Published: December 6, 2016 by Kate M. Spaulding

Get cozy this winter break with a list of recommended things to read, watch, and listen to! What suggestions for the list do you have?

Classes are wrapping up, and we have about 6 weeks of academic freedom (classes resume January 26). That’s a lot of time! Last year I definitely got antsy, but this year I want to make a plan. Because six weeks? That’s a lot of opportunities to catch up on your non-required reading (also, napping). Next week I’ll give you some ideas of career-boosting activities, but I wanted to start off a little more gently to help you ease into the break.

If you’re anything like me, you have some articles saved in your RSS feed, or newsletters “marked as unread” in your inbox, or 12 open tabs in your browser just waiting for a moment of your time. That time is now (and the next few weeks). So please be kind as I admit that I haven’t read all of these! I also welcome your additions in the comments!

General LIS

• Top 10 MARA blogs
• Top 10 LIS blogs
• Research writing advice from iSchool experts
• On getting out of the library bubble
• And so, of course, Eli Pariser’s TED Talk on filter bubbles
• An example of how libraries save lives
• 5 ways school librarians can meet the needs of students in poverty
• Fake library stats (fun Twitter account)

Career Helpers

• Handy post on copyright law and legally using images in slides/presentations
• Selling librarian skills outside of libraries
• How to effectively share examples of your work
• All about LinkedIn recommendations (note: this is a blog post, but next week it will become fodder for action)
• Building relationships with professors
• Free resources from She Negotiates on conflict resolution and negotiation
• Use the holidays to get ahead (while sitting on your mom’s couch)
• Related: getting hired at a public library or at an academic library
• Smart people take breaks (remember the napping idea up top?)
• Networking for extroverts – use your powers for good
• Nail your first day at a new job
• Related: make the most of your first LIS job
• Using social media in your job search

Book Related

• The New York Times: 100 notable books of 2016 and NPR’s Book Concierge
• The Heart of Librarianship by iSchool professor Dr. Michael Stephens. Here’s my review!
• Another Round podcast: Lit is Lit
• Read the book that’s not for you

Longer Reads

• The new issue of Descriptor – published by the American Library Association’s Student chapter (ALASC) here at the iSchool
• The new issue of Archeota – the official publication of SJSU’s student chapter of the Society of American Archivists (SAASC)
• The Student Research Journal’s new issue’s planned publication on January 20
• A LibGuide from Indiana University East all about fake news (go, Hoosiers!)
• Library Juice Press – publisher “specializing in theoretical and practical issues in librarianship from a critical perspective, for an audience of professional librarians and students of library science.”
• First Monday – an open access, peer–reviewed journal solely devoted to research about the Internet

What else should we be reading/watching/listening to?