What can we learn from a squirrel?

Andy the Squirrel's contribution to National Library Week- If you've become our friend on Facebook, you know that we have a library mascot named Andy the Squirrel. Recently, in honor of National Library Week, Andy conducted a completely unscientific survey on the reading habits of his coworkers at the Manitowoc Public Library.


Below is a sampling of Andy's questions and our responses.

1) WHEN do you like to read?  According to Andy, 95% of the staff at the Manitowoc Public Library like to read while at work, 3% like to read and take walks (with the actual book in their hands at the same time), and 2% of respondants wanted to know why Andy always looks like he's ready for a fight. They would not answer any of Andy's questions, even when threatened.

2) WHAT do you like to read for fun and relaxation? 97% of our staffers prefer a romance paperback. (Andy is not very good at typing. I'm not sure that these results are accurate.) 1% of our staff reads Book Lust and Book Crush by Nancy Pearl (the librarian's librarian) for fun and good times.

3) WHERE do you like to read? 50% of staff like to read in the car. The convenience of audiobooks in a variety of formats has really helped with this. 48% of staff said this question was just like the first one because, obviously, they like to read while in the library. The frightened 2% had run away from Andy by this time.

4) Best book of all time: (Andy's little paws were starting to give out at this point so he only had one title typed in.) The Humanure Handbook: a guide to composting human manure by Joseph C. Jenkins. Yes, the Manitowoc Public Library does own this book and it has gone out a number times. I would guess there were other titles listed by staff (this one doesn't look like a romance to me) but Andy was exhausted from scurrying around and started to scold me when I questioned his results.

What can we take away from Andy the Squirrel's survey? In Andy's opinion:

1) Libraries are fun places to work. There are new people to help every day and unusual titles to suggest.

2) Everyone that works here likes to read and (despite what Andy will tell you) they read a variety of things, even romances.

3) Librarians that read are important. They share their passion for knowledge and their enjoyment of a good story with anyone who will listen.

4) Librarians might not know much about things like humanure, but we will be happy to help you find the answers to your questions.

Celebrate National Library week-enjoy your local library and all it has to offer. (Don't tell Andy this-but if you have a moment, you can stop by one of our service desks and take a REAL reading survey.) Thanks Andy!