Category: Milestones

The Book-it Brigade!

Published on by Rachelle

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On Wednesday, I got up earlier than usual, so I could get to campus from Austin to participate in the Book-it Brigade.  What is the Book-it Brigade?  The Book-it Brigade was a human chain to pass six books from Old Main, where Texas State University first housed its library, all the way to the Alkek Library, which opened in 1990.  This particular Book-it Brigade was to celebrate those 25 years as well as reenact the first Book-it Brigade that was done when the Alkek Library first opened.

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For the 1st time ever, you get to see my non-five-year-old face.

While I wasn’t even living in Texas when I was ten years old, this celebration is extremely important to me for three reasons.  First of all, the Alkek library is where I discovered that I want to go to grad school for Library Science and Information Technology.  Secondly, this is my final semester at TSU.  I will be graduating in December, so getting the chance to be a part of this huge, wonderful event to celebrate my all-time favorite library is a big deal for me.  I still get a little choked up thinking about it.  Getting emotional is also due to my third, but most important, reason: the Alkek Library is why I chose to attend TSU.

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The 6th book was a Kindle to represent how the library has grown over the years.
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It just wouldn’t be a celebration without cupcakes!

 

There are lots of reasons to apply to a university, and a few of them were secondary reasons, after the fact, for why I was glad I chose TSU.  However, how many people do you know who went to their university for the sole reason of wanting to have access to the library?  Well, when I found out the Alkek Library was seven football field sized floors stacked on top of each other, and it housed over 2 million books, my jaw dropped, and my decision made.  I have not once regretted that choice.

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Here’s to 25 more years of the Alkek Library!

Sunday’s Sundries: One Year Blogiversary!

Published on by Rachelle
Sundries - Dominic Hartnett
Image: Dominic Hartnett

 

Yesterday, April 4th, was my 1st blogiversary.  It’s hard to believe that a blog I started so I could participate in a read-a-thon has turned into a blog that has so much more than read-a-thon updates.  I really had no plan.  All I knew was that I wanted a way, other than Goodreads or Facebook, to get socially involved in an activity that, up to that point, had been a solo venture.  However, someone read one of my updates and was interested in what I had to say about a book I was reading.  In the spirit of socializing, I wrote a review for that book, and then I realized how much I enjoyed writing about what I had read.

After that, I started learning more about the book blogging community, as well as how to improve my blog.  I liked the idea that people were reading what I had to say.  I was also a little surprised.  There are so many book blogs out there to choose from, so I’m grateful for every single one of my readers, and I want to continue giving you what you come here to see.  I’m constantly thinking about or writing new content that I think most of you would be interested in, and that hasn’t been easy with all the day to day stuff I have to do outside of blogging.

Any of you who have read my “Monday’s Minutes” posts know that I’m a full-time student with only a couple semesters left to go before I graduate.  Senior courses are the most difficult and matter the most when it comes to grad school, but they’re at a time when the average student just wants it all to be over with already.  I’m not the average student, but I’m still ready to move on with my life.  I want to be making real money again, and have a job that I’m happy about going to on most days, if not every day.  I still want to go to grad school, but I need a couple years to breath before I take another plunge into the world of academia.

With all of that being said, I’m going to do the best I can to keep this blog going.  The rest of this year is going to be tough.  I’m taking courses over the Summer, looking for a part-time job to get me through to graduation, and I’ll be spending the Fall semester looking for a full-time job for after I graduate.  However, no matter how busy I get, I will write and publish at least one post every week, even if it’s just to check in with all of you and tell you how swamped I am, and I had no time to read, and OMG I’m going insane.  I hope it won’t ever get that bad.

To help me keep this blog filled with content you want, I’m working on a survey that will hopefully be up within the next week, and I’m open to any ideas or suggestions you have.  Feel free to comment below, or send me a message through the Contact the Reading Wench page.

Wait a second….WHAT?!

Published on by Rachelle

Surprised

That was my reaction to seeing my blog’s followers pass the 100 mark.  Just for the record, I don’t include Twitter or Facebook followers in that number, because I assume there is some overlap.  So, discovering this morning that I have a minimum of 105 readers was a bit of a shock.

Those of you who have been reading since the beginning know that I haven’t been blogging for very long.  It’s been less than a year (7 months to the day to be exact), and for most of that time I was only participating in read-a-thons.  I didn’t post my first review until the end of August, and I didn’t start any features (What I’m Reading Monday, Thursday’s Quotables, and most recently Tuesday’s Tunes and Things) until September.

I know 100 is a small number, relatively speaking.  Still, thank you!  Without you I wouldn’t have written any reviews.  I wouldn’t have discovered the awesomeness of Netgalley.  I wouldn’t have made all the connections with authors and other book bloggers that I’ve been making lately.  Most importantly, I wouldn’t have returned to my dream of being a writer.

Happy 9th Doctor Giddy Patrick Stewart

I can only hope that I reach the 500 mark as quickly 🙂

conga-line minions