New Years Resolutions at the Library

As 2019 creeps closer and closer, the pressure to think of some good New Years resolutions grows.  What goals would you like to accomplish? What challenges do you want to set for yourself? Do you want to make more than one resolution? While we don’t have all the answers, here’s some ideas for New Years resolutions that can be accomplished right here at the Sewickley Library.

For Library Lovers
  1. Visit the library more often.
  2. Attend at least one library program a month.
  3. Join a library book club or writer’s group!
  4. Sign up for the library’s Winter Reading program, starting January 22!
  5. Get more exercise with the library’s WiseWalks.
Film-Based Resolutions
  1. Watch a new movie every week for the entirety of 2019. If you want to get even more specific, aim to watch more of a particular genre, such as documentaries, foreign films, or Old Hollywood classics. The Sewickley Library’s vast movie collection offers plenty of options for movies that you might not have seen before.
  2. Have more movie nights with friends. Maybe make it a monthly tradition with your friends to check out a DVD or Blu-Ray from the library and stay in for popcorn and movies.
  3. Work your way through the American Film Institute’s famous 100 Greatest American Films of All Time list.
  4. Watch the entire filmography of a director or actor you admire. Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, and Hayao Miyazaki are just a few examples of the many directors often included in these types of lists.
  5. See all the Academy-Award nominated films before the awards show airs.

For fans of Goodreads, the site Letterboxd offers a very similar experience, except for films instead of books. Not only can you find great movie suggestions, but the site very easily lets you track and log the movies you watch.

Book-Based Resolutions

This one seems like the obvious choice for a library-themed resolution, but there are really so many different ways you could go about reading more books. Here are just a few examples of some book-themed resolutions to try.

  1. Read more memoirs.
  2. Read Game of Thrones before the last season of the television series is released.
  3. Read more classic literature.
  4. Read a lesser known book for each of your favorite authors. Everyone reads F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, so why not try his lesser known Tender is the Night or This Side of Paradise?
  5. Read all the books being adapted into movies before seeing them on the big screen.
  6. Try out a new form of reading, such as audio books, e-books, or graphic novels.
  7.  Write a book. This is a much bigger commitment than the others on this list, but if you’re willing to give it a try, the Sewickley Library has some great writing resources available to you!
  8. Read a book from a different genre every month (for help with figuring out the genres, feel free to ask your reference librarian!)
  9. Read books written by local authors, or books about local history.
Knowledge-Based Resolutions
  1. Get better at cooking by using the wide variety of cookbooks available at the library.
  2. Find a new hobby like knitting or paper-crafting, perhaps by joining our adult knitting club or attending one of our Coffee and Crafts programs. We also have plenty of books on these subjects as well!
  3. Learn a new language. The library has many language resources, from books to CD’s to the wonderful online database Mango Languages, which you have full access to with your library card.
  4. Do the crossword every day. The library reference desk has copies of the daily crosswords from both the New York Times and USA Today!
  5. Learn a new skill through Lynda.com, an online skill education program offered through the library.
  6. Research your family history with the many genealogy resources available at the library!

These are just a few of the many resolutions you could make that feature the library. If you have any other ideas, feel free to comment with them below! Have a happy new year!