June 2011

People collect strange things. There is a man named Graham Barker who has been collecting “navel fluff” since 1984. He’s got jars and jars of the stuff. I just hope it’s all his own. Bob Hiemenz has over 61,000 8-Tracks in his collection. Go ahead kids. I’ll wait for you to go ask your parents to tell you what an 8-Track is. And there is woman who has over 6000 Santa Claus dolls. It takes her almost three weeks to display them all at Christmas time.

So what do I collect? I started collecting angels when I was about 4 or 5 years old, and then I moved on to collecting Hard Rock Café t-shirts as a teenager. As an adult my OCD tendencies kicked in to high gear and I started getting rid of clutter in the house. I don’t really collect anything anymore. Well, I take that back. I do have one small collecting quirk. I have a collection of pictures of myself standing in front of libraries. I have pictures from Scottsdale (AZ), Fox Chapel (PA), Patna, Bihar (India), Spring Green (WI), Plymouth (MA) and Mackinac Island (MI), just to name a few.

What I love about these pictures is that no matter what the outsides of the buildings look like, the insides of the buildings are the same around the country and around the world. This year’s Summer Library Club theme is “One World, Many Stories”. I love that because libraries are the best places in the world to read many different stories. You have plenty of time left in the summer to stop by your Beloit Public Library today and pick up a story or two.

Visit us on the web at www.beloitlibrary.info and be sure to check out these great new books coming soon to the library:

The 100 Best Affordable Vacations by Jane Woolridge. Even in a weakened economy, research shows interest in travel is still strong and this book provides 100 great ways to satisfy your wanderlust without breaking the bank. This book also offers profiles of inspirational travelers, as well as fun, lively sidebars about off-season travel, how to be a traveler and not a tourist, and more. (Product Description)

Dog Days: A Year in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile by Dave Ihlenfeld. It was the ultimate post-college road trip: a year-long journey in a 27-foot-long fiberglass hotdog across the US and Europe. Rife with breakdowns, meaty puns, the burdens of instant celebrity and more Wiener Whistles than anyone could ever hope for, Ihlenfeld's uproarious recounting of his time behind the wheel is a coming-of-age story-as irreverent as it is touching-of learning about life, love, and (sausage) links, ultimately arriving at the realization that that the future is anything but a straight road. (Product Description)

Life After College: The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want by Jenny Blake. In Life After College Twitter meets What Color is Your Parachute for 20-somethings. Written by popular blogger and life coach Jenny Blake, Life After College provides tips, inspirational quotes and coaching exercises for every area of life including: Work, Money, Home, Organization, Friends & Family, Dating & Relationships, Health, Fun & Relaxation, and Personal Growth. Life After College is a powerful life-planning tool that no twenty-something will want to be without! (Product Description)