish them. It is quality not quantity. Sometimes a book that takes you a month to finish will help you more [whether professionally or personally because it nourished your soul] than 5 that you could have rushed through in that same time frame. I have more to say on this topic here. 

Do what you want, of course, but that is my opinion on this issue.

Now on to the leading by example part. Here is the full post where I laid out my 2025 Resolutions with details. As a reminder those resolutions were:

2025 Resolutions: Read More Nonfiction

2025 Resolution: Update My Signature Presentation

2025 Resolution: Actively Promote Others Who Can Do This Work

2025 Resolution: Start Officially Training Trustees

2025 Resolution: Begin To Think Bigger

Now as I aways do, I will take all 5 goals together and assess what I did well and what I need to work on.

What Went Well:

• As I mentioned in my post to end 2025 here, I have figured out how to make sure I am reading more widely and especially in the genres I enjoy for fun. The key for me is the listen to the books I am reading for enjoyment since all the books I read for review (work) are in print. I easily read more nonfiction this year because of this. Like a lot of goals, this one was around for a few years and I figured out more about myself by intentionally trying to hit the goal. And the results of this goal will make a return tomorrow in my 2026 goals as well.
• I did make some big changes to my signature presentation in what I emphasize, the examples I use, and how I go about delivering it. I think it is a better experience for all who are a part of the training especially those in person. I already have a handful of chances to keep this momentum going in early 2026 as well.
• I have worked to help other trainers expand their programs and helped them to find more jobs. Librarians in adult, schools, and children's. I also have continued to mentor a newer library director as well as my more informal mentoring of those who reach out for advice. While I will not make this a goal next year, 2025 definitely marked the point in my career when I went from saying yes to all the training jobs to thinking about who else could do them just as well as me and maybe even better.
• Well thinking bigger kinda exploded. I never thought my book would do as well as it has. I thought it would be popular with the people I knew. I did not anticipate how big the book tour would be, or how many people came for me and not just to meet the famous authors (there were many for the authors, don't get me wrong). I did not think would be in almost every Barnes and Noble -- that part has been weird. I was in People Magazine (online) and in the Wall Street Journal. The cover reveal was on CrimeReads. I have signed a contract for Spain to release an edition and a specialty version is in the works. And I definitely never thought an honor like Chicagoan of the Year for Books was something I would even be considered for. This is on top of the work I have done to start a foundation at La Grange Library (still on-going) and co-edit an Academic Journal with Robin (articles are beginning to roll in). I have moved very far outside of my normal library consultant lanes faster and it a wider swing than I would have thought possible 12 months ago. I am happy about this, but as I will mention below, I need to be cautious about how it affects me. 

What I Still Need to Work On:

• Spending the year trying to promote others to take on some of my training work and updating my RA for All presentation has led to new questions for me and my work. How much longer do I want to be doing this training thing. As I get further removed from working in a library, and the world in which I have influence expands, I do not know how my presentations to library workers on RA will fit in going forward.
• I had to abandon training trustees due to giving my book tour the time and space it deserved. And I think being over half a year removed from my 24 years as a trustee has made me LESS inclined to train trustees. I will say it also helps that the state of IL is doubling down on mandatory trustee training as the rule, not the exception, so I know others are already trying to make that happen. I am fine letting others step in. This is a great example of a goal that was there for me to explore but in the end, it is better for me to abandon it than pursue it. Others can do this better and with more enthusiasm.
• I am thinking about not setting a reading goal for the first time in a long time. But if I do that, I might need to add something that makes sure I check in with myself. In many ways this seems like such an unimportant goal to worry about and yet, I know it actually is very important both to me  as a professional in the book world and as a human who loves reading. And since I think I unlocked the problem this year, I 100% need to hold myself accountable there.It easy to declare victory, but it is much harder to keep the success going without conflict.
• In a similar vein, while my commitment to "thinking bigger" in 2025 paid off in ways I never could have imagined, I do not want my success in 2025 to lead to me making decisions that move me too far into a direction I might not be ready to go yet or even want to go. This is an example of when success without contemplation of what the success means could be a bad thing. I am going to cautiously test new waters in 2026 and continue to see if how I feel about making some larger changes in the future, but I need to take baby steps.

Okay, that's a wrap on 2025's goals and how I did. Back tomorrow with 2026's goals.