Finding+time+to+read

Compiled by Heather Gruenthal Infographic compiled on YALSABK by Alison Paulette Library Media Specialist Appomattox County High School Appomattox, VA acpaulette@appomattox.k12.va.us

One of my favorite **Twilight Zone** episodes is called //Time Enough at Last//. In this episode, Henry Bemis wants to do nothing but read all the time, however his wife is always nagging him to do other things. After a nuclear explosion, everyone is destroyed while Henry has survived in a bank vault and Henry thinks his dream has come true:

[SPOILER] [|Henry Bemis] : And the best thing, the very best thing of all, is there’s time now… there’s all the time I need and all the time I want. Time, time, time. There’s time enough at last. [goes to pick up a book, but in doing so his glasses fall off and break. He slowly raises his glasses to his face, seeing they are completely broken] [|Henry Bemis] : That’s not fair. That’s not fair at all. There was time now. There was, was all the time I needed… [|IMDB]

The curse of a librarian is to be surrounded by thousands of new and exciting books and not having enough time to read. I like to compare it to the myth of Tantalus; surrounded by temptation, but never able to quench your thirst.

I discovered an answer to my problem at a [|Bureau of Education & Research]  conference lead by [|Deborah Hipes]  in which she revealed a secret: She gave us the titles of 4 books that she had read and asked what they had in common. The teachers and librarians in the room were all struggling to find a theme to link these four seemingly random books, when Deborah finally revealed that the common link between them was: she completed those 4 books during the last year by reading 2 pages every time she went to the restroom!

The resulting discussion generated a list of places and times that book lovers secretly squeeze their love of reading into their busy schedules. I also asked all my librarian friends on the YALSA BK discussion list what their secrets are for finding time to read and the results were surprising; from moms who admit to reading during their kids’ games to secretly reading on their smart phones while others think they are merely updating their Facebook status (names have been withheld to protect their identities...)


 * Finding time to read: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read more than one book at a time
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Keep a book in your school bag, briefcase, or purse
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Leave a book wherever you might sit down
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read while standing in line
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Keep a book in every bathroom, read 2 pages
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read at lunch
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Never ride in a car, plane, train, bus without a book
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Subscribe to <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|Audible.com] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> or other inexpensive sources for downloading audiobooks. Then listen on your iPod while walking, exercising or commuting.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Download audio books to your computer from your public library and listen while working
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Check out books on tape from your public library and “read” in the car
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Download the Kindle App for your smart phone or computer. Get free books at <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|http://freekindlebooks.org] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> where you can download lots of great classics (did I mention they’re FREE?).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read books online, there are many free at <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|Project Gutenberg]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Find a reading spouse or friend & take a reading vacation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Take a book to the movies and read during previews
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Keep a book by the computer to read during boot up time
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Take a book to doctor or dentist appointments and read in the waiting room and also while waiting in the exam room
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read to someone else: your students, children or elderly relatives
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read instead of watching TV
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read during TV commercials
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Schedule time to read each day. Lock the door so no one interrupts.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read on the treadmill at the gym
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read before bedtime
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read instead of eating a snack
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Join a book club (peer pressure!)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Go on a date with a friend to the bookstore and read there
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read during your coffee break
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reward yourself: while doing a task you are avoiding, make a goal to do the task for 10 minutes; then treat yourself to a few minutes of your current favorite book. Repeat until finished!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Get up early and read before work
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read or listen to a book while getting ready in the morning
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Keep a book in the car and read while waiting to pick up kids from events
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read during a pedicure or hair appointment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read during a bubble bath (just don’t get the book wet! Librarians hate that!)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read while your kids are watching TV
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Take your kids to the library and read while they select their books
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Have a “silent reading” time with your kids before bedtime
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read after the kids are in bed and before you fall asleep from exhaustion
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read while brushing your teeth, it makes those 2 minutes fly by!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Read during kids practices or dance class
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Check out a Playaway from your public library and listen to books while you work on a repetitive task such as laundry
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Listen to a book while cooking dinner
 * <span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Take a Reading Retreat Vacation: [] by Laura Miller at SALON

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Hipes, Deborah. What’s New in Young Adult Literature and How to Use it In Your Program Resource Handbook. Bellevue, WA. Bureau of Education & Research. 2008
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Let me know if you can think of more! **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Sources: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Twilight Zone. //Time Enough at Last//. (TV series 1959–1964) (#1.8) The Internet Movie Database. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">. 2011/ 27 /1. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">YALSABK List Serv, Anonymous Posters. January 2011. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Written by Heather Gruenthal //