On this last day of the year, I have a few housekeeping items to share. It seems the appropriate time to sum up an assortment of various things before we face the New Year and all those resolutions we dread. I, at least, dread the self-discipline that will be required to keep my resolutions, or the guilt I will endure if I fail to keep them. I usually fail. The guilt doesn’t last long.

First item up for discussion is winter weather. None of us likes it. At least for very long. The first snow is always beautiful, but after that, it begins to lose its appeal. Being on the corner, the library has lots of sidewalk. The parks department works very hard to keep all our sidewalks clear and slip-free. The library staff pitches in during the day to shovel and sprinkle salt and sand. We all do our best, but this is Iowa. It is winter. We each decide just how much risk to take every time we venture out of the house.

We want you to visit us at the library. That is what we are here for. Although we do what is possible to keep the entries safe, please use caution. If we have posted a sign in the east door to advise that you use the north door, it is because the east stairs and/or sidewalk are unsafe at that moment. I made the letters on the sign large enough to be read from the street. Please cooperate. It’s your neck, or wrist , or knee at risk.

Not only does the park department staff keep our sidewalk and steps cleared, they now shovel the flat roof of the library. Last winter we had some thawing and freezing that caused an ice dam to form on the roof that blocked some drains. The resulting melting snow trickled down into the building ruining ceiling and making a mess. So, if you run into Todd Lee on the street, give him an “atta boy” for all the shoveling he does around and over the library.

The second item worth mentioning is also winter weather related. We try to keep the library open regardless of weather conditions. However, if we can’t keep the sidewalks and stairs safe for patrons, we close. If the weather is becoming so treacherous, that staff can’t travel home safely, we close. I wanted to adopt a policy that when the depth of the snow exceeds the height of my snow boots, the library would close. Unfortunately (although very generously) the staff offered to take up a collection to buy me taller boots. I dropped it.

When school dismisses early due to bad weather, many children congregate at the library. We are certainly willing to serve as a rendezvous point for parents and children. However, if weather conditions continue to worsen, the library may also close. If you choose to meet your children here, please be prompt. Bad weather can disturb small children and they worry about their safety and that of their parents. Please consider their feelings and ours.

When the library does close early, we notify KHBT. If in doubt, tune in and check.

I was sick several days last week. Nothing serious, just a persistent cold. I’m not sure how I caught it, perhaps from my son in Missouri or my daughter in Georgia. They both had been suffering for a week or more. I read that once a person becomes a parent, he/she will never again be any happier than his/her most unhappy child. It must be true; I caught their colds through the phone lines.

An illness, even such a minor one, brings out the best in one’s friends. Thank you to Demi and Kathy at the library who saw to it that my three big boxes of Christmas gifts got shipped on time. And, thanks, too, to Linda, friend and neighbor, who brought orange juice and dog food so Brady and I could stay at home another day without spreading germs to the whole town, and for asking if I had enough to read.

Thinking about how nice people are brought to mind a book I read recently. The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness by Linda Kaplan and Robin Koval. I may have written about it earlier. This little book reaffirms the reasons that we are nice to one another. I asked each staff member to read it, so we have two copies. Give it a try; it will make you feel good inside.

Several other books along the mind/body theme have just arrived at the library. If your spirits are down, or you have something difficult to deal with, or Santa only left lumps of coal in you stocking, you might want to stop by to check them out:

Quiet Mind:A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation by Susan Piver. This tiny book contains six simple lessons to practice to learn to meditate. Included is an instruction cd. Among the six lessons are tranquility, practice of clear seeing, and the practice of loving kindness. Who doesn’t need more of those?

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. The cover of this one says it will show how to transcend ego to find personal happiness and end conflict That sounds like something we all can use.

A Healing Touch: True Stories of Life, Death and Hospice edited by Richard Russo.

Barbara & Susan’s Guide to the Empty Nest: Discovering New Purpose, Passion & Your Next Great Adventure by Barbara Rainey & Susan Yates. Aren’t we all looking for that “next great adventure”?

You Don’t Have to Be Wrong For Me to Be Right by Brad Hirschfield. I saw the author interviewed on television recently. He seemed very wise for a young(ish) man. I’m looking forward to reading this book.

Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression by James Gordon. The reviews and recommendations on the book jacket are all by well-respected doctors and authors. This book has something to offer.

Comfort: A Journey Through Grief by Ann Hood. Following the unexpected death of her small daughter, Ann Hood fell into deep grief. In this book she writes of the places her family found comfort during the grieving process. I opened this one to read a page or two. Ten minutes later I could barely pull myself away to finish typing. I’ll finish it and have it back on the shelf before you read this article. I’m warning you: it grips a mother’s heart.

One day last week a big box of new books arrived. This particular box was brimming with shiny new children’s books. Oh, the illustrations! Children’s books get more and more captivating with every generation.

