Self Improvement in the New Year

What’s happening this week at the Library

  • Tuesday at 11am Storytime – Stories, songs, crafts, and more! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home at every storytime. Story times are open to children of all ages.
  • Tuesday at 6:30 pm Recipe Swap – Bring something you’ve made (along with the recipe) to share and enjoy everyone else’s creations! Every month is a different theme! This month’s theme is healthy food.
  • Thursday at 6 pm Storytime – If you can’t make it to the morning storytime on Tuesday, you can come to the evening Thursday one instead.

Self Improvement in the New Year

Have you made any resolutions this year? If you want to get started tackling those resolutions, we may be able to help.

Universal Class, available free to all Kansas residents courtesy of the Kansas State Library, offers hundreds of online classes covering all kinds of subjects.

Such as: • Accounting  • Mathematics • Computer Training  • Business  • Health & Medicine • History  • How to/Do it yourself  • Pet and Animal Care

Kansas residents can access these online classes by going to http://kslib.info/221/Online-Databases and clicking on Universal Class. Once there you can register and create a username and password. After you’ve registered and confirmed your email address, you can enroll in up to six classes at a time. They are self-paced online classes that include video lessons, assignments and exams.

LearningExpress Library is another helpful site you can access through the Kansas State Library website. You can use it to help you practice for tests for career advancement, college placement, GED, and to become a U.S. citizen. You can also use it to strengthen your skills in math, reading, writing, and computer skills.

If you’ve always wanted to learn a second language or maybe improve on what you learned in high school, Mango Languages is just what you need. It is another of the online databases made available through the Kansas State Library website, http://kslib.info/221/Online-Databases, for free to Kansas Residents.

Mango prepares learners for realistic conversations and strengthens everyday communication skills in over 70 world languages, including English. If you use their mobile app, you can download lessons to study later when you don’t have an internet connection.

 

Here are a few books available for checkout to help with those New Year’s Resolutions

 Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
by Marie Kondo

From the book description
Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has revolutionized homes—and lives—across the world. Now, Kondo presents an illustrated guide to her acclaimed KonMari Method, with step-by-step folding illustrations for everything from shirts to socks, plus drawings of perfectly organized drawers and closets.

She also provides advice on frequently asked questions, such as whether to keep “necessary” items that may not bring you joy. With guidance on specific categories including kitchen tools, cleaning supplies, hobby goods, and digital photos, this comprehensive companion is sure to spark joy in anyone who wants to simplify their life.

 

You: Staying Young: The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty
by Michael F. Roizen,‎ Mehmet Oz

From the book description
The body is the most fascinating machine ever created, and nobody talks about it in ways that are as illuminating and compelling as Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Most people think of the aging of our bodies the same way we think of the aging of our cars: the older we get, the more inevitable it is that we’re going to break down. Most of us believe that at age 40 or so, we begin the slow and steady decline of our minds, our eyes, our ears, our joints, our arteries, our libido, and every other system that affects the quality of life (and how long we live it). But according to Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz, that’s a mistake.

Aging isn’t a decline in our systems. It’s actually very purposeful. The very systems and biological processes that age us are designed to help us when we’re a little bit younger. So what’s our role as part of the aging population? To learn how those systems work so we can reprogram them to work the way they did when we were younger. Your goal should be: die young at any age. That means you live a high quality of life until the day you die.

 

The Useful Book: 201 Life Skills They Used to Teach in Home Ec and Shop
by David Bowers

This modern and energetically designed encyclopedia of DIY has everything you need to know to fix it, cook it, build it, clean it, and sew it yourself.

With illustrated step-by-step instructions, plus relevant charts, sidebars, lists, and handy toolboxes, The Useful Book features 201 practical how-tos and projects.

We may live in the information age, but that doesn’t mean the drain won’t clog. And there’s no app for that—only life skills.

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