143 books to read in summer 2014 - really?

The headline "143 books to read in summer 2014" came through my zite feed and depressed me. I realise that it is a way of saying there are lots of wonderful books to read over the next few months. It briefly made me feel that I was a reader without hope.  I am sure it did not mean to.

I read, but unless they were 143 picture books there is no way I could read 143 books over a few months.  If they are 143 "big fat fantasy" titles, that would be a much longer time.  Looking at the list, and it is an interesting one, they are not titles you could read in 143 evenings (if you were kind of taking a book a day approach).

This is a lovely list, which did not have the desired effect of excitement.  It highlights the challenge of how you promote lots and lots of exciting things.  This headline implied I needed to read them all, but really they were giving me a lovely choice, which it took a while for me to see (being blinded by the inability to read 143 titles in a few months).

Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin and sign language

When you visit the website of the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin you see a link to gebaerdensprache which takes you to their page about signing services.

It includes the video, shown below as well as information about services to children.


I was impressed to see that they are catering for  section of the community which is often under represented in library services.

Thanks to Google translate for making some of this possible.

Cockatoo Island and social media

Cockatoo Island makes it very clear, almost as soon as you exit the ferry, how you can connect with them in social media.  I really like this.

#blogjune starts today

I am again participating in #blogjune, thanks to this lovely blog post written by @flexnib.  Her enthusiasm for this is infectious.

In previous years I have taken a theme based approach, libraries I would like to visit, inspirations, and signs.  This year will be more general.


I thought starting off happy, was a good start, and I like this video because it shows people so happy to read they are dancing about it.  Feel free to do your own happy dance as part of it.  Yes, this video has a few issues (only reading on paper is shown, and only in English), but I will not be picky as it is a fun video, and simply being able to read is something to dance about.

Happy #blogjune Updated 2 June as the code for the video disappeared.