Idaho Commission for Libraries

Last night, the Twin Falls Public Library hosted our last Let's Talk About It! program. I, for one, am excited. This means I get my life back: my schedule goes back to normal and I get to read what I want (although the books we picked this year were very good, they weren't my usual, and I really really really really need a good bodice ripper right about now). I just want to give a shout-out to all those who made it possible: the USBancorp Foundation, the Idaho Humanities Council, and of course, the good folks at the Idaho Commission for Libraries. Thank you so much!

I was sitting here filling out all the reports that accompany the series, and one of the questions was how our patrons liked the program. I thought it w sad that only the Commission people would read it, so I decided to share some of our experiences with all of Idaho.

This year's theme was "Life in the Modern Rural West", which I like since I kinda live in the modern rural west. I was able to identify with these books a lot more than some others series we've hosted, mainly because I recognized what they were talking about. Being a lifelong Idahoan, I could easily visualize the descriptions of places and events. It was great, too, when one of the authors mentioned the Eastern Idaho State Fair; we used to go there annually when I was a kid, and it brought back a flood of memories. I think that's what our patrons liked about it too. It reminded them of their childhood, their "old stomping grounds", and in a sense, the authors' memories and experiences also became their memories and experiences.

But I think the best thing about the Let's Talk About It! program is that it gets all of us to read outside our comfort zones. I'm not a fan of non-fiction nor memoirs, yet I found myself engrossed in John Remeber's Traplines: Coming Home to the Sawtooth Valley and Diane Josephy Peavey's Bitterbrush Country: Living on the Edge of the Land. One lady informed me that the best book she read this year was The Sky Fisherman by Craig Lesley, the fourth book we read. She told me had it not been for Let's Talk About It!, she never would have picked it up. And that, to me, sums up the success of the program.