Reading Resolutions for 2026: Part 2-- 2026 Goals

Yesterday I began the process of posting my 2026 reading resolutions by first looking back and assessing how I did on my 2025 resolutions. You can read that post here.

Today, I using what I learned doing that exercise yesterday and adding in what I already have planned for the coming year, I present my 2026 Goals-- the ones I will hold myself to for assessment a year from now. I use the term "reading resolutions" to keep the posts as similar as possible from year to year, but really this process is more akin to goal setting. However, since my work is defined by my mission, "training library workers to help leisure readers," reading is at the center of it all.

Please remember, I post both my assessment of the year that was and the upcoming year on back-to-back days to begin each new year so that they are easy to find yes, but also I am forced to hold myself to account for it all. Because I am a big proponent of the "lead by example" leadership style, if I am advocating for you to make resolutions and then go back and assess how you did before making the next year's resolutions, I also have to do it myself.

These are my resolutions and goals for 2026. I create these for myself specifically; however, I hope you can use them to help you craft resolutions that will work best for you.

Finally, I want to make a plea to do resolutions or goals for yourself no matter how you are feeling. They do not have to be lofty. I love this post from 2022 in Book Riot, with easily achievable reading resolutions. These are no stress, and may seem silly on first glance, but I think they are great. Having something as a goal gives you direction and encouragement to keep moving forward. Small victories add up to larger advancements. 

 

Okay now on to my 5 official resolutions for 2026:

2026 Resolution: Try A Year With No Specific Reading Resolution: As I mentioned yesterday, I feel like I finally figured out how to make sure I read the books I have to read for review and still fit in the books I want to read for joy. As 2025 went on, I didn't have to try to fit in non-work books. However, I also know that thinking you figured something out is not the same of holding yourself accountable to keep it going. So instead of declaring victory, I am going to make a cautious but intentional goal about my reading by trying not not have a specific reading resolution and yet still make the commitment to assessing how well that worked (or didn't). I toyed with the idea of just not having a reading goal this year, but as everything I do is tied to reading-- both for work and pleasure-- I am not ready to abandon having this as a goal. However, I am very excited to see what happens in 2026 without a specific reading goal and am looking forward to how this pans out.

2026 Resolution: No New Training Programs: This month marks the 25th anniversary of my graduation with my MLIS. I have been out of libraries as a worker since June of 2015 and in May 2025 I left my position as a library trustee. All of this means that my ties to a physical library are officially over in 2026. I don't think that means I am not qualified to keep training libraries, but I do want to start monitoring this part of my work. How much longer will I offer training programs to libraries? I know I am closer to the end of this time than the beginning. But that is all I know for sure. I have a very busy training schedule for the first quarter of 2026. This is common for the new year. These training programs were booked back in the late Summer and Fall of 2025. I am confident in the programs I have available and in keeping them updated for the time being. However, so that I have time to pursue the next three goals, I will not be creating new programs in 2026. I will update the ones I have, but I will not create custom one off programs for anyone this year. And, I am going to try to not actively promote the training side of my work as well. I would say I get about 50% of my work via word of mouth right now. I am interested to see what I get if I do no formal promotion. Maybe that will lead to the right amount of work for me to pursue new projects or maybe it will mean I am not busy enough. I will not know until I give it a try. I do know that the next 3 goals will not happen at all if I don't take away something, and for now, this is that something.

One step I took toward this goal happened in 2025, but I think it should be mentioned here. I purposely did NOT submit a single program proposal for ALA Annual in June of 2026. This resolution has been percolating since summer and I thought this step-- planning to attend ALA Annual without submitting a single program-- was a good idea. Please note, I am doing this with intentionality and chose this year to try it because ALA Annual is in Chicago and I d not have to travel to attend. Let's see what happens and how many things I end up getting asked to do without formally applying. It is the right time to give this a try.

2026 Resolution: Dive Deeper Into New Projects: And this is what I will use some of that non-training time for in 2026. Some of these are things that I have already started. For example, last year I focused on the academic journal Robin and I are working on ( out November 2026) and the Foundation for my local library, which I am also in the beginning stages of setting up. But toward the end of 2025 I also started a formal strategic planning process for the HWA Libraries Committee with a deliberate growth strategy. That already has a timeline set to culminate in late summer. 2025 also saw me get paid for many more moderating gigs for all genres. I really love moderating conversations with authors be it one-on-one or panels. I know I do a good job because people ask me to return and do more. This is an area I could consciously grow and promote from a professional standpoint. I have proven myself to be worth the money and I like the creativity and challenge of these more spontaneous events (compared to my very methodically planned out training programs). Finally, while I knew that my book tour would be fun, I did not realize how much opportunity it opened for me to moderate more conversations and do more of my own traveling. Why I Love Horror is a book that has a long tail, I can do events for it indefinitely. I can appear with authors for events that pair my book with their releases and even other horror related activities (like the one I have planned for late January in the Boston area-- details coming soon). I am also beginning to be asked to come to book clubs. If can keep traveling to libraries and conferences just on my book, do I even need the librarian part of the equation to justify where I go? Some of this connects to the above resolution as well. Selling books at events now makes me money. These are all things I will be devoting more of my time to than the more traditional training I focused on for the last 10 years. (Note: The biggest portion of my paying work is still reading and writing reviews; that will not change)

2026 Resolution: Allow Time for the Success of 2025 To Be Thoughtfully Applied: I made a goal in 2025 to double down on myself and well, as I discussed yesterday, it worked better than I could have ever expected. But what comes next? Well at this specific moment, nothing much different. As I said above, I have a busy schedule of trainings coming up in the next few months, but after that? Doors are being opened all over the place-- which ones do I go through? I need to really think about this in a vacuum. I think change will come to me but I need to be ready to embrace or reject it with more to go on than my current vibes. I need to be in a place mentally where I can think about each opportunity and make thoughtful decisions. The most comparable moment in my life to this moment is back in 2015 when I made the decision to leave library work and focus on providing training to libraries full time. That was not a decision I made all at once, or even in the same calendar year. It came at me incrementally and required I spend serious time contemplating it from every angle. That was 10 years ago but I still remember the time and research I put into taking this step. I am using that model from 2015 to help me through this exciting and scary time in my career. 

