Out with the old, in with the fresh

Check it out
by CONNIE BROOKS

If you wanted to get a fresh start in the New Year by unloading unnecessary possessions and simplifying your life, it’s not too late. Although January 1 has come and gone, the Chinese New Year won’t begin until February 14. The Chinese custom of sweeping away the previous year’s bad luck to make room for good luck in the new year with a thorough house cleaning offers a second chance for that fresh start.

The Kyle Community Library is glad to be of assistance. The library accepts donations of materials (in good condition), such as books, audio books and DVDs. And you can take household items to the Kyle Thrift Shop, where proceeds benefit the library. Think how wonderful it will be to have room on your bookshelves and bedside tables again!

The Kyle Library can also help you with cleaning. No, library staff won’t wash your windows, but the library does have books about cleaning and organization. “How to Clean Practically Anything” and “Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean” are full of useful information about how to keep your home and belongings looking good. Martha Stewart’s “Good Things for Organizing” and the “Christian Family Guide to Organizing Your Life” offer tips for simplifying people’s everyday lives. The “Closet Book” offers delightful glimpses into the many ways a closet can be organized.

And to keep you from accumulating clutter in the first place, you can put into practice lessons from David Allen’s “Making it All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life,” Stephanie Culp’s “How to Get Organized When You Don’t Have Time,” or Robert Moskowitz’s “How to Organize Your Work and Your Life.”

Celebrate the upcoming Year of the Tiger at the Kyle Library by checking out some of our new books!