The interesting part of that book shipment lay at the bottom of the box. A fat stack of invoices meant for the Queens, New York Public Library was somehow misdirected to us. That happens every once in a while. Last time it was a bunch for some small town in Texas. Unfortunately, invoices for our own purchases always seem to arrive here promptly.

The Queens invoices made interesting reading. They were addressed to the Manager of the Urban Fiction Department. Can you imagine? Not only is urban fiction so popular that it requires its own department, but it has its own staff! It sounds fairly self-explanatory, but I had never even heard of the term urban fiction.

A few days later I came across an article from the New York Times explaining urban fiction and the storm that it is creating in libraries. The latest wave of urban fiction, also known as Street Lit or Gangsta fiction, began in the late 1990s. One article I read said that urban fiction contains all of George Carlin’s seven dirty works with all their urban variations.

Originally it was mostly self-published and sold at street vendors and newsstands. Author Pamela M. Johnson sold her first urban novel from the trunk of her car. She parlayed that one book into Macavelli Press which specializes in publishing her books and the works of other urban authors. When library patrons started demanding this genre at the Queens library, librarians were forced from their computers and fax machines out onto the street to buy up what they could find.

The Queens Public Library has the largest circulation of all libraries in the country. Last year they checked out more than 21,000,000 books and other items. Those street-wise librarians are doing something right. They are meeting the information needs and wants of their customers with the right materials purchases.

That is the goal of all librarians. To have the right book or movie for every user on the shelf at all times. It isn’t financially possible, however. When Oprah announces a new book club selection, we can’t buy 40 copies so that every reader will find one when he or she comes in. We try to make an educated guess and buy the numbers of each that we feel will best meet our community’s needs. Right now I can’t see too many Humboldt readers are ready for urban fiction. However, there are some great new books coming out in January that are right up our alley:

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. A novel that swings back and forth between 1986 and World War II era. It’s both a love story and a classic father-son story.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker. A first novel for Baker. It is the story of Truly and her sister, Serena Jane. Due to a medical issue Truly grows and grows and grows beyond normal size. One reviewer states that the book has a “plangent” quality. I looked it up….a loud reverberating sound or having an expressive quality.

They Have Killed Papa Dead: The Road to Ford’s Theatre, Abraham Lincoln’s Murder and the Rage for Vengeance by Anthony S. Pitch

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich. Evanovich started out including a number (One for the Money; Two for the Dough)in the title of each of her novels about Stephanie Plum. Apparently she was afraid she would run out of numbers before Plum ran out of adventures. She started adding a few between-the-numbers titles, too.

Don’t forget to stop in to see all the beautiful wreaths decorated by our library patrons!

A few Saturdays ago, I checked out a book that came highly recommended by a person whose reading taste I admire and appreciate. I took it home, but I wasn’t sure that I would read it. It doesn’t have a very engaging cover. I hadn’t heard anything about either the book or its author. It looks like the sort of book college English professors would read. In their corduroy jackets with suede elbow patches, in front of a fireplace, sipping cognac. A book so full of symbolism and metaphors that I wouldn’t be smart enough to understand.

The book was a true surprise. It is almost 500 pages long and I was pretty busy at the time. It took almost three weeks to read it. Once I opened the cover I didn’t want to stop reading. I didn’t quite grasp all the symbolism and I’m sure I missed most of the metaphors, but I enjoyed it anyway. I felt that this book deserved a full-fledged book review, not just a quick paragraph, so, here goes:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Translated by Lucia Graves 487p. Penguin Books, New York $15.00 9780143034902

The book opens in Barcelona, Spain, 1945. Ten year old Daniel’s bookseller father takes him to visit the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

“According to tradition, the first time someone visits this place, he must choose a book, whichever he wants, and adopt it, making sure that it will never disappear, that it will always stay alive.”

Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Shortly, he begins to receive very lucrative purchase offers for the book. It seems that someone named Lain Coubert has set about to destroy all copies of all the works of this author. Very few remain.

While trying to protect and preserve his copy of The Shadow of the Wind, Daniel becomes mesmerized by the life story of the author, Julian Carax. Like peeling the layers of an onion, Daniel uncovers the passions, disappointments and conflicts of Carax’s life.

Along the way Daniel has a few episodes of unrequited love, some huge conflicts and humiliations himself. He forms an arch enemy in the chief inspector of the Barcelona crime squad, Francisco Javier Fumero. He rescues another of Fumero’s victims, Fermin Romero de Torres. Fermin, who several times suffers mightily at Fumero’s hand, provides comic relief throughout the book.

Zafon effectively portrays the mood of a scene. Rain, fog, sleet. Each plays a role to evoke atmosphere. His characters are often less transparent. Each seems to harbor a secret that is difficult to discern. The need to discover the past of each of the actors in this drama is what keeps the pages turning late into the night.

On the last page comes the following quote that sums up the magic relationship readers have with their books:

“I leafed through the pages, inhaling the enchanted scent of promise that comes with all new books, and stopped to read the start of a sentence….”