One concrete thing I am planning to do in order to give myself the serious time to think about where I am  now and where I should go next is to set a time to take a walk each week where all I do is think about the bigger picture. I take a walk a few times a week already but often I use it to listen to books or podcasts. And I don't schedule every walk. Starting now though, I will be serious and thoughtful about this. I will put a "thinking walk" on my calendar at the start of each week and honor it like any other business appointment. 

2026 Resolution: Explore Another Major Writing Project: This is one I have to do. I refuse to just do Why I Love Horror 2. It has to be something different. It has to be something that only I could write. And maybe it isn't another book. I really have no idea. That has not stopped well meaning people from giving me ideas all the time. I am thankful for those ideas, but I do need to schedule some of the time from the resolution before this one (including some of those walks) to just think about what I want my next major writing project to be. I will not work on something that I don't believe is needed out in the world. I want to come up with what that next something is before the end of 2026 (if possible) so that I can devote 2027 to working on it. Why plan this far ahead? Well it is necessary. Take the academic journal, Robin and I agreed to this publication last year around this time-- January 2025-- and we have been working on it since March 2025. It will not be out in the world until November 2026. If there is even a chance that I will be working on another major writing project in the near future, I need to commit now to leaving 2027 open from saying yes to anything else.

And that's a wrap on my annual 2 part series on resolutions. I will have my January reviews in Booklist and Library Journal up later this week. I will also be focusing on more year in review think pieces and reports as we lead up to my February 11th year in review program for PCI. My goal is to have everything I refer to I that program also accessible with commentary here on the blog, so that you do not need to see the program in order to have some benefit form the work I am doing to take everything from 2025 in RA Service and help you move into 2026 with confidence.

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.

Reading Resolutions for Library Staff via NoveList Blog and How I Suggest You Use Them for Team Building and Goal Setting

We are approaching the middle of the second month of 2025, but it is not too late to make some reading resolutions for the year, especially if you are making them with your staff.

I wrote extensively about reading resolutions in general and mine in particular here back at the beginning of January. However, that post was focused on making some plans for yourself. Now that the year is in full swing and you have all taken the time to asses your 2024 and make personal plans for 2025, let's expand our goal setting and look at what we want to accomplish as a team.

And what do I mean by team? Well it depends on your library. For small libraries with only a handful of staff, we should think of the entire staff-- from maintenance to director-- as our "team." For medium libraries, "team" might mean those at public service desks. For large systems, "team" might be already defined in your structure. 

But I would argue, no matter your library's size, if you are really willing to embrace the RA for All mentality at your library. you can follow this excellent example set by Champaign (IL) Public Library's RA Working Group-- an example of working together that I love so much, I added it to my newly renovated 10 Rules.

When you are working on goals for a team, you need to begin the conversation fairly broadly and then work together to rein it in. This is why I really like the three resolutions for library staff that Novelist posted on their blog. This goals are:

#1: Join a Reading Challenge
#2: Explore a New Genre
#3: Learn Something New About Working with Readers

Click through to read the post with a longer description about each goal and how you can implement it.

But what I like about these 3 goals is that they set an achievable standard to begin discussing what you want to accomplish as a team. You can take these broad categories and decide how you are going to attack them. Do you all do the same reading challenge, with the same monthly goals or instead do you let people pick their own challenge and use the different experiences as a talking point at staff meetings or in online spaces? 

I love the idea of the entire staff exploring a genre together over the course of a year. While I was working a desk, I was involved in a genre study with ARRT at all times. 

And the final one is vital. We should always be learning something new about working with readers. I have been doing this for the entire century, taught a graduate level course on RA for 8 years, and am a national expert-- and even I strive to learn something new about working with readers....every day. But, this is a very amorphous goal. This one you need to talk about as a team and decide how you are going to do this one.

Will you hire someone like me to train you? Will you take advantage of free webinars from Booklist, NoveList, your local systems, etc...? Or will you pick a specific topic and search out training or assign tasks to have your staff dig into resources and then share out with each other? 

This last goal is my favorite because it requires you work together to figure out how you will address it for your readers. And that is the larger point of this entire post. Working together is the overall goal here. Team building through shared learning, setting goals together and working to reach them, all with the same purpose of better serving your leisure readers-- this will make you stronger as an organization.

Goal setting for yourself is important and can be done alone, but you will not get better at serving readers at your library without working together. Not only does this allow you to cover more ground (spreading the load) but it offers opportunities from everyone to learn from each other. And, your service to your readers will improve as a result.

Click here to read the NoveList post and use the guidance there to begin crafting a plan for your "team." Yes it is mid-February, but it is not too late to set some 2025 staff goals.

