Master Storyteller

Quick!  Go get a copy...

I cannot get my mind off Louis Zamperini’s story.  Every time I feel grumpy or tired I flash to his years of struggling to survive in a disintegrating life raft on the Pacific Ocean or in a brutal Japanese prisoner of war camp in the 1940s.  Then I feel so ashamed of myself that I immediately smile and adjust my attitude.  

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, is beautifully written and completely riveting, I can’t wait to get in the car and turn on the CD (I have even been volunteering to run errands so I can get more car time - pathetic).  This is an author that knows how to tell a story.  

When Hillenbrand came out with Seabiscuit, 10 years ago, I remember cheering at the top of my lungs as I listened to the hoof-by-hoof account of Seabiscuit winning Santa Anita.  My husband recalls times he sat in the driveway because the story was too good to turn off.   

That year, for Christmas, I got a Seabiscuit ‘action figure’ to set up on my bureau (I was 34).

I can tell an author is gifted when they write about a subject that I have absolutely no interest in and I fall in love with it.  Horseracing was not the least bit interesting to me until I became a Seabiscuit groupie.  And now I can’t learn enough about prisoners of war, WWII battles and Louis Zamperini.  What an incredible gift...the ability to tell a story so well that it changes the lives of the people who read it, inspires them, gives them hope and connects them to a history that they would have never experienced without you.

Laura Hillenbrand spent seven years researching Unbroken.  This doesn’t seem surprising at all now that I have read the book.  Woven through each harrowing chapter are letters, diary entries, historical accounts and detailed descriptions.  In addition to all the reading, Hillenbrand spent hours on the phone with Zamperini himself, listening to the fascinating details of his remarkable life. 

The book makes you feel as if you are running alongside Zamperini in Berlin, learning to fly a B24, pounding sharks on the head and crawling to your plank inside filthy barracks for another frigid night.  Hillenbrand’s writing invites you to experience each challenge for yourself.

A racehorse and a prisoner of war might not seem like they have a lot in common, but Seabiscuit and Zamperini were cut from the same fast cloth.  They both overcame enormous hardships, struggled through one challenge after the next and came out winners.  Zamperini endured years of suffering without losing hope.  He faced each day’s challenges anew and persevered through starvation, abuse, humiliation, terror and exhaustion.  

In a Voice of American interview, Hillenbrand explained that because of severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, she is confined to her home in Virginia.  She writes about subjects that let her escape her physical suffering and offer her hope for overcoming adversity. Writing about Seabiscuit and Zamperini have given her the chance to study how athletes face difficulties without being crushed by them.  The book is a lesson in taking one day at a time, dealing only with the immediate crisis in front of you and finding small pockets of refuge wherever they may be hiding.  Good advice for everyone.

I only have one more question - where can I get a Louis Zamperini action figure?

What You Can Do When You're Distracted By A Great Book

I did it.  It wasn’t pretty, or even very pleasant, but I finished my second Buffalo Marathon yesterday with a respectable time and no trips in the ambulance - I consider that a success.  

The week before the race I was right on track.  My training had been going pretty well, I was getting plenty of sleep and just starting to ramp up my eating and fluids.  I had a strategy that I hoped would allow me to beat my time from last year (4:16) and I felt confidence.  That’s when I got the stomach bug.  I knew it was floating around my classroom because both teachers I work with had both been out sick during the week but I thought I might be strong enough to fight it off.  No such luck.  

Going into Sunday’s race I hadn’t been able to eat much or keep much down and Gatorade was giving me sharp stomach cramps.  Unfortunately, one of my greatest assets as a runner is my ability to eat while I run.  My typically steel stomach usually is happy to accept Powerbars, energy Gu, fruit and Gatorade during a four hour run.  This talent keeps my muscles happy and energized long after the starting line.  But now I had a problem.  Not only had I not been able to fuel up the days before the race but now I couldn’t risk eating during the race either.  More than anything I wanted to finish, not end up double over in Delaware Park or camped out in a port-a-potty.  So I kept my fingers crossed, sipped water and sucked on jellybeans as I plodded through each mile.  Not surprisingly, before I got to the halfway mark I could feel my leg muscles protesting and my IT band tightening up on the edge of my knee.  I poured some water over my head and just kept moving forward.

