5 ways Mentor Library can help you keep your New Year's Resolution

Only eight percent of people stick to their New Year's Resolutions.

That's pretty harrowing.

But we at Mentor Public Library are ready to help you lose weight, save money, find a better job or attain whatever goal you have set for yourself in 2015.

1. Lose weight & be healthier

This is the most popular resolution, so let's start here.

If you want to lose weight or just generally be more fit, we have books on eating better, cookbooks with healthy recipes and exercise DVDs you can borrow.

Your Mentor Public Library Core Card also lets you try out local gyms, karate and studios for free, including Lake County YMCA, Mentor Heisley Racquetball and Fitness Club, Karate Institute, Family Karate and Spotlight Dance Studio. (Here's a list of all the discounts you get around town—just for having a library card.) Get out there and see what works for you.

We also have a pair of programs scheduled for January, specifically designed to help you get healthy.

On Monday, Jan. 5, Awaken Yoga is offering a free introduction to yoga at our Main Branch. Yoga is a great way to relieve stress, build strength and (when paired with a healthy diet) lose weight. This class is designed to accommodate people of all health and skill levels. You can register for it here. By the way, Awaken Yoga is also of our Core Card partners.

Then, on Jan. 13, Dr. Misty Morris of Morris Chiropractic will offer 10 steps to help people lose weight this year.


2. Find a better career

This year, we're teaming with experts from Ohio Means Jobs for a series of programs designed to help you jump-start your career. In January, we'll talk about how to build a winning résumé; in February, we're hosting a computer class specifically for job seekers; and, in March, we'll offer advice on how to ace job interviews.

This is in addition to the computer classes on how to use Facebook, Microsoft Word, Publisher and email we have slated for this February.

3. Learn something new

There are hundreds of thousands of ways to learn something new. Literally every item in our collection could potentially teach you something you didn't already know.

Beyond that, you can check out Gale Courses for hundreds of online classes. (You may remember the service by its former name, Learn4Life.)

Gale Courses has classes on everything from music to technology to accounting, many of which are taught by college professors. And they're all free with a Mentor Public Library card.

If you specifically want to learn a new language, try Transparent Language. Its online classes offers a simple, intuitive way to learn the basics of more than 80 different languages—pretty much any language you can think of, everything from Albanian to Zulu.

4. Save money and get your finances in order

We have more than 200,000 books, movies and CDs in our collection, and that's not even counting our digital services that let you read eBooks and stream music, movies and audiobooks anywhere and at anytime. (And that includes several books on how to best manage your money.)

Every time you borrow something from us, that's money you saved. That can add up to a lot of savings over the span of a year.

Also, our Core Card helps you save money with businesses and organizations all around Lake County.

5. Spend more time with your family

We offer a menagerie of story times for families, and they're starting a new session on Jan. 5.

But there are a lot of ways to use library resources to spend more time with your family. Borrow a stack of DVDs and start a family movie night.

And, while our story times are a lot of fun, there’s no substitute for reading to your child.

So we hope to see you soon. Whatever your resolution is, I'm sure we have a book, video or program that can help. Don't be shy. Just come up to the reference desk and ask for recommendations!

How Mentor Library can help you keep your New Year's resolutions

Get healthier? Read more? Both? What's your resolution?

Depending on what think-piece article you're reading, anywhere between 88 and 92 percent of New Year's Resolutions don't survive the year.

There are already plenty of articles giving general advice on how to stick to your resolution. Instead of recapitulating their advice, we wanted to offer some specific ways in which the library can help you maintain your resolve.

1. Lose weight & be healthier
Let's talk about the big one first—the most popular resolution of all.

If you want to lose weight or just generally be more fit, we have books on eating better, cookbooks with healthy recipes and exercise DVDs you can borrow.

We also have a pair of programs scheduled for January, specifically designed to help you get started.

First, a nutritionist from the Lake County General Health District is coming to our Main Branch on Jan. 15 to suggest healthy lifestyle changes that are more effective than any crash diet.

Then, on Jan. 16, Dr. Misty Morris of Morris Chiropractic will talk about some commonly made mistakes that can lead to weight gain and poor health.

You can follow the hyperlinks to register for either or both programs on Mentor Public Library's website.

2. Get your finances in order
Don't just get physically fit in 2014. Become fiscally fit.

The Society for Financial Awareness will talk about overcoming financial challenges, setting goals, managing debt, investing basics and developing spending plans on Jan. 23 at our Main Branch.

The program is, of course, free and open to the public.

3. Find a better career
Sometimes the first step to getting your finances in order is finding a better job.

And, even if you have a job that pays enough, it might still be time for a career change if the job drives you crazy.

Either way, the people at Ohio Means Jobs have teamed with the library to help you find the right career. We'll be hosting a series of Career Coffee Talks in which experts from around the region will give suggestions to job hunters.

The first talk is Jan. 23. The speaker is Charlene Long, the Talent Acquisition Specialist for Progressive. She’ll offer advice on what companies like Progressive are looking for in prospective employees.

