Donate for Something Tasty

I am running the ING New York City Marathon and raising funds for ING Run For Something Better. Every little bit helps, even $5 would be great. As an added incentive, I am offering the following gifts for donations. I have included suggested donation amounts for gifts, but any donation gets any gift. One gift per person. You can email me at keys.karen@gmail.com

http://www.active.com/donate/INGNYCM2011/karenkeys

Rooftop Dinner (Suggested: $100)
A tasty meal for you and a guest on my lovely rooftop (weather permitting).

Butternut Pound Cake (Suggested: $50)
This is what my grandmother always made for my birthday. It takes three hours to bake in all the love.

Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies (Suggested: $25)
Nothing says loving like something fresh from the oven. Alternatives: brownies, banana cream pie, or cheesecake.

Books! (Suggested: $20)
Two books, selected from my personal stash, especially for YOU.

I have committed to raising $2750 (yikes!), but I am prepared to pay that amount myself. It will mean ramen for every meal and living very frugally for the next 2-3 months, but I think the cause is important. I wish I had started running as a kid. Anyway, it will be a much more fun September and October if I'm gratefully baking and cooking. My grandmother's cheesecake recipe is delicious.



Here's the link to donate:
http://www.active.com/donate/INGNYCM2011/karenkeys

**If you don't live in New York, everything but the rooftop dinner, banana cream pie, and cheesecake can probably be shipped. We'll work something out.**

Finishing What I Start

This librarian blog will be mostly about running for the next three months. Where possible, I will combine libraries and running. I'm training for the NYC Marathon and accepting donations for ING's Run For Something Better.

ING Run For Something Better funds free school-based youth running programs for kids in our race markets and nationally to teach kids the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and help them avoid childhood obesity.

Also, completely unrelated, I seem to have inadvertently deleted all the images from this blog. I am choosing to blame Google Plus.

48 Hour Book Challenge: 17 Hours, 37 Minutes

Just a quick update to post my stats for the Sixth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge:

Reading: 17 Hours, 37 Minutes
Books Started: Four
Books Finished: Three (one audiobook, one eBook, one print book)
Libraries Hugged: One (CNN covered it! Article: Supporters give 'hug' to budget-pinched NYC libraries)
Muffins Baked: 12 (post-Challenge, recipe from Smitten Kitchen: Rhubarb Streusel Muffins)

Hugs, Cupcakes, and the 48Hour Book Challenge

It's gearing up to be a hectic month: two major NYC library advocacy events (Hug the Library, 24 Hour We Will Not Be Shushed Read In), preparing for Alex Awards committee meetings at ALA Annual, pulling off a program (Pecha Kucha: Teens and Technology) at the same library conference, and planning for our first big month of technology and job readiness programs at the library in July.

A weekend spent reading is just what I need. No, really, I mean that. I'm throwing my stack of books into the ring for the 48 Hour Book Challenge.

I'll be darting off to high-five Patience and Fortitude at the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in the middle of my reading fest. The three library systems in New York City are facing massive budget cuts, and (fingers crossed) a hundreds-strong group of us is going to form a human chain around the building, so that we can what the event name implies: Hug the Library. (Are you in NYC or the surrounding area? You should come. You can even read while you wait for the hug to take place promptly at 2pm.)

Other than my cozy up with the library and some baking aspirations, my weekend is mostly clear. My plan is to read from 8pm Friday-8pm Sunday. I'm aiming for 20/48 hours, but maybe I can manage to stay up this time around. Here are my books:

a new job for a new season

In keeping with my tradition of changing my job (or position) every two years, I'm now working as an outreach librarian in Long Island City. I'm still with Queens Library, and these are my new digs:

Pretty cool, eh? My focus is providing technology and job assistance to traditionally underserved populations. The program, an enhancement of what libraries already provide, is just starting and once again I find myself in a multiple-exclamation-point state.