Unshelve Your Collection in 2025: A Guest Post by Lila Denning

One of my regular guest posters is Lila Denning, an expert presenter on library book displays. In early January she proclaimed 2025 the year we "unshelve our collections" on her Passively Recommending Books Blog.

From that post:

While we all re-evaluate what will be different in 2025, I want to encourage you to unshelve your collection more this year. I've chosen that well-used library phrase to describe taking books out of the stacks and moving them around your building to show off what treasures are in your stacks. 

You can keep reading that post here.

While Denning plans to post on this topic all year (you can pull up all if her "unshelve" posts here), after I read it, I asked her to expand upon this introduction for my readers. The simplicity of the idea and the fun word play makes this an easy to promote strategy.

And so, here is Unshelve Your Collections by Lila Denning.

Shelves and shelves of book spines can create a great picture but it's not always the best way for a patron who is browsing your stacks to find their next great read. That's why this year I am encouraging everyone to unshelve their collections. All this means to find as many ways as possible to get your collection away from being lost in your stacks and out where it can be discovered by someone. 

There are simple ways to accomplish this. The easiest is to purchase some easels and put one book face out on every shelf. You will be amazed at what will be checked out simply because you put it face out on a shelf. This also is easy for any library worker to help keep filled; all that has to be done is pick a book from that shelf and place it on an empty easel. There is a sort of serendipity to this as everyone in your building will likely pick a different book so what’s faced out will constantly change. 

Book displays are another way to unshelve your collection by curating a small collection of materials on a theme and grouping them together. I cover basics and try to provide ideas on my blog and in my presentations for library workers. The magic behind book displays is that when the covers are faced out, they will always catch someone’s eye. Mix up fiction and non-fiction. Move materials to a part of your building that is far from where the rest of the collection is located. Add audiovisual materials to a display with books. Keep the signage and decorations simple. The focus should be on the covers.

Your eBooks and eAudiobooks are a treasure that not everyone in your community knows about. You can unshelve them by setting up a book display with covers from the titles included in your digital collection. Add QR codes to the website and information about how to sign up for the service. You can mix the face outs on your shelves by adding signage on some shelves with suggestions for titles in your eBook collection. 

Whatever social media accounts your library uses can also help you unshelve your collection. One idea I have suggested is a “Five for Friday” series. Just pick five titles on a theme and take a picture. You can put them on a cart, table, or have a staff member hold them. A schedule can be set up and anyone who works in your library can have a chance to pick a theme and their five items. Add a short paragraph explaining the titles and provide information about how to put them on request. If staff are comfortable, you can have a short video where the staff member explains their choices. 

If a topic pops up in the news, use that as a reason to add a post with some titles that might be of interest to someone who wants more information. Find a theme similar to what you would use for a book display and create a grouping of covers for your social media. If someone has the interest and skills, you can create clever graphic or just use a series of book cover images. 

Don’t limit your unshelving efforts to your building. Partner with local businesses and get small posters and fliers out into your community that include titles and covers from your collection. You can use local celebrations and events for inspiration. Create bookmarks with covers that can be given away. Make some themed posters and book marks with coffee related titles for a cafe or pizza related titles for a pizza shop. There are pet speciality stores that are popping up. There are many pet related titles in our collections. Remind the people in your community who don’t regularly come into your building how amazing your library is. 

These are but a few examples of unshelving your collections to get you started thinking about the concept. For the rest of 2025 I am going to try to discuss many ways of unshelving your collection that can be used by libraries regardless of size or budget. Reach out to me if you have ideas that your library has used to show off the titles in your collection. I would love to share them! Let’s use this year to help readers discover what treasures are waiting for them on our shelves. 

Click here to join Lila in her "Unshelve Your Collections" year of posts. Let her help you get your ideas to get started and then reach out to her (as she mentions above) if you have idea that worked for you so she can share them with others. 

Reading Resolutions for 2025: Part 2-- 2025 Goals

Yesterday I began the process of posting my 2024 reading resolutions by first looking back and assessing how I did on my 2024 resolutions. You can read that post here.

Today, I using what I learned by assessing how last year went, with the knowledge of what I already have planned for the coming year, I present my 2025 Goals-- the ones I will hold myself to for assessment a year from now. I use the term "reading resolutions" to keep the posts as similar as possible from year to year, but really this process is more akin to goal setting. However, since my work is defined by my mission, "training library workers to help leisure readers," reading is at the center of it all.

Please remember, I post both my assessment of the year that was and the upcoming year on back-to-back days to begin each new year so thatchy are easy to find yes, but also I am forced to hold myself to account for it all. Because I am a big proponent of the "lead by example" leadership style. If I am advocating for you to make resolutions and then go back and assess how you did before making the next year's resolutions, I also have to do it myself.

These are my resolutions and goals for 2025. I create these for myself specifically; however, I hope you can use them to help you craft resolutions that will work best for you.

Finally, I want to make a plea to do resolutions or goals for yourself no matter how you are feeling. They do not have to be lofty. I love this post from 2022 in Book Riot, with easily achievable reading resolutions. These are no stress, and may seem silly on first glance, but I think they are great. Having something as a goal gives you direction and encouragement to keep moving forward. Small victories add up to larger advancements. 

I would also like to note, 2025 is the year I turn 50. I know it is just a number, but it is big round one and bound to play a part in how my year goes. I will celebrate this milestone at ALA Annual in Philly, in sight of NJ (where I was born), with all of my library people. Seems fitting.