Then I turned on my secret weapon,   The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.  The book had just been released as a audio book at the library and I snapped it up and put it on my ipod.  Soon I was lost in Amy Chua’s interesting, honest story about parenting her Chinese American daughters.  My legs moved on autopilot as I mulled over Amy’s choices for her kids and I thought about all the mistakes I have made as  a mother and all the things I was going to do better if I survived the morning.  

When I started running, a few years ago, I noticed that during my long practice runs it helped to have something consuming to listen to, it allowed my mind to leave my body for a while, to take a trip and forget about how I was feeling physically.  So I started “saving” the books that I really wanted to read (or listen) to enjoy during a marathon.  Strangely enough, the hours spent running became a treat instead of a punishment.  When else do busy working mothers get to listen to great books without interruptions?  Soon I had heard all the best sellers and improved my running times.  

The miles ticked by as the story unfolded.  Amy recounted her obsessive mothering and explained  her daughter’s conflicted responses in stories that sounded eerily familiar to me.  I laughed out loud as she explained her long term goals for the family dog.   Before I knew it, I rounded the corner and saw mile marker 21.  Only five more miles to go and I felt like I was running on burning toothpicks that were ready to give out with the next step.  I put Amy on hold and went to Eminem for help.  Thankfully a surge of adrenaline washed over me as he screamed for me to keep going “Till I Collapse”.  I got tough, copped an attitude and sang along with him, ignoring the strange looks of the people on the street as I shuffled past mile marker 25.  

During the last mile I turned off my ipod so I could soak up every sight and sound of the experience.  Now I knew I would finish, I knew I had pushed myself beyond the limits of what I thought I could do and reached a new milestone.  I never felt so great and so terrible at the same time as I ran toward the finish.  The loudspeaker announced, “Here comes Brooke Harris with a big smile on her face” and I sprinted weakly to the line while the strangers in the crowd cheered wildly.

Pride and sweat poured off me as I limped back to the car and head home for a hot shower and a nap.   Amy, Eminem and I had done it.

Library Disciple Discoveries

My job as a library disciple is to read, think and learn from the libraries I visit each week.  Instead of churning through one library after the next on a whirlwind tour, I’m trying to take some lessons to heart put them into practice.  Here’s what the library taught me this week:

• Be Grateful.  Life is so much more pleasant when you wake up thinking about all the blessings you have instead of all the challenges you face.  This week I thought about how lucky I was to have my job as a teacher.  It is the most exhausting job I have ever had - each day brings new challenges, confrontations, tears, frustrations and hours of talking and answering questions (mostly the same questions as the day before, “when are we going outside?”, “is it lunchtime?”, “do you have candy?”).  But my job also brings small victories, discovery, enlightenment and joy.  When a student looks up from a project and says, “this is really fun!”  I get goosebumps.  When they want to talk about the characters in our chapter book on the walk to the bus, I am elated.  And when  they tell me they love 4th grade I know I am doing the right thing each morning and I am grateful.

• Accept Yourself.  You probably wouldn’t guess that Lady Gaga’s on my playlist, but she is - a few times.  My new favorite is “Born This Way” and reminded me of the dimensions of personality I read about this week.  It’s more than a little reassuring to think that parts of our personalities are hardwired and we don’t have to struggle to change ourselves to be someone ‘more acceptable’.  Not to say that we can’t improve and move forward but some people are born libraries and some people come out as amusement parks - that is just the way it is.  I’m certainly not a religious person but Gaga’s message of “loving who you are” and not hiding in regret is powerful - and beside, it has a great beat (I’ll be using it to pick up the pace in tomorrow’s marathon!)

• Set Priorities.  Who you become comes from the choices you make today.  LEED libraries are a perfect metaphor.  To end up with a environmentally friendly building, architects start by working on a thoughtful, detailed plan that incorporates their priorities.  Each element of the design and construction is held up to their long term goal and considered.  Our days should follow the same  pattern - are we doing the things that are most important to us, that will help us reach our goals or are we wandering the aisles of the grocery store in search of the ‘right’ breakfast cereal, folding socks and scrubbing the bathroom.  I love cereal, matching socks and having a clean house but they are not my priorities and there will never be enough time to do everything perfectly.  My chores come last, after I have taken care of my priorities. 

