Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Challenging the World

Libraries run lots of programs for children: story hours, summer reading programs, Dr. Seuss's birthday celebrations, etc. The Teen Room at the Lawler Branch Library caters to the needs of young adults, providing not only reading material, but entertainment, special programs, and a place to hang out. For our adult patrons,though, there's been little besides our book clubs. That was one reason we decided to offer the 50 Book Challenge. We expected it to be successful. We just didn't realize how successful. To date we have nearly 200 people participating. It's a fantastic response, especially considering that it's the holiday season, and we're pretty excited about it.

What we never expected was to get attention outside the area. Somehow, the story about our challenge went national. We've been featured on the websites of CNN, USA Today, MSN, and the New York Daily News. The Boston and Providence newspapers carried the story, which also was shown on TV news from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon. But then we went global: Singapore, Prince Edward Island, Shenyang Province, China - all posted news about us, to our astonishment. Yahoo News made the challenge the subject of its daily poll; 87% of people responding said they could read 50 books in a year. That's a gratifying amount.

People being people, some of the reactions have been a bit, well, odd. Commenting on the Yahoo poll, one responder wondered why he should waste time reading so many books, unless he gets money as a prize. Some people considered 50 books an enormously high amount to read; others thought it ridiculously low. One man even used the challenge as an excuse to take potshots at libraries and at paying taxes. Most people have been positive, though, with a few from out of the area wishing they could join in. Maybe we've started a trend.

If you haven't yet joined, come see what the fuss is about. Stop in at any New Bedford library and take the challenge. We can't wait to see you.

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