Okay now on to my 5 official resolutions for 2025:

2025 Resolutions: Read More Nonfiction: This one stems from yesterday's assessment. I hardly read any nonfiction in 2025 and I really love nonfiction. I am missing it in my life, so, I am going to go out of my way to read more. My biggest barrier is much of the NF I want to read is not on Libby in audio, and in my for fun reading, I really like to do audio. I have found that it helps my brain to separate work reading from fun reading, which when you are paid to review over 60 books a year, is important. I did set out to read more NF last year and found myself coming up against this barrier over and over again. But, it is also why I transitioned to mystery so heavily. I had a whole list of NF I meant to read but when it wasn't in audio, I put the print on hold and never got to it and settled for a Mystery instead (a fav audio genre). But here's the thing-- it took my assessment of 2024 for me to realize the actual reason. I saw that I was heavy on the mysteries and then also noted they were all audio. This led me to think about why and all of my reading over 2024. It helped me to remember all the NF I wanted to read but did not. Now I can work to be more aware of the fact that I am going to have to do print if I want to read these titles. Ans I am going to begin with one of the best books of 2024, a title I have wanted to read for months-- There's Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib.

2025 Resolution: Update My Signature Presentation: I have a note staring at me here near my work desk to update my 10 Rules and the slides for my signature presentation. Over the last 2 years I have changed what I say and emphasize in my presentation, but I haven't really changed the slides. I am not only going to give the rules a facelift, but I have some new posts in the works. The last time I gave the signature presentation an overhaul was late 2020, so it is time. I gave the Booktalking presentation-- my second most popular-- an overhaul last year. The work for this goal will really be concentrated in the first dozen weeks of 2025.

2025 Resolution: Actively Promote Others Who Can Do This Work: This is clearly the next step after last year's goal of being better at saying no. However, it is also here because if I am going to add things (see the next two goals), I need to start shedding things as well. I have been actively working on encouraging others who do similar work  to take over some of the job inquiries I receive. Last year I passed on a few gigs to others; this year, I anticipate doing more. I don't have to be the only voice in RA out there. I have been around long enough and trained enough people that there are plenty out there who can do this work just as good as me. Also in a few months, Robin and I will have an announcement about you sending us your ideas on trends in RA and new things you are doing to be published in an academic journal. See, I am not kidding. I really want to identify the next stars and amplify their voices. But it is not just my RA training I am referring to here. I have also been encouraging more library workers to review Horror. I don't need to be the main voice in that field forever. In 2024 I read over 60 books for paid review-- 32 for LJ and 31 for Booklist. I can keep up the pace for now, but who knows what will happen going forward. Remember, turning 50. I also have a book with a major publisher coming out a year from now. I need to make sure I don't over do it because if that happens, my work will suffer and what good am I as the reviewer if my reviews are not up to the high standard I set for myself.

2025 Resolution: Start Officially Training Trustees: This comes directly from last year's resolution to start planning for when I am no longer "officially" in libraries. My term ends on 5/20/24 at 7pm. I have dipped my toe in training library trustees over the years but was never very comfortable with going into it head on for 2 reasons: 1. I did not feel like it was right to do this while still serving as a trustee and 2. I did not want to dilute my RA for All brand with work that was not focused on training library workers to help leisure readers. Well in October, I began a conversation about a way for me to take care of both of my concerns and still offer this valuable service. More information AFTER I am done serving in May, but I am happy to start providing this important service to those who choose to serve in this important role. I have 24 years of experience as a locally elected trustee, 3 years serving on the RAILS board, 3 years on the ILA Board, 25 years as a public librarian here in IL, and 15 years working with libraries all over the country. It is time for me to share my knowledge to help in a different sphere, but NOT through RA for All. Again, more details soon.

2025 Resolution: Begin To Think Bigger: Last year I doubled down on myself and it worked because it is has directly led to this goal, my last for 2025 and also my most nebulous, but like last year's vague goal of "doubling down on myself," it might prove to be the most important goal I set. I am going to use some bullet points here because there are a few things doubling down on myself has already led to for 2025:

• The most obvious result of doubling down on myself (discussed yesterday) was that I took my "Why I Love Horror" series, got an agent, sold it to Saga, and have turned in the manuscript. But what comes next? While the book does not come out until January 2026, I will be spending the second half of 2025 promoting it. I will begin in library spaces which are friendly and will get me ready, but I am going to be a published author in a major press (3 books at ALA Editions is not the same as I am already learning). People outside of library and horror writer spheres are going to read this and know who I am. I need to start being open to thinking bigger all year. Opportunities I never could imagine may come up and I need to be ready to embrace them.
• As I also mentioned yesterday, Robin and I will be guest editing a special RA forced issue of Library Trends in November 2026, but the bulk of our work on it happens in 2025. While this is thinking bigger for us, I am most excited for what we will learn by hosting an open call from all of your about your RA ideas. I am going to be exposed to awesome ideas, services, and concepts, the likes of which I have never even considered. Where will that lead me? I am excited that I don't know. I am sure something I learn from reading people's articles in 2025 will influence 2026's goals, but I also know I need to keep my mind open and ready to think bigger in order to do my best as a guest editor and a RA librarian.
• The final bigger thing I have committed to working on this year is a bit more vague and in the exploratory phase. My local library has needed to start a foundation for years but we had so many other things to deal with. Our current Executive Director is 100% all in on this being one of her goals for 2025-26 and since I will no longer be on the board and am already involved in another large charity in the area, I can come in with my connections and expertise to help lead this endeavor.  My current plan is to be the Foundation Chair, but I am also open to taking a supporting role if things get too busy for me. This one has a longer time line as well. Our goal is for it to some together in 2026 as November 2027 is the 20th anniversary of our current building opening-- a building I worked on as a Trustee and for which I was the President of the Board when it opened. Talk about fun circle.
• These are the three things I have planned under this goal for 2025. Will this mean I move away from my core work-- helping library workers be better at helping leisure readers? I don't know, but knowing I have these bigger things planned means I also need to think about how I can't keep doing everything. As I mentioned yesterday, I have gotten better at saying no. I need to come to terms with the fact that I may have outgrown the niche I have created for myself. Thinking bigger is a process, however. I have listed those things I have planned to work on, but I have no idea where all of this will take me. Committing to thinking bigger will help me -- a consummate planner and list maker (aka librarian)-- to be ready to look at new opportunities with as open a mind as possible.