The Mind Body Connection

photo by Bill Timmerman

I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember.  Since I could walk and talk books and libraries have been a major part of my life.

Running, on the other hand, is something new.  I began running, very gradually, at 41 as a way to strengthen the muscles in my legs.  As I got stronger I started down the slippery slope of a running addiction.  

After learning to run 5 miles, in a row, I decided to challenge myself with a ‘real race’, a turkey trot at the high school - and the feeling of accomplishment was too much to ignore.  Within a year I was running a marathon, slowly but surely.  And now I’m psyched to race my third marathon this weekend in Buffalo.  

When people ask me why I run (especially in the winter) I tell them the truth, ‘It makes me feel good’.  How can something so physically grueling make you feel good?  It’s the magic of the body-mind connection:  what’s good for your body is good for your brain, and visa versa.  During my marathons I've had huge bursts of adrenaline, elation and joy (maybe that’s the caffeine?), I’ve connected with other runners and felt so proud of myself as I ticked off the miles - there is nothing else that I do that compares with the experience.  No matter how blah I feel at the end of the day a run lifts my spirits and keeps me on track to run my next race.

Most people have accepted the mind body connection as reality but,  before today, I haven’t seen many organizations join together to offer one stop shopping.  

Palo Verde Library/Maryvale Community Center take the body mind connection to a whole new wonderful level.  Palo Verde is another ‘landmark library’ from the Library Journal’s newly released list and I hope it is a harbinger of things to come in the library world.  

According to the Library Journal the new library was built on a “disheveled park” next to a pool in an inner city Phoenix neighborhood.  A breezeway connects the library to the Maryvale Community Center - a new facility that includes basketball courts, dance studios, a walking track, senior lounge and multipurpose rooms.     

The project, designed by Gould Evans and Wendell Burnette Architects, places the twin buildings side by side with their front doors facing one another.  Because the Park Departments and the library worked together they were able to share some extras that neither could afford on their own:  an auditorium, staff lounge, weight room and health office.  

And a benefit of having the buildings in the same complex is that they’re both attracting new customers!  The basketball players are loping in for books and magazines and the bookworms are pulling on sweats starting to move.  It could be the convenience the community needs to start all sorts of new healthy habits.  The town has been invested in the project from the start.  The space is designed to offer families a safe space to learn and grow, to rejuvenate the neighborhood, increase quality of life and it won’t hurt property values a bit.

Palo Verde is a new library breed, all about “openness”, innovation and meeting the REAL needs of the community.  It keeps the library relevant and meaningful in the lives of the next generation and, hopefully, it will get more books into more hands, even if they are sweaty.

How To Find Your Future

photo from Simple Kids

The title of the New York Public Library’s new book is “Know Your Past and Find Your Future”.  A perfect motto for libraries as they struggle to find their place in our rapidly changing culture.  The libraries that I’ve gotten to know this year are finding their future as community gathering places, models of environmental design, resource hubs, job search centers and providers of technology (and yes, they still have some books).  But because they know their past they continue to serve as windows to the world for their patrons, offering innumerable ways for people to learn, connect and grow.    

I wondered how the idea would cross over to the personal realm.  Often we ‘know’ our past too well, it becomes a burden instead of a blessing.  And it can be even harder to “find our future”.  It’s not like our future is just sitting out in the world somewhere with our name on it, waiting for a pick up (wouldn’t that be nice?).  There are so many choices, so many paths not taken...how can we tell if we are on the right track?

• Start with your values - what is important to you, what are your beliefs, what do you hold dear?  Figure this out before you go any further.  If you don’t know your values you won’t be able to honestly evaluate your choices.  There is a great career values checklist at Arizona State University’s website. If you want to start from scratch with all your values try Douglas Wagner’s checklist.  It allows you to select traits and then narrow them down to arrive your core set.

• Is you life in line with your values?  If it is then you’re on the right track and you probably feel pretty happy, congratulations!  If not, you need to do some thinking, and make some adjustments to the areas that are offline.  Maybe your personal life is in sync but your job make you feel like a fake.  Or maybe you have a great relationship with your spouse but you’re not connecting with your children.  Pinpoint the areas that are outside of your value comfort zone. 

