February is Library Lovers Month

I am an avid reader - you will find at least 3 books on my endtable at a time. For example, I am currently reading "Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results" by Suzanne Bates, "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner, Buzz: Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand by Marian Salzman and From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, E-books, and Information Products by Stephanie Chandler (who was a guest expert during The Women’s Internet Marketing Summit - an event the WECAI Network™ in October 2006).

One of my favorite quotes ,“You are the same today you’ll be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read," (by Charlie 'Tremendous' Jones) is a mantra I hold dear. My mother taught me the joy of reading at a very early age. In fact, most of my family are avid readers. For my 12th birthday my grandmother gave me a set of Readers Digest Best Loved Books and I still have it today. It contained classics like Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Connan Doyle, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Vern and dozens of others. I loved them because they were the abridged versions and could be easily read in a day. They truly changed my life (in a way that is hard to describe).

As a child I remember the best part of my week was going to the library and checking out a couple of books to read during the week. We had a rule - only one hour of television a night (after all our homework was done) and then we were off to bed. We had the choice of staying up an extra hour and reading or going to sleep. I chose to read. Today is no different. Seldom a night passes that I don't read at least a few pages in a book. In fact, it's not unusual for me to stay up until 2 or 3 AM to finish a book. And the funny thing is when I stay up that late, I feel refreshed and ready to go the next day!

I recently read a startling statistic. According to the U.S. Bureau of Cencus Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (2002) almost 50% of American adults will never read another book once they graduate from high school. Not in my home! Not my family! I have three daughters who are each avid readers, my husband reads, my staff reads, nearly everyone I know reads a book now and then.

How about you? Do you have a library card? It is amazing how much help you receive in your local library. The researchers all know me by name and I often call to ask if a book is available - if it is not, they can order it for me from another library and I have it within a few days (most of the time).

Oh, and I buy books too! All new releases. these are the books that are not yet available in the library or that I want to pass on to my friends. Do you frequent your local bookstore or visit Amazon.com weekly? Anyone who reads a blog, probably does. Maybe we should conduct our own study to find out?

It is so true about how books will change you. There is an old saying that "books are the window to the world." They can open your minds, and your heart and take you to places you might not otherwise have the opportunity to visit. So in honor of Library Lovers Month, I am sharing some of my favorite quotes about books and reading:

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." ~Mark Twain

"A book is a gift you can open again and again." ~ Garrison Keillor

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island... and the best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life." ~ Walt Disney

"You think your pains and heartbreaks are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who have ever been alive." ~ James Baldwin

"Reading--not occasionally, not only on vacation but everyday--gives me nourishment and enlarges my life in mysterious and essential ways." ~ Mona Simpson

"A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Like money, books must be kept in constant circulation. Lend and borrow to the maximum -- of both books and money! But especially books, for books represent infinitely more than money. A book is not only a friend, it makes friends for you. When you have possessed a book with mind and spirit, you are enriched. But when you pass it on you are enriched threefold." Henry Miller

"If you can read this, thank a teacher." ~ Anonymous Teacher

"Books are more than books. They are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men lived and worded and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives." ~ Amy Lowell

"When you give someone a book, you don't give him just paper, ink, and glue. You give him the possibility of a whole new life."~ Christopher Morley

and finally...

E heluhelu kakou. (Let's read together.) ~ Hawaiian Proverb

Heidi