Cerro Coso Library Blog

What's Your New Year's Resolution?

Hello from 2024! 
You may or may not be thinking about New Year’s resolutions, but a new year often means a fresh start - whether this means eating more fruits and vegetables or finally tackling your to-read pile (We’re working on it - It’s not our fault that new books keep coming out!).

If you haven’t heard of SMART goals, they’re a fantastic way to create a New Year’s resolution that you can actually accomplish! How do you create a SMART goal? The instructions are in the acronym:

• S – Specific (What exactly will you do?)
• M – Measurable (How will you determine whether you’ve met your goal?)
• A – Achievable (Can you actually meet this goal?)
• R – Relevant (How is this goal important?)
• T – Time-Bound (What is your deadline?)

Need some examples? Here are our library goals for the following year:

New Year’s Resolution 1: Digitize 25 New Textbooks this year.

We want to digitize textbooks (specific) so that our online students can access library materials from home (relevant). Before the end of the year (time-bound), we are pretty sure we can scan 25 (measurable) of them (achievable). 

New Year’s Resolution 2: Hold 25 Library Workshops in 2024.

We want to host library workshops over Zoom (specific) so that we can help students learn how to find, use, and cite library resources when they do research (relevant). Before the end of 2024 (time-bound), we’re pretty sure we can hold (achievable) at least 25 workshops (measurable).

New Year’s Resolution 3: Add 600 New Books to the Library in the next 12 months.

We want to make sure our students are getting access to new information (relevant), so we plan to add at least 600 (measurable) new print and electronic books (achievable) to our library catalog (specific) this year (time-bound).

Think we can meet all of our goals? We'll find out in December! In the meantime, try coming up with some SMART goals of your own!

What are your New Year's resolutions?

Photo (cc) Lilla Frerichs