• If your past is painful let it go.  It’s over.  No amount of crying or wishing will change anything that has happened.  The only thing you’ll do is ruin you present moment and limit your future.  Blaming yourself, or others won’t change the past, it will just make you miserable.  Be vigilant about your thoughts and don’t let negative memories get in your way.

• If your past is comforting than use it to spur you forward.  Many years ago, when I taught preschool, I was introduced to a teacher/guru named Bev Bos.  I went to see her talk about her community school in Roseville California.  Her school, books and music embody the creative, imaginative, open spirit and during the workshop she sang to us.  I have never forgotten the lyrics to one song (and I forget everything), “may your memories wrap their arms around you, may your childhood take you by the hand.  And may what you remember find healing when it hurts and your memories protect when they can.”

• Think about what you loved to do when you were a kid.  Experts offer this advice because it cuts through all the “shoulds” and “coulds” and reminds you of things that you really enjoy.  Think way back to what you gravitated to as a child...art, sports, books, babysitting, making money, adventure?  Try to pinpoint what part of the activity you really liked; were you any good at it?  If you liked it and you’re good at it then its a great career avenue to explore.  If you liked it and you’re not so good at it, do it for fun!

• Stop thinking so much and say YES to anything that makes you happy, then do it.  Sometimes too much introspection is paralyzing and can hook you into a downward spiral.  If you’re doing something (anything) you enjoy it will make you feel better and often opportunities will start opening up.  This will get you headed down the path to a future that fits your values and makes you feel good to be alive.

Reading makes me happy, so I’m taking action and heading to the porch to enjoy some essays in “Know Your Past and Find Your Future”.

Learning? I thought I was just having fun...

I swear that I am trying to stay away from the New York Public Library.  
I’m trying to boldly go into all the library corners of our vast and diverse country.
But the problem is that the NYPL might just be the coolest place on the planet and I keep getting drawn back by all the fun they are having and all the neat stuff they have squirreled away in their collection.

To kick off a 100th anniversary most institution would plan a media blitz, do interviews or maybe host an open house to create some excitement.  But, like I said, the creative minds at the NYPL are all about having fun.  They are determined to show the citizens of NYC that the library is not just about lifelong learning, strong communities and getting smarter it is about the joy of curiosity, reflection and connecting.

So, on May 19th, to begin their anniversary party, the library unveiled 25,000 copies of their new paperback, “Know the Past, Find the Future”, at the main library, ninety library branches and five subway stations.  The book is a remarkable collection of essays written by 100 famous New Yorkers explaining their favorite item from the library’s collection.  

The writers are as eclectic as the library collection itself … Laurie Anderson, the Harlem Globetrotters, Calvin Trillin, Roy Blount, Jr. and Lou Reed represent the diversity of interests that the library fuels.  The book demonstrates that this institution is truly a “repository of human memory” - the grandma’s attic of the city.  Some of the treasures that writers selected include historical menus, the original Winnie-the-Pooh, The Declaration of Independence, Charles Dicken’s cat paw letter opener,  music and, of course, books, books and more books (read a delightful excerpt from Colum McCann).

I cannot wait to get my hands (or at least my eyes) on this book.  

BUT the centennial planners piled on another hip twist.  Each book includes a note that instructs the reader to leave the book somewhere in the city for another lucky reader to find when they have finished reading.  And, in a nod to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,  eight copies of the book have a hidden voucher worth $400, for 25 penguin books.  How’d you like to find that at the bus stop?

What makes this project so cool?  It’s definitely fun, creative, and interesting.  But that’s old news in education. The ‘teachers’ at NYPL take it to the next level.  Learning about the library’s collection is effective because the project engages people in hands-on discovery and requires active participation (everyone loves a scavenger hunt), taps into the public’s interest in celebrities (of all types) and the possibility of a surprise.  For me it’s a lesson in planning engaging, motivating lessons for my students - not because I have to, but because it transforms the learning process in an enjoyable game.  Of course the objects in the collection are inherently interesting (not like teaching long division) but the approach doesn’t try to convince people to learn, it hooks them with their own motivation, they want to learn because the lesson is irresistible.

I hope teachers and librarians around the country are paying attention, I certainly am!