Additionally, Ohio Means Jobs and The Reserves Network are holding a job fair at the Mentor Public Library's Main Branch on Jan. 17 to help people find both temporary and long-term employment.

4. Learn something new
This resolution is definitely one we can help with.

There are a lot of ways to learn something new at the library: read a book or a magazine, watch a documentary, come to one of our programs. But one of our favorite ways to keep people learning all their lives is via the digital service Learn4Life. (You may remember the service by its former name, Ed2Go.)

Learn4Life gives you access to free online courses, most of which are taught by college professors, on a variety of subjects.

Accounting, digital photography, college readiness, computer fundamentals, creative writing, alternative medicine, paralegal—take a look at all of your options. Learn4Life is bound to have something that interests you.

And I can't stress this enough. It's free! All you need is a Mentor Public Library card. (Here's a video by MPL Librarian Mary Pelton explaining how to register for and use Learn4Life.)

5. Spend more time with your family
Yes, we have a Family Story Time every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in January.

But there are a lot of ways to use library resources to spend more time with your family. Borrow a stack of DVDs and start a family movie night.

And, while our story times are a lot of fun, there's no substitute for reading to your child.

6. Read more
In 2014, we're resolving to read more and we hope you join us.

Over at our Main Branch, some of us will fill out stars with our Reading Resolutions—that is, the names and number of books we resolve to read in 2014.

You're all welcome to post your Reading Resolution at the library also. These stars will decorate the Main Branch's first floor.

Teens and adults can also enter the library’s “Reading Resolution Raffle.” All they have to do is check out a young adult or adult book at Mentor Public Library and bring the receipt to the reference desk at the Main Branch.

Then they will be entered into a raffle to win a $25 gift certificate from Barnes & Noble.

You have all of January to enter the raffle. We'll pick a winner at the beginning of February.

Never Stop Learning with Learn4Life

At Mentor Public Library, we never want people to stop learning.

We're not subtle about it either. We named our blog Lifelong Learning at Mentor Public Library. Sure, it's a tad verbose but it gets to the heart of what we're about.

And we don't care what you learn about. Or, to phrase it better, we don't want to tell you what you should be learning. It can be anything -- how to build a deck, how to fry a turkey, how to be a ninja.

We just want to help you find something that fascinates you, and then help you learn everything you can about it.

One of the ways we encourage people to learn is by subscribing to a digital service called Learn4Life. (It used to be called Ed2Go, if that sounds familiar.)

Learn4Life gives you access to free online courses, most of which are taught by college professors, on a variety of subjects.

Accounting, digital photography, college readiness, computer fundamentals, creative writing, alternative medicine, paralegal -- take a look at all of your options. Learn4Life is bound to have something that interests you.

And I can't stress this enough. It's free! All you need is a Mentor Public Library card.

So take a course on Learn4Life. Take three, if you life.

The universe is an interesting place, and there's all sorts of stuff out there that you didn't even know that you wanted to know.

Why You Should Have a Library Card

All a library card needs to be good is a little exercise.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month. And I encourage anybody who doesn't have a library card to get one. But just as important, if you already have a library card -- use it.

A card gives you access to the more than 200,000 books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs and video games in the Mentor Public Library's collection.

But that's just a fraction of what your library card allows you to do.

You can take online classes with Learn4Life. (The classes include everything from computer programming to English as a second language to fiction writing. It's worth a look.)

You can download eBooks and eAudiobooks with OverDrive and digital magazines with Zinio.

You can download free music and even music videos from Freegal -- more than 7 million songs are available from more than 28,000 record labels, including Sony. And once you download a mp3 or mp4, you can keep it forever. Put it on your iPod, listen to it from on your phone, burn it to a CD, whatever you want. It's yours.

You can stream thousands of independent films via IndieFlix and soon you'll be able to stream even more movies, music and audiobooks to your mobile devices and computer via Hoopla.

You can still borrow books, movies and music from libraries all around the state using OhioLINK.

And your card also gives you access to dozens of databases with information on topics from auto repair to local history to case law.

Most importantly, a library card -- and everything that comes with it -- is free.

So how do you sign up for a Mentor Public Library card?

It's easy. You can do it at our circulation desk.

Adults, you're going to need a current photo ID, such as an Ohio Driver’s License or State of Ohio ID card, with your current address. If your photo ID doesn't have your current address, a personal check, utility bill, envelope or post card with a recent postmark showing your current address will do.

Meanwhile, kids need their guardian's signature to get a card. Adults assume responsibility for their children's borrowing privileges.

One quick note: If you're not an Ohio resident, you must give a $10 deposit to get a card. You will receive the deposit back once you produce an Ohio form of photo ID. Or, if you aren't moving to Ohio, you will receive your deposit back when all materials and the library card are returned.

You can also get a temporary card online that allows you to place up to five holds on items in the Mentor Public Library catalog.

If you have any questions, visit any of the Mentor Public Library's branches and you'll find people eager to help you get your library card.

And, if you already have a card, get out there and give it a workout.

For more information on Mentor Public Library and its services, visit www.mentorpl.org.