New beginnings, fresh starts, and promises for a brighter future all come to mind as we ring in a new year. We resolve to get in shape, lose weight, improve career paths, and make heartfelt promises to others, whether aloud or in our minds. The turning of the calendar from one year to the next gives us a moment to reflect, remember, and recognize our accomplishments and the resolutions left behind. We resolve to do better.

Your library’s programs and resources can help you fulfill your resolutions. Take time to learn a new language with our free online database, “Pronunciator,” learn to be a better floral arranger at one of our “Sisterhood of the Travelling Plants” workshops, browse our print and online collections for a new hobby or skill, or make an appointment with one of our librarians to learn how to use your new device. Let your local library help you keep your resolutions.

The Library System will host its annual “Community Reads” event in January 2022. This year’s programming will be based around the topic of “secrets,” and we invite you to join us for community book discussions and special programming held throughout the month of January in each of the libraries and online. This year’s St. Johns Reads titles include “The Vanishing Half,” by Brit Bennett, “Little Fires Everywhere,” by Celeste Ng, “Children of Blood and Bone,” by Tomi Adeyemi, and “Crossing the Creek: The Literary Friendship of Zora Neale Hurston and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings,” by Anna Lillios. Ms. Lillios will join us for an online interview on January 22 as well. The annual Lace Up for Libraries 5K Run/Walk is scheduled for January 29. Check out the “Upcoming Events” page on the library website for more details on all of our special programs, and mark your calendars now to join us throughout the month.

As a new year begins, the Library Advisory Board, Library Staff, and Library Administration wish all of our residents a happy, healthy, and productive 2022.