New Ideas...New Challenges...New Year...Yes!

Happy New Year

Thankful for the Past and Looking Forward to 2013

 

We are very thankful for your support of the Library during the past five years.  We have made so much progress during this time and especially during 2012.  Your donations of reading materials, your many kind words, the committee's gift of their time and your participation in checking out the books, reading them and sharing them with others have been above and beyond our imagination. 

We would like to acknowledge and publicly thank our pastor and our staff for their vision and their leadership role in the growth of our Library.  We have some ideas for new ways to reach others in our community during 2013 by utilizing our resources in the Library and participating volunteers from our membership.  Stay tuned.  You will hear more about this in the coming weeks.  

  Recent Donations

  Jonas and Colleen Taylor donated Coach Woody Hunt's new book Chasing Rainbows to the library in December in honor of their sons Andrew and Peter Taylor and their love of God and athletics .

 Other donations were made by Ann King, Carol Pharris, Melissa Cross and Jamie Bradshaw.

Special Request for Donations 

 We are creating a special section in the Library on hobbies.  We would like to have donations of books on topics such as quilting, woodcarving, jewelry making, basket weaving, genealogy, etc.

Benefits of Reading

I recently stumbled across this on the web and it immediately caught my attention. The post was titled 8 Benefits of Reading  (or Ways Reading Makes You Better at Life).    

The reasons listed were:

• Enhanced Smarts - those that read have higher GPA's, higher intelligence, and general knowledge than those that don't.   Reading, in general, makes you smarter, and it keeps you sharp as you age.
• Reduces Stress - When reading a book your mind shifts gears. Where you might have a had a stressful day, a book can easily distract you. Fiction is fantastic for this. Reading an awesome fiction book is perfect right before bed time. Though sometimes it’s hard to put the book down if it’s really good. Still, you’ll be relaxed .
• Greater Tranquility -Reading can soothe like no other. Even if you are a pretty high-energy person, reading forces you to sit and be still. This daily act of making yourself be quiet and still has been nothing short of miraculous for anxiety and the“fidgety factor”.
• Improved Analytical Thinking -   studies have found that analytical thinking is boosted by reading. Readers improve their general knowledge, and more importantly are able to spot patterns quicker. If you can spot patterns quicker, your analytical skills receive a boost.
• Increased Vocabulary -reading increases your vocabulary and improves your spelling, but did you know that reading increases your vocabulary more than talking or direct teaching? Reading forces us to look at words that we might not have seen or heard recently. In fact, language in children’s books are likely to be more sophisticated than your average conversation.     Increased vocabulary is especially crucial for bloggers or writers. All successful writers will tell you that in order to write well, you need to read. Every day. You’ll be surprised at the words you start incorporating into your writing. A beefier vocabulary isn’t just for writers though. Knowing what other people are saying and using the perfect words to convey your feelings is a critical part of being a better human. Better listeners are more successful in life. 
• Improved Memory -  Some people have awful memories and cannot remember what they ate for breakfast, let alone things like names and addresses.  Most find that they remember stuff much easier when they have been reading consistently.  I do not have any scientific data to back this up, but it pretty safe to assume that reading helps your memory.
• Helps Prioritize Goals- Many times we're certain we know what we "really want" in life.  Yet I've found that activities like reading show me things I didn't know about myself.  My mind will drift to things that I'd really like to do, and it isn’t long that these little lapses in reading start to cycle. The same sort of goals keep popping into my head, allowing me to see what I really want to do. For example, say I’ve been playing music on a consistent basis, and I’ve always wanted to produce and distribute my own music. As I’ve been reading, I’ve found that song ideas and other general thoughts on music keep popping into my head. When you remove yourself from your work environment, you’ll start to see things that you might really want to do, that you’re not doing yet. Reading gives you a chance to let your mind wander.  It’s my times reading that have really pushed me into giving music a serious go. 

 This year, why don't we try an experiment and read a book at least every six weeks and see what changes or improvements we see in our own life.

Open the tabs on the right side of the screen to review the new additions added to the Library since our last blog was published.  Choose one from this list and start reading today.

  WISH LIST

We have added a new tab on the side bar for items that we would like to have for the Library.  

We have a wonderful Library here at WHBC and we want to share it with you.  Please stop by and see what we have to offer and you will want to share it too!