Week 1 in the #blogeverydayinJune challenge has come to a close.  It’s been an exciting and productive week to say the least! I am most impressed that all participating bloggers remain on the bandwagon to date. It seems @flexnib with her Day 6 meme about reading habits provided some light relief for a third of the blogging enthusiasts, particularly as some enjoyed a WA public holiday.

The meme has provided some interesting librarian type revelations – drinking tea seems to be the favourite drink whilst reading with some very specific tea requirements – Lady Grey or green tea on Angels have the Phonebox, Madura loos in a pot for Strawberries of Integrity, Daintree white no sugar for moonflowerdragon and the very specific strong English Breakfast tea with a drop of milk and no sugar for our meme originator ruminations. Coffee made a fleeting appearance but in its generic coffee form, no grande double skinny mocha latte with a half sugar to be found!

I was quite surprised to learn that perhaps I am the only librarian who regularly defaces books by marking them and making notes in them (and dare I add I have done this to a number of library books in my time – slap!).  I am grateful to Virtually a Librarian for joining in me as a confessed ‘dog earer’. With more respectable librarians it seems whilst bookmarks are preferred its more likely a receipt of some kind will be used.

I must admit I have never considered the idea of being irritated by a book enough to throw it – although my mother did raise me with an immense respect for books (I cut my doll’s hair and drew all over them but I never once defaced a book – well in my childhood anyway!) But two of our meme participants admitted to it – LiberryDwarf threw Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper and whilst Feral Librarian Tales admitted to the ‘crime’ declined to share the victim. It seems this may be a once in a lifetime event – so the rest of us are yet to discover this author of irritation in our lives.

Unsurprisingly most are happy to read anywhere – although from a Public librarian, FromMelbin & Bun-toting librarian the comforts of bed are preferred, other favourites revolved around arm chairs, sunshine and being able to have the time to read the day away with leisure.

Last but not least I was most intrigued by how people organise their book collections at home – as we all know often the librarian at work is far from the librarian at home! (read self confession). Angels have the phonebox organises her books by room – cookbooks in the kitchen, craft books in her studio. By genre and/or by author seemed most popular shared by batgirl, Feral Librarian Tales and Strawberries of Integrity. Virtually a Librarian‘s seems the most complicated system – but I do like that she has sections for borrowed books and books to be read despite that she is soon to be rid of them all! Moondragonflower is the only who admitted to using any form of Dewey at home – and even mentioned boxes ‘uncatalogued’ (imagining an OPAC built into the end of her bookshelf).  I resonated most with FromMelbin‘s book organisation – the better books being in the better bookshelf and the crappy books in boxes. I actually have two book cases – one for the ‘best books’ mostly my books and ordered, believe it or not, by colour (its very pretty!). The other book case has all the other ‘good books’ – those we like, some yet to be read and consists mostly of my partner’s books (you can tell who ordered the shelves!), lastly we have a half a shed full of archived books (stored properly for longevity) which is mostly all of our sentimental (read childhood) books which we love and can’t part with but is not practical or useful at present.

So we learned a lot from our challengers about their book, reading and home librarian habits and it seems that through reflecting on the meme I may just have completed it also!

For those who may still like to play along here are the questions:
Do you snack while reading?
What is your favourite drink while reading?
Do you tend to mark your books while you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
How do you keep your place? Bookmark? Dog ear? Laying the book open flat?
Fiction, non-fiction or both?
Do you tend to read to the end of a chapter or can you stop anywhere?
Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
What are you currently reading?
What is the last book you bought?
Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?
Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
How do you organise your books (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)?

2012 is the National Year of Reading and will be celebrated year round with events, competitions and much more, organised and sponsored by diverse partners, including libraries, educators, writers, publishers, booksellers, professional associations, politicians and other associated organisations.

ALIA is a sponsor and will be launching the National Year of Reading 2012 website – Love 2 Read, on Wednesday 14th July at the IMPACT 2010 public library conference in Albury.

In the meantime, you can join in the preparations by becoming a Fan of the Facebook page. Check out all the news at Facebook, or read how it came about at the Cities of Lit website.

Be inspired and start thinking about how you and your library can join in this significant event.