A Long Time Coming...

Hi! It's been way too long!

Okay, that's not the best way to start...but I've been at a loss on how to start this post since... January.

So here it is...It's been over five months since anything has been posted on this blog. I did need a break from blogging (for a few different reasons), but that break has gone on for too long.

I miss it. I miss talking about books with people who understand about getting so thoroughly wrapped up in characters and in worlds that it's hard to come back to reality. I miss sharing my feelings about books, covers, characters; sharing reactions to bookish news; and even sharing library goings on. I miss hearing about what other blogger, librarians and readers are reading, what they're loving or hating, what they're passionate about or excited to read next.

You might be saying, "But, you're a librarian! You get to talk about books everyday." True, part of every day does involve discussing books and making recommendations, but it's not quite the same thing as blogging. In my non-Internet life, I don't have as many people who get why I love books so much. Some of my friends are readers, but not in quite the same way. You know what I'm talking about: They don't understand about loving an author's writing so much that you research and find all of their published books or the delicious feeling of finding out a favorite author has a new book coming out or loving a book so much that you want every person you encounter to read it and love it as much as you do.

I also needed for The Serpentine Library to evolve and I wasn't sure how to accomplish that. I still really enjoy reading YA. There are an absurd amount of YA book piles on my office floor. I also read lots of picture books for work, especially when planning story times, and I try to read Middle Grades and early chapter books too, so that I can make better recommendations to library patrons. Plus, I also enjoy the occasional adult fiction or romance book. So, I feel that this site needs to be a better reflection of my reading life.

What does that mean?

First, while there will be YA book reviews or discussions, YA won't be the sole focus. I'm going to try to post a mix of YA, MG and picture book reviews, with occasional looks at early readers and chapter books.

Second, there will be more posts about what I'm involved in at the library. Going forward, I'm envisioning that The Serpentine Library will be more of an extension of my work as a librarian. Now, I don't mean that blogging will be work (not that it doesn't take a lot of hard work to keep a blog running), but that it will be a more organic result of things that I'm already doing for my job. Really, all that means is that there will be posts about story times, podcast interviews, and the occasional Flannel Friday post mixed in with reviews.

Thirdly, I don't think that I'll be posting every day of the week. To start, two or three posts a week will be the norm. We're gearing up for Summer Reading and I know that it will take up the majority of my energy over the next two and half months. But, I need to start blogging again and two to three posts a week will be a good, manageable starting off point.

Next, I'm going to be better about being interactive by responding to comments and reading and commenting on other blogs. This will be the hardest to keep up with, but I'm committed to being an active member of the blogging community.

Finally, I'm going to try not to focus on the numbers part of blogging so much. I'm thinking of removing the Google Friend Connect widget from the sidebar. It's something I've been thinking about, but am not quite sure about. Any thoughts?

Everything gets started tomorrow with a post about our "Library Chick" themed story times. There will be pictures and some talk about what happened when the chicks got to visit the program room and participated in story time. It was slightly crazy, but a lot of fun!

I look forward to hearing your thoughts. And, now can I just say how good it feels to be back in my own book blogging space!