Ingredients of a Personality

photo from fitceleb.com

The slippery question of personality got me thinking …
is telling someone they have a “great personality” an insult or a compliment?  And what do we mean when we say it?

There are 5  basic dimensions of personality that researchers have agreed upon over the last 50 years, each dimensions can be measured on a scale from “a pinch” to “a heap”.  It’s like making a salad, you start out with the greens and then start adding.  Some salads have a few veggies sprinkled on top and others are packed full of every color of the rainbow.  The basic ingredients of our personalities are:

• Extroversion:  are you a chatty social butterfly or a quiet homebody?
• Agreeableness:  are you always helping others,  trustworthy and passing out hugs?
• Conscientiousness:  do you love “to do” lists, organization and setting goals?
• Neuroticism:  are you moody, anxious and have trouble regulating your emotions?
• Openness:  are you imaginative, independent, curious and creative?

Each trait is a continuum of behavior and, of course, your environment makes a big difference in how you react BUT can’t you see yourself right away?  AND this brings me right back to my ‘vibe theory’ and the characters in the 100 Acre Wood who seem to embody each dimension.  Which is particularly interesting since Winnie the Pooh was published in 1926.

So, what is a “great” personality?  
What kind of people do you like to be around?

Of course there is some variation but we all probably can agree that we enjoy being around friendly, outgoing people who care about us and help us out when we need it.  It usually doesn’t hurt if they make us laugh, act spontaneously, are enthusiastic and introduce us to new things.

Most of us probably avoid people who walk around with long to-do lists, always follow the rules, have mood swings and have followed the same routine for the last 10 years.

So how about the library?

• Libraries really have to be conscientious, just like Dewey taught us; a place for everything and everything in it’s place, otherwise they’d just be a pile of books in a room.  Librarians also have to keep the peace so everyone’s slice of library heaven is protected.

• The new library make a huge effort to include extroverted space for people to gather, talk, hear lectures, watch movies and even play games. Some libraries have to have quiet rooms just so us introverts can get away from all the action!

• Libraries have consistently increased their caring quotient - looking for ways that they can help people connect with the services they need to improve their lives...but there is generally not a lot of touchy feelie stuff going on a the library (maybe in the children’s room).  The ‘agreeableness’ quotient comes from the books.

• Openness is the element that I see being the big difference between a library with personality and one without.  Is the library imaginative?  Creative?  Fun?  Inventive?  Culturally open?  Is it willing try new things?    This is the dimension that draws patrons into a library, or any building.  Openness encourages us to relax, play and enjoy the beauty in our world.

So when I think a library has “personality” what I’m really appreciating is it openness to creativity and inventiveness as well as it ability to honestly reflect the unique community it serves.  A library demonstrates this by the environment it creates (inside and outside) and the materials it selects.   For me the others dimensions are minor players.

And when I think of my own personality I could say the same thing - I appreciate myself when I am more relaxed, open and creative, I know I am more fun to be around (even for myself).  For me the challenge is remembering to stay open and relaxed while juggling the busy-ness of each day.  

Why Some Libraries (and people) have "More" Personality

Photo by Robert Dawson

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for the new library paradigm.  Many years spent in dark, stuffy libraries have taught me to rejoice in the colorful, modern, fresh, environmentally friendly spaces that are now considered the new libraries norm.  Any community would be lucky to have one of these ‘new improved’ spaces and any reader would love spending the afternoon in one.  

But I started to get a little deja vue after a few tours... LEED certified, bright sunny windows, tons of technology, bright colors, flexible public spaces, lovely artwork, sleek furniture...they were almost too perfect...they lacked personality.

Libraries, like any building, can be packed with personality.  Remember the phone box in England?  How about H.H. Richardson’s cluster of Massachusetts libraries?  Or the one in Vermont that used to be a church and a school?  Of course you do, because they had distinctive personalities, they were unique.  And so is the Tuscarora Branch Library, a combination library/post office in the unincorporated town of Tuscarora, NV.  

As I flipped through Robert Dawson’s American Library Project I stopped at the smiling face of the woman, in her post office smock, standing in front of bookshelves piled haphazardly with books.  She looked so friendly, ready to chat and help you find your next good read, or even mail your package.  

