Challenge Yourself!

Everybody loves a challenge, or so the saying goes, but...have you ever considered challenging yourself when it comes to your reading? 

I remember hearing about the Million Word Challenge from my son's school and in that case, the challenge was to encourage students to read outside of school.  

They were to keep track of the books read, the number of pages in each, and the number of words on a page (choosing a random page and using that as the average). 

I loved the idea—and still do—and this reading challenge led me to seek out others. 

To expand your horizons, get out of your reading rut, (insert your metaphor here), and give some new authors a try, there's the A to Z author challenge.  

For this, you read authors whose last names begin with a different letter of the alphabet.   

Admittedly, finding an author for X is a little tough, but a quick search of the Sarris Library catalog shows that we have a couple and we can always request others through the ILL system. 

If reading 26 new-to-you authors is more than you want to take on, consider challenging yourself to try new genres—one a month isn't much, and there's a world of books out there just waiting to be discovered. 

Maybe you'd prefer to challenge yourself in another way and learn a new skill? 

If that's the case, the library can certainly help you out! Not only do we have books on a wide variety of topics, we have a number of classes coming up, too. 

For instance, you can learn to decoupage next Saturday (Feb. 25) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is your chance to use Mod Podge to decorate a 4-inch box and lid.  The following week (11 a.m. March 3), the library offers a class to demonstrate how to make scented bath guest soaps and the week after that, the topic is candy making. 

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day (March 10), participants will learn how to make molded candies.

Note: Pre-registration is requested for these programs. The classes are intended for adults and 11th and 12th grade students and each has a $2 per-person fee.