So those are my goals for 2025. We will have to wait and see how the year goes, but I feel good about what I intend to do precisely because I took the time at the end of 2024 to really think about the year that was ending and use what I learned about myself and my work to shape these goals.

Tomorrow I have a post about 2025's Horror books and then all of my January reviews in LJ and Booklist to round out the week. And first thing next week....a guest post by Robin. Lots planned here on RA for All. I also start contracts with some new states for monthly training. Busy, busy.

Make sure you are following along. I have a feedrabbit link in the top right gutter if you want to sign up to get the posts via email. A few have asked but about a substack or newsletter, but since I already have this blog, there is not reason to start another communication. You want the blog in email form, it is available here.

Reading Resolutions for 2025: Part 1-- Assessing How I Did in 2024

Today I am officially back to work for 2025 after a short break, and like I do each new year, I am kicking off 2025 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 2024 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 2024 goals by assessing my 2023 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 2024, 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 gaol 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 4 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 2024 Resolutions with details. As a reminder those resolutions were:

• 2024 Resolution: Get Back to Reading More Than Just Horror
• 2024 Resolution: Double Down on Myself
• 2024 Resolution: Say No More Often (Without Feeling Guilty)
• 2024 Resolution: Start Planning For When I am No Longer "Officially" in Libraries

What I did well:

• I did read more than Horror this year. I made that goal because after being on the Andrew Carnegie Medal committee a few years ago, I was forced to read everything and I loved it. This year I expanded my reading especially through audiobooks, which I love. But, as you will see below, it was not 100% a win.
• Boy did I ever double down on myself. Right at the end of 2023 I got an agent and by the midpoint of 2024, I sold a book to Saga Press (a division of Simon & Schuster). Here are the details. As of this posting, the manuscript is turned in. The plan is for it to be released in January of 2026. ARCs will be available at ALA Annual in June and I will be appearing on panels to promote it. There are also plans in the works for me to be traveling throughout the Fall to promote the book and generate pre-orders. I am cautiously optimist about what comes next, but no matter what, I did what I set out to do. I bet on me and so far, it is working out.
• This one combines Doubling Down and Saying No. Midway through 2024, Robin and I were approached by the peer reviewed library journal, Library Trends to guest edit an issue dedicated to Readers' Advisory. Robin and I have both been careful about what we say yes to when it comes to the work we do together (see the next bullet point), but this opportunity was something both of us never could have seen coming. What an honor to be THE people to edit this academic journal on RA, an often disparaged area of librarianship that we have both dedicated our careers to elevate. To be recognized in an academic arena to solicit academic papers on the topic of RA, well those of you who do this work know what a big deal this is. Robin and I said yes fairly quickly but it is also because we are willing to say no to others. Coming this spring we will have the call for papers for this issue with a huge push at ALA Annual in June. More soon. The issue comes out November 2026.
• There was one big "No" moment this year that was not easy on me. After a few years, Robin and I decided to part ways with Learn with NoveList as the platform for our Actively Anti-Racist Service to Readers class. It was not an easy decision and the conversation about if we would continue  took up a lot of the year. We parted amicably as we could not work out the details. But saying no to people I gold as friends was hard. However, it did leave space for us to say YES to ALA eCourses where we are not only going to be offering the class exactly how we want to, but we are developing worksheets for people to use AFTER they take the class, with the hope that  we may be developing an entire workbook that people can buy to use with their staff sometime next year. This makes sense as ALA Editions is already Robin and my publisher of our RA textbooks. The first dog of classes for the year (live or on demand) are coming in February and they will come with 6 pages of worksheets as a test run. We have more planned but we want to see how people like what we have created. You can get the full details and sign up here.
• In other No news-- I have been actively courting others who can provide similar training to what I offer and have passed off multiple opportunities to these people in the last year. I cannot keep doing this forever. Not only am I turning 50 this year, but also, all of this doubling down on myself is opening up other opportunities and I don't want to have to say no to those because a library needs some RA training. I still want them to have great training, but it does not always have to come from me. I have also really enjoyed focusing on full state or large system training over the last few years. This train the trainer model is more efficient and I reach more people. In 2025 I have 2 states and a large system already set for the first quarter of the year. Smaller, single libraries, while fulfilling, may have to be sent to others as I have less and less time.
• In late May I will no longer be officially connected to any library as my 6th term on the La Grange Public Library Board will end. As of right now, I am emotionally ready for this to happen. As the deadline to run for reelection came and went, I made sure to check in with myself, and I am happy to report, I felt at peace. Now I still have the election in April and my final few meetings to get through, but I am feeling not only ready, but confident that it was the correct decision. When I left my job at a librarian 2015, I was 100% NOT ready to separate and was very anxious about only being connected the the official library world as a Trustee, but during that years between then and now, I actually did more as a library leader (serving open both the RAILS and the ILA Boards) because I had more time to do it. However, this was not just about my mental health as this transformative moment arrived, I also resolved to make real plans for things I could do when no longer serving on the library board. I will mention them in my goals, but I have had actually meetings and discussions to keep serving and doing more and this makes me excited.