What is personality?  
One definition of personality is the characteristics that make us unique; part genetics, part upbringing, part environment - exactly what I’m talking about in context of the library.  The new, green libraries are too similar - even though they are all beautiful, they aren’t quirky or unique. But a tiny sheet metal structure in the middle of the desert is unique.  And even though it’s minuscule, it still has the powerful effect of opening the world up to its patrons.

Behavior theorists believe that part of our personality comes from our interaction with our environment, this could not be any more apparent than in the libraries in across our country.  Libraries are symbols of their communities, they represent the people they serve, usually because those are the people built them.  

Wealthy communities build new fancy schmancy libraries and poor communities make due with anything they can get their hands on.  It is that simple.  The distinction is clear in rural communities but once you move into the city, people and libraries becomes mixed together and the underserved populations benefit from desires of the affluent.  

Honestly, I have  a hard time relating to some of the thriving suburbs that boast beautiful new libraries, weren’t these communities hit by the recession?  Aren’t they struggling with school budgets and unemployment?  I can tell you one thing, we are not building any new libraries in Western New York this year, we’ll be lucky to keep the doors open on the ones we have.

Tuscarora Library represents its quirky community, a Nevada ghost town that hit its prime in 1870 when silver was discovered in the mines.   Chinese miners actually discovered the silver and when they did the town exploded from 200 to 1,500.  In 1878 and 1879 $1 million worth of silver was mined in Tuscarora.   During its prime the mines produced $40 million in silver.  But the bust came came rapidly and just as dramatically.   Tuscarora slowly declined and the mining business turned to brothels and gambling houses, until it eventually it became a ghost town.   Talk about some personality!

We are drawn to people and things with personality because they are interesting.  They are fun to be around, intriguing and different.  If you have ever spent time trapped around a big round table at wedding reception with guests that have no personality you know what I mean.  

Do you have personality?  Well, of course you do, everyone does, but is it really who you are?  Do you relish the things that make you different, or try to fit in with the people you are with?  Are you different, or have you been following the rules for so long that you can’t even remember what makes you special?  

Tuscarora Branch Library is definitely doing its own thing, for better or for worse,  and they’re proud of it.  Are you?

Focus on Your Core

Yosemite Nation Park by Robert Dawson

Books are the heart of the library.
Doesn’t matter if it’s marble or concrete block.
Doesn’t matter if it’s 30 or 30,000 square feet.
Doesn’t matter if it’s a city centerpiece or shares space with the post office.
Books are the heart of the library.

I remembered the books when I saw a tiny part of Robert Dawson’s big, fat, hairy American Public Library Project.  Dawson is an award winning photographer from California who has photographed hundred of libraries since 1994.  His work is currently on exhibition at the San Francisco Library.  The goal of his project is to “explore our culture's relationship to libraries and their role in contemporary American society” and his work makes the changing paradigm of library design clear.  The photos slide across the screen revealing gargoyles, green roofs, bookmobiles, rifle ranges, reading rooms and library trailers. The pictures are a testament to the amazing diversity of American libraries.

But what I was reminded of when I enjoyed his work was that the kernel of every building was a community’s desire to bring books to people.  The reason that people create libraries is, and has been, at least since the Carnegie era, to offer each other the chance to read, learn, grown, think, travel and dream - the shell of the offer matters less than the core.

My favorites portraits from Dawson’s online show?  The library/post office combination in Tuscarora, Nevada, the Brooklyn Library Doors, the library in the woods at Yosemite and interior of the library in Newport, Vermont.  
These tiny slices of library life demonstrate the universal joy that comes from going to the library.

I thought about the people that really counted on their libraries as their only chance to get their hands on  books.  They probably value their libraries even more than the people who have access to acres of book shelves, bookstores and more culture than they could possibly digest.  So, in a way, the smallest, most remote libraries are probably more valued by their patrons that the iconic library monuments in our big cities.  I was struck by how amazingly different the libraries were from each other but how special each one was to it’s community.

