Rumors of the demise of books is greatly exaggerated! According to a recent Gallup poll, despite the abundance of digital diversions vying for time and attention, most Americans are still reading books. In fact, they are consuming books at nearly the same rate they were when Gallup last asked this question in 2001 – well before smartphones, Facebook or Twitter exploded on the scene. More than on in three (35%) appear to be “heavy” readers, reading 11 or more books in the past year, while close to half (48%) read one and 10 and just 16% read none. A full 73% prefer printed books to e-readers or audio books, 53% of young adults read between one and 10 books in the past year and 35% say they read more than 11 books in the past year. This shows that once again the rumor that print books are dying is false.

We had a good turnout for Story Time and Lego Land this last week and hope to see more of you. Just a reminder that Lego Land is after school (3:30) to 4:00 every Tuesday and Story Time is on Thursdays at 10:30. See you there!

When you come to our Library to get that print book, or whatever you are wanting/needing remember to try your hand at the Valentine contests! Yes, I know that it is still January but since Valentine’s falls in the middle of the month and I wanted people to have plenty of time to enter, we are beginning them now. There are two contests so everyone has a chance. The first contest is for all ages; Simply guess how many candy hearts are in the jar. You will need to write your full name, your guess and a phone number where you can be contacted if you win. On February 7th the person that gets the closest without going over will win all the candy hearts (not the jar though, as it is the only one I have). The second contest is strictly for the adults that are 18 or older, the Library is offering the winner a “Date Night”. Beginning on January 12th, every time a patron of the proper age checks out a book or movie from the Library they can enter (write your full name and contact phone number) to be placed in the Valentine jar. On February 7th (in plenty of time for Valentines) a random winner will be drawn from the jar. The winner will receive two (count them, 2) vouchers to exchange at the Orpheum Classic Film series movie of your choosing. They have a great line – up of films and the vouchers are good for the entire year of 2017, if you cannot get there on Valentines. So drop on by and show your heart at the Clearwater Public Library.

I encourage you to check out our Facebook page and our Website (www.clearwaterkslibrary.org ) to help you to keep up with all that is happening at the library. Better yet, come in and talk with us, volunteer, enter a contest, pick up a book or movie and Check Us Out!