What I need to work on: this list is really where I find my goals for next year.

• While I did read more than Horror, I was really only able to expand my reading to mystery on audio. As I looked at my year end list of books I read (my favorites are posted here), I saw some gaps where I wish I read more-- namely nonfiction which I tend to enjoy. I am also still balancing my have to reads for review with my reading for fun, but this has become less of a burden each year.  2024 felt like the year I managed the stress of my review deadlines the best. But again, it did not leave as much space as I wanted for fun reads. Next year I will build off of my success of coming up with a managing the workload plan with consciously interjecting more non-Hororr reads.
• I doubled down on myself as I planned, but what is the next step after doing that? I think I have an idea and will discuss it in my goals tomorrow. This is no easy task however. What is the next goal, yes, but also, how do I balance going too far in a new direction? 
• I did a great job beginning to plan for when I am no longer officially in Libraries having started a few conversations but now I need to move from preparing for that moment, to seizing it is happening on May 20, 2025 at 7pm. While I will make some tangible goals, I need to be prepared for how this moment will make me feel, especially because I will be attending ALA Annual in June more as an author than a librarian. 
• Speaking of being an author more than a librarian, as I mentioned above, I have turned in my manuscript for Why I Love Horror. From June 2025 into 2026 will be all about promoting the book. What will that look like for my life and my regular library work. The review deadlines I can plan for, but I need to be serious about the fact that my Fall is going to be just as busy as it usually is but it will look a lot different. How can I prepare mentally for something that is so new and different, something I cannot plan for? And I need to reconcile that I asked for this may doubling down on myself. Where will it take me? I guess I need to work on letting go and going with the flow of where this opportunity is going to take me.

Okay, that's a wrap on 2024's goals and how I did. Back tomorrow with 2025's goals.

We are Terrible at Communicating Who We Are, What We Do, and Why-- Make a Commitment to Do Better in 2025

As the working days for 2024 begin to wind down, I wanted to start preparing all of you for my annual posts (coming the first full week of January) assessing my own goals from 2024 and looking forward to the goals I will be setting for 2025. Each year, the goal of those posts is to set an example for all of you. To remind you how important it is to take a moment to look back at the year that was before rushing headlong into a new year.

I am also actively working on the 2024 iteration of my Keeping Up With Books Year in Review webinar. This year it will once again be with NoveList and Yaika Sabat in February 2025. You can click here to read about the 2023 version.

Today I have a goal I think all of us need to consider adding to our 2025 to-do lists, and it is one I talk about every time I give my Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers presentation. We are terrible at communicating what we do and why we are important. People outside the library world do not understand how important our work is. They don't even know that we don't just order every single book. And they especially are unaware of the care and professional training it take to craft a collection and serve the public. How we carefully add and subs track titles to make our collections shine. It is one of the main reasons why there are factions that have been undermining us, without much resistance. 

To that end, I want all of you to take a moment as we move from one year to the next and really think about how you are going to communicate your worth and articulate exactly what we do throughout 2025. I want you to start speaking out about how great we are BEFORE people try to attack you. I want you to do it in 2025 but then keep doing it, on a regular basis going forward.

Library workers too often are uncomfortable bragging about themselves (best case) or are afraid to sp-eak out for fear of retaliation by book banners (worst case).

To this I say-- GET OVER IT.

We have not prioritized telling our story. We have ALWAYS let others define us. And when we do try to advocate for ourselves we do stupid things like tell people are services are free. THEY ARE NOT FREE. EVERYONE HAS PRE-PAID FOR THEM.

I have discussed the harmful nature of this messaging many times before, both in my live training programs and here on the blog. Please read that post and fix your language. In fact, I would argue that as part of this commitment to prioritize communicating who we are and what we do--  you should go out of your way to work the "prepaid" language into every interaction you have with people. Again, I have a full post to help you. Use my words. I am fine with that. It's why I write this blog. It gives you no excuse to start being better at communicating.

Speaking of this blog and using my words, on 12/30 I will have a post about my most popular posts of the year, but here is a teaser because it is about communicating what we do. My most popular post of the year was a guest essay by my colleague Misha Stone entitled: Why Libraries Need to Stop Saying “More Than Books” by Misha Stone.

This is all part of the larger-- we are terrible at communicating problem, yes, but I feel like you all know that this is a problem (even though you haven't helped solve it) because you clicked on it so much. So I see this as me helping to nudge you to do the work you know you need to do already.

Again, click here to read Stone's post and use her words to improve your communication and stop the cycle of poor, even harmful, communication. 

But this is not a "Becky is the only person who can help you" post. I also have three very good suggestions for you to use to help you to be proactive in your communication of who we are and what we do.

The first is this article from VOX-- a non-library outlet explaining, very well, what librarians do in the most basic way. It is not perfect, but it gives the general public a sense of everything we do and for such little money (because that is how it ends). Often we forget that the public doesn't know even the most basic things about how their public library works. This piece, not only comes from that place of starting with an assumption that the reader knows nothing, but also it is written in a conversational style that draws the average person in. It is a great entry point to beginning the conversation with our patrons and communities, one we can add to.

