January gets a bad rap.

After that first day, the general feeling seems to be one of resignation — just get through until the next holiday season, when the Dark Days of Winter are Bright and Merry, thanks to copious amounts of artificial lighting.

Poor, January.  Dark, dank, and dreary January, when the white Christmas snow turns to brown slush! After the adrenaline rush of New Year’s and the let-down of letting ourselves down by failing in our New Year’s Resolutions by Day Two, what is there?

Interestingly, January is host to over 75 “National Month of …” celebrations, including being the “National Month of Hobbies.”  For those who are interested in learning something new, January is the perfect time to teach that proverbial old dog a thing or two — not that we’re (admitting to being) old.

We, here at Libby Library in Old Orchard Beach, are happy to help you get started, and so, for the month of January, we will be honoring the hobbyists.

If your hobbies include local history and storytelling (or either/or), you might be interested in one of our new online features. “Making Memories: an Oral History” is now live in the Archives section of our website at www.ooblibrary.org.

For those who lean more toward an out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new philosophy, we have something for you, too! Check our display of hobby-centric books near the circulation desk.  And if none of the hobbies we have displayed pique your interest, one of our lovely Librarians would be thrilled to assist you in finding your niche.

Speaking of our lovely Librarians, we are launching an all new “Staff Book Picks.”  It should be of no surprise that Librarians love to read.  Of course we do!  Be sure to check out what we consider good literature … or just something fun to while away the winter hours.   Look for our display on Jan. 12.

Did we mention that Librarians like words?  Be sure to keep an eye on the wall in the circulation desk area for our Gi-Nor-Mous Scrabble board!  The gauntlet has been thrown by one of our Library Lovelies who fancies herself a Wizard of Words and was considering a career as a Scrabble Master (yes, it’s a real job), but decided being a Librarian would be more fun.   She doesn’t think you can beat her worst word and is challenging YOU to prove her wrong.  A bag of letters can be picked-up at the circulation desk, and to make things more interesting, we’ll even be offering prizes for the highest scorers in each game.  The Scrabble Board will be ready for your words on Jan. 19.

Remember, there’s always something happening at the library, and as Arthur Read, Marc Brown’s beloved aardvark, says, “Having fun isn’t hard, when you’ve got a library card.”