The Busiest Time of the Year

I think many would say the holiday season is the busiest time of the year.  I beg to differ.  For many I know, it is January.

Why January?  It’s the time of the year when all starts anew.  Those in education are preparing lesson plans for the new semester and then implementing the plans.  Students are preparing to go back to school or college and then starting back.  In the latter’s case, college students, whether undergraduate, doctoral, or in between, must get their new text books and start reading them.  They will also start planning for large projects assigned by the professors. Then for many, they make New Year’s resolutions and work hard at keeping them in January, thought those plans may falter later.

Students Studying at the Bissel Library, American College of Thessaloniki. From a Flickr Creative Commons Search.

For those of us in libraries, the use of our services dies down during the holiday season but picks up again right after.  Why?  Many want to spend that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas with their families.  Plus time normally spent reading is diverted to other things, such as decorating, baking holiday treats, and wrapping presents.  After all that is complete, readers want their books back.  Also, it is not unusual for a new shipment of books for circulation to come in right after the holidays.  With the exception of the previous sentence, the same is true for those I know working in archives and the time spent reading would be substituted for researching.

So how is your January going?  I know mine is keeping me busy.  Just as the month started, we received nearly 400 donated large print books and I have been busy cataloging them.  I have also worked on finalizing my large print purchase order for the quarter.  As my library is part of state government, we have also been dealing with the government transition as all of our bosses above the library level are new.  Then add to this my goal of bringing a more accessible library website online and it’s been busy!  At least the latter is finally schedule to happen before the month is out!  Then I am preparing for my library’s book clubs to start a new season in February (you are going to hear about one of these books next week) and helping to organize our adult winter reading program, which starts next week.

Outside of work, a few other things make January busy.  After those holidays, I too begin reading more again.  I have plowed through several review books, which you will learn about in coming weeks.  I also will do the usual update of committee members to my state’s library association website later in the month.  Then, unique to 2017, I also have wedding planning underway.  While quite a bit has been accomplished, the honeymoon was booked this month and we are planning out the music and photos we would like taken.

So again, I ask, how is you January going?  Would you also say it’s the busiest time of the year?  Do you have any big plans for 2017?

 

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