The second is this study-- "Libraries & Well-Being: A Case Study from The New York Public Library" Available for free, here is the text from the introduction: 

By Daphna Blatt & Dr. E.K. Maloney, The New York Public Library
Dr. James O. Pawelski & Dr. Katherine N. Cotter, University of Pennsylvania

In today’s society, libraries stand out as among the last truly public institutions. Providing access to resources without financial, social, or physical barriers, public libraries make a unique contribution to promoting individual and collective flourishing throughout the communities they serve.

The New York Public Library’s Strategy and Public Impact team and the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project at the University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center have released a new report as part of an ongoing collaboration to study and advocate for the role of public libraries in the communities they serve. 

There is much here that you can use to "advocate for the tole of public libraries in the communities they serve." NYPL understands that we all need to do better and in the spirit of library collaboration, they, as the largest public library system in America, took it upon themselves to lead and provide all of us with the information we need.

The third is from Kelly Jensen and is part of her Literary Activism series (every post of which is super helpful, but baby steps). This specific post is entitled "How to Explain Book Bans to Those Who Want to Understand."

This post is important for 2 reasons:

1. It is reminder that we don't spend enough time communicating to those who already like us and use us about what we do. We are so focused on countering the bad actors and how they twist what we do and message it way better than we do. We are not going to change their minds. We have lost them. But good news, the vast majority of American like us. We need to speak to them directly. We need to explain ourselves to those who want to understand.
2. Book bans and censorship in general are the issues whose escalation to terrifying levels-- that we bear some of the blame in. Wait, wait?!?!? Becky, we are trying to stop the book banners. Why are you accusing us of making them happen in larger numbers. Well, quite frankly, our inability to constantly communicate what we do, why we do it, and why it is important in a free, democratic society plays a large part in this issue. If we had been out in front of communicating our worth and explaining ourselves to the general public-- for you know, the century plus we have existed-- we would not be in as bad a shape as we are now. Just think about all of the times in the past when a dumpster of weeded books was photographed somewhere and people went all angry on how we throw out books. We have never solved that problem. It still happens. AND IT IS OUR FAULT. We have never gotten in front of  the weeding controversies-- not even to our supporters. And now.... book bans are the next step.

Use Jensen's article to help you do better on this major issue-- both be proactive and speaking to our known supporters. Use all of the information here today as well. Use it to craft a plan for your library in 2025. Commit to communication.

Back tomorrow and the 27th with some final best of the year lists. 

Reading Resolutions 2024: Part 2-- 2024 Goals

Yesterday I began the process of posting my 2024 reading resolutions by first looking back and assessing how I did on my 2023 resolutions. You can read that post here.

Today, I am using what I learned by assessing how last year went, and knowing what things I have planned for the coming year, I present my 2024 Goals-- the ones I will hold myself to for assessment a year from now. I use the term "reading resolutions" to keep the posts as similar as possible from year to year, but really this process is more akin to goal setting. However, since my work is defined by my mission, "training library workers to help leisure readers," reading is at the center of it all.

Please remember, I post both my assessment of the year that was and the upcoming year on back-to-back days so that I am forced to hold myself to account for it all, but also because I am a big proponent of the "lead by example" leadership style. If I am advocating for you to make resolutions and then go back and assess how you did before making the next year's resolutions, I also have to do it myself.

These are my resolutions and goals for 2024. I create these for myself specifically; however, I hope you can use them to help you craft resolutions that will work best for you.

Finally, I want to make a plea to do resolutions or goals for yourself no matter how you are feeling. They do not have to be lofty. I love this post from 2022 in Book Riot, with easily achievable reading resolutions. These are no stress, and may seem silly on first glance, but I think they are great. Having something as a goal gives you direction and encouragement to keep moving forward. Small victories add up to larger advancements. 

Okay now on to my 4 official resolutions for 2024:

2024 Resolution: Get Back to Reading More Than Just Horror

I gave myself a reading goal break in 2023 because of my service on the ACM selection committee in 2022. As mentioned both in my Best Books I read in 2023 post, and yesterday's post, that left me feeling energized at the start of the year, but a little disappointed by the end. I need to recalibrate and make sure I am reading more widely, for my own pleasure. I need to remember that reading is not just for work, and making sure I always have a "want to" read ready just in case is going to be high on my list of priorities. I do have more time to read for fun now that I do not have events to attend on a regular basis for my children, so the timing here is good both being 2 years out from the ACM and being in the "empty nest."

2024 Resolution: Double Down on Myself

Last year I had a goal to be open minded about big changes in my life, but this year, I know have to really think about what that means tangibly. 

As I mentioned yesterday, I took one big step in this direction by investing in my physical space, turning the kids former playroom into an official office, with a door. Although as of this writing, it is not completely done, I am able to use it every day and I can already see how much better and more efficiently I work without using a living room convertible set-up which I had to set up and take down every day.

While I already see improvements, I am going to be honest here, I had to be convinced to spend the money to do this renovation. The idea seemed good but when we sat down to make it happen, it seemed like a lot of money. It took my husband's encouragement and his reminder that it was not as much money as I thought if I broke it down over 10 years, by month, and looked at it as monthly business overhead. Of course he was correct, it is very inexpensive in that light, but the process of him having to help me see it was a reminder that I have not doubled down on myself in a long time.