Just like our mothers always told us, “It doesn’t matter what’s on the outside, it’s the inside that counts.”
Turns out they were right - again.
Doesn’t really matter what you wear or drive or how your jewelry sparkles.  But what is at your core counts.
Your core is who you really are, what you believe in, what you’ll stand up for, what drive you.
Everyone has a core reason for being (whether they are proud of it or not) but sometimes we lose our focus and get wrapped up in the stuff that doesn’t matter.
Sometimes our core values are lost in the daily shuffle of our busy lives.  
Laundry, cooking, driving, cleaning, working, sleeping all take time and energy away from focusing on our priorities.
My husband, however, is an expert.  His reason for being is sailing.  His core is filled with the lure of water.  That is what he is all about.  Whenever there is an opportunity to go sailing, he takes it.  He has been across the country and around the world sailing.  He has sailed with hundred of people on big boats, little boats, slow boats and rockets.  He is true to himself, makes his choices based on his heart and never worries about his shell, I don’t even think he looks in the mirror (honest!).

Think about what is in your heart, at your core.
Don’t worry about your hair, makeup or clothes - worry about your reason for being.  
Worry about finding your passion.
And when you find it display it on your bookshelf for everyone to see and appreciate.

A New Paradigm

photo from www.msr-making.com

A paradigm is a commonly accepted view of something.  A model of what is typical.
A paradigm shift is a change in thinking, a transformation of the accepted view into something new.
Paradigm shifts are caused by change agents, or things that happen to change people’s perspectives.

In the last century, libraries have experienced a huge paradigm shift.  We have come a long way, baby:

We have learned how our choices effect our environment.
We have learned that our resources are limited.
We have learned that all people deserve equal access to the library.
We have learned that libraries and other buildings can be used flexibly, for many different purposes.
We have learned that libraries should be monuments to communities, not just legacies to individuals.
Last but not least...libraries are FUN!

In the 21st century, when a library is built or renovated people expect them to meet these new criteria.  Gone are the intricate columns, flights of marble steps, acres of precious wood and dark interiors.  In their place we welcome new spaces like the Roseville Library, located outside Minneapolis/St. Paul in Minnesota.

To say that Roseville, MN is a commercial hub is an understatement.  If you need to buy something (anything) you can find it in Roseville.  It is a thriving city with a population of 33,000 and, after shopping, the resident love to go to the library.  In the last twenty years, library circulation increased by 70% and by 2007 there were 234 people stopping by the library every hour it was open.  It is the busiest library in Minnesota.  The county approved a $15.6 million budget, the library received $780,000 in grants and a major renovation began.

Instead of starting over, or tacking on, Roseville went up and added a story.  They were able to reuse 75% of the original building to create what looks like a totally new, fresh, modern library.  They even reused the original roof as the new second story floor!  Check out their photo gallery and if you don’t get excited than check your pulse.  It is the first LEED building in Ramsey County (see my post for more about what this means) and, like the other green libraries I’ve seen, has a young, fun vibe.

So what else did they reuse in Roseville?  For starters they used the sun to light up the interior and rain to water the garden.  They resurfaced an old fireplace from the original library, purchased garden benches made from recycled from milk jugs and chairs made of recycled yogurt containers.  They were even able to recycle 97% of the construction waste so it could be reused!

Our paradigm for re-using is changing as well.
Just like the library we are reconsidering what should be thrown out and what can be recycled or reused.
Rapidly filling landfills are a powerful and frightening change agent.
In the last few decades we have learned that recycling is good but reusing is better.  If you can give an item a second life then you save the time, energy and fuel needed to recycle it.  How can you adapt to this new paradigm?  There are many little ways to get the job done.

How can you reuse

• water:  put a rain barrel in your yard to water the garden or houseplants.
• clothes:  give or use hand me downs, donate to salvation army, have yard sales or save for rags.
• food packaging:  reuse the plastic wrap or bags from vegetables, margarine tubs for leftovers and bread loaf wrappers for lunchbags.
• newspaper:  use as gift wrap or weedblocker in the garden.
• books:  give to the library, school or senior center.
• food scraps:  start a compost heap in your yard.
• gift bags and wrapping paper:  unwrap carefully and use them for your next gift.
• furniture:  try spiffing pieces  up with paint, or recover an old sofa.

Changing paradigms mean we are thinking, learning and growing.  Hopefully they demonstrate that we have found better ways to do things.  Certainly LEED buildings show what is possible is when we reconsider our goals and approach our needs in creative ways.  Reusing doesn’t mean going without.  It means respecting the resources we have and treading more gently on the planet.