Bookish Resolutions for the New Year

Are you hoping to improve your reading goals in 2024? I’ve compiled a few simple ways to kickstart your reading habits in the New Year!

1. Join your local public library!

Public libraries are your best (and freest) friend! If you haven’t already, you can sign up for a Brooklyn, New York, or Queens Public Library card today!

2. Try audiobooks

Audiobooks still count as reading! Audible is super popular, and you can also find free audiobooks through your local library. I use the Libby app with the Brooklyn and New York Public Libraries.

3. Check out Goodreads to find honest reviews of books

Sometimes it’s nice to see other’s opinions on books you’re thinking of reading. It can save you from buying a book you won’t end up reading.

Goodreads is also great as many reviewers recommend similar books.

4. Reread a book you remember from school

Often we don’t appreciate the classics we read in high school. Revisiting old books can kickstart your reading journey.

5. Share books with friends

Starting or joining a book club can be overwhelming. Asking a friend for a good book recommendation is less intimidating and gives you someone you discuss the book with!

6. Start with short stories

Reading a 300-page book is daunting. Short story collections will give you the satisfaction of completing a story in a much shorter time frame.

You can find short stories on practically anything, from memoirs to sci-fi, so it’s perfect for any reader’s taste.

7. Remember that all books are books.

Don’t be embarrassed by your preferred genre! Some people may enjoy Dostoevsky, but if you’d rather read romance, do it! You’re still reading!

Happy 2024 and happy reading!

[Post by Emma Larson-Whittaker, library and outreach assistant, Starrett City]

Welcome to a new semester!

Welcome to a new semester at Touro! The Touro College Libraries are thrilled to share this exciting time with you and have put together a short video to celebrate this new beginning. Whether you are new to Touro or a returning student, we hope you enjoy it!

The Touro College librarians are always here to help. Contact your campus librarians or start with some of our most popular resources:

• For Students Guide
• College Writing Guide
• Citing Sources Guide
• Student Guide to Online Library Resources

Good luck!

Staying Balanced on the Hyphen

This blog post contains discussions of bipolar disorder. If you are in crisis or you think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. If you’re having suicidal thoughts, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to talk to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area at any time (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). If you are located outside the United States, call your local emergency line immediately.

Do you know someone with a mental illness? Someone who is considered neuroatypical, whose brain works differently than most people?

Perhaps you know someone with bipolar disorder, as “an estimated 2.8% of U.S. adults had bipolar disorder in the past year.” (The National Institute of Mental Health Information Resource Center, 2017) Or you know someone who has this disease and you don’t know it — someone who, as I put it, is “staying balanced on the hyphen”. This might be someone who works very hard on a daily basis to stay within a “normal” range of emotions and not give into the manic highs and deep lows of the illness.

Image by Serena Wong from Pixabay

Bipolar disorder is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as “a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks” (The National Institute of Mental Health Information Resource Center, 2020). It is characterized by extreme see-sawing moods, from “extremely ‘up,’ elated, irritable, or energized behavior (known as manic episodes) to very ‘down,’ sad, indifferent, or hopeless periods (known as depressive episodes)” (The National Institute of Mental Health Information Resource Center, 2020).

Library Staff Profile: Starrett City Library Assistant Rita Hilu

This post is originally from 2014. It continues our tribute to Rita Hilu, who passed away last weekend. Rita was an incredibly important member of the Touro College Libraries staff, and we want to remind everyone of what made her so special to students, faculty, and staff.

The Fall 2009 issue of the Starrett City campus newsletter Touro Times featured a glowing profile on one of Touro’s most beloved information professionals, Rita Hilu.

Are Audiobooks for you?

source

Have you ever listened to an audio book? A key advantage is that they are hands-free, allowing you to listen to a book while doing something else. There are opportunities to listen while sitting on the bus, train or plane, traveling by car, standing on line, working out, sunbathing, knitting, fishing, gardening, sitting in a waiting room, cooking or walking. The possibilities are endless!

Library Staff Profile: LCW Librarian Dr. David B. Levy

David B Levy, librarian at Lander College for Women, loves serving LCW students, whom he believes possess great derekh eretz (manners), middot tovot (character traits), and pleasantness. David cherishes Torah lishma (learning for its own sake), as described in the TC Philosophy of Education LibGuide.

Interlibrary Loan

I am a library assistant at Touro College’s Midwood Campus. But I am also Touro’s coordinator of interlibrary loans. This service allows all Touro sites to share our resources and to exchange information with institutions outside the Touro College Library system. Even though the Midwood library has an extensive collection of books, periodicals, video tapes, CD-ROMs and DVDs there is always something we do not have. However, we can get almost anything if it is available to the public, and sometimes even if it is in a private collection.

The TCL Time Machine: Smells like Teen Spirits

As we’ve seen in previous posts, Touro’s first library at 30 West 44^th street in Manhattan’s Clubhouse District mirrored the growth of the school itself, starting out small but quickly picking up steam and showing signs of bigger and better things to come.

Library Staff Profile: Starrett City Library Assistant Rita Hilu

The Fall 2009 issue of the Starrett City campus newsletter Touro Times featured a glowing profile on one of Touro’s most beloved information professionals, Rita Hilu.

Library Research 101

Fast Track to Better Student Research

            The ability to perform research and incorporate the findings into an established base of knowledge to produce a written report is a foundational skill of higher education. Many students struggle with this task, understandably overwhelmed by the wealth of information made available by the Internet and other electronic resources, as well as the details of academic conventions. In an effort to help professors address the needs of these students, librarians have provided library instruction sessions, web resources, and individual assistance. Touro libraries are pleased to announce an additional tool now at our college’s disposal. We have recently created an independent information literacy and library skills tutorial available via Blackboard.