In fact, thinking about it, it was way back in 2015, when I decided to leave the library and do this job full time when I last doubled down on myself, and the same thing happened back then-- he was all for the change before I was ready. As I ended the year starting the construction project, it made me reflect on that time back in 2015. I also realized that 2024 will be year 9 of me doing consulting as my full time job. This timing, on the precipice of a decade, seems like the right time to really think about what I want for myself, personally and professionally, for the next 10 years of this job. 

The last time I put myself first it worked out. This knowledge is leading me to do it again. Having a dedicated office will give me the physical space and provide a mental reminder, that 2024 is the year I give RA for All my full attention as I close out my first decade as a full time consultant.

To this end, I am also actively pursuing a brand new project this year. I have only mentioned it to 1 other person, but I think it is the right thing for me to do in 2024 and is the definition of doubling down on myself. Hopefully, I can share more during this calendar year. 

2024 Resolution: Say No More Often (Without Feeling Guilty)

This resolution goes hand in hand with doubling down on myself and what I need to be successful. I cannot double down on myself without being intentional on how much I can handle

I am very busy. I am close to being too busy. I want to be able to control it all before I have to make tougher choices that I am prepared to do. But I do have some big choices this coming year in terms of committing to longer term appointments and I want to make the best choice, not a choice dictated by being burnt out. I am in control of what I do and don't do since I am my own boss and I need to remember that. (Again a combo with the goal before this as well.)

This goal is more than just saying no though, I am actively working with others to allow them to take over things people count on me to do. For example, since 2023, I have been training others to run Librarians' Day at StokerCon because I knew I would miss this year's event for my daughter's college graduation. 

I am looking at this way of "saying no" as a transition to allowing others to take the leads and thrive in things I have run for years. If I want to grow my professional work and take on new projects, I have to find ways to allow the other projects I have been involved with to thrive with new leadership. I am always mentoring people, but this is more than that. This is figuring out ways to make room for others in the spaces where I have been leading, preparing them for success, and stepping back as they make it their own.

And yes, there will be some saying no more often. I have already said no to a few things for 2024 for reasons way smaller than my daughter graduating college.

I also want to give Robin Bradford credit for this resolution as well. We spent a few days sharing a room at NELA and had long conversations about 2024 and what our priorities were together and separate. She is much better at saying no than I am, but she also has a full time job on top of her consulting, so I think it was easier for her to get there. She definitely helped me to take a hard look at myself and saying no for the right reasons. Thanks Robin.

2024 Resolution: Start Planning For When I am No Longer "Officially" in Libraries

2025 is looming in front of me as the year when 10 years after leaving daily library work to do full-time consulting, I will no longer have any official affiliation with a library. My 6th consecutive term as a Library Trustee will end and I am not running for re-election. With that, my affiliation with RAILS in an official capacity will also end. That will be happening May 1, 2025 (interestingly it is also 60 days before I will turn 50). You think this is a long way off but I need to start thinking about how I will function professionally after this date, and waiting until Jan 1, 2025 will be too late. 

One of the best things I had to help me with the transition from working in a library in 2015 to working for myself was that I was a Library Trustee and I could keep all of my affiliations. I am not running for reelection in 2025, but that means I need 2024 to figure out what I need to do to prepare for this. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is HUGE. For example, do I want to go back into a physical library part-time. I think the answer to that is no, but maybe I still want to keep those official ties to my libraries and the system. If so, I need to consider this option. I have 100% ruled out being a Library Director though. I was still holding back a 20% chance it could happen, but I spent real time thinking about it and I am 100% in the no camp on that front.

My plan is that as I hit one year to go milestones during 2024, I will use those moments to reflect and plan. I know I can stay involved with ILA as much as I want as a member and can transition from the Executive Board to committee work for as long as I want, but I suspect there are more ways that I can help the library and book worlds, things I haven't even considered yet. Without monthly Board meetings and the daily concerns about my local library, I will have time to think more broadly and possibly serve in different spheres.

The important point here though is, I need to have some type of plan by the end of 2024 as to where I want to focus my energies because quitting everything cold turkey, is not a plan for success. Also, as I said above, 2025 is also the year I turn 50 which is a psychological milestone, but one that could cloud my judgment if I don't plan ahead.

There you have it-- my official 2024 Resolutions and Goals. I will be returning here often throughout the year, but for sure, I will be back here with all of you at the start of 2025 to see how it all went.

But before I go, I am seeing an overall trend for the goals and I wanted to note it here-- a move toward intentionally putting myself first. Looking back to last year, this makes even more sense. In 2023, I began the transition to having to balance being a mom and run a company to just working during the day. Now that I have experienced it for a few months, I can see that the transition to working every day without interruptions from kids living at home would be better served by intentionally putting myself and my needs first. I will make better decisions about where to take my company and direct my attention to better train library workers, if I reframe how I look at work. 

But again, to help all of you think about your goals, this realization that all of my Goals have an overall theme, is only possible if you spend the time to assess and reflect. Please do not make Goals for 2024 in a vacuum without thinking about 2023, and even 2022 and 2021. As I have demonstrated over the last several years by putting myself out there as an example, when you spend the time to look backwards before moving forward, your forward process will move more smoothly. You will also make more attainable goals as they build off on one and other over time. It is a marathon, not a sprint. You cannot get to where you want to go with leaps, it takes one step at a time, and not all of them go forward, but more will than not if you are intentional.

At least that is the over all goal for this exercise. I guess we will all see in a year.

Tomorrow, back to more regular programming.