Adventures of the Lifting Librarian

Diversity matters

For a long time I have been tossing up whether or not to write about the importance of reading diverse stories. I’m taking the leap because this is something that I am very passionate about and I think needs discussing. I will contain my focus for this post specifically on books and stories. Without getting…

That moment I realised I knew almost nothing

It has recently come to my attention that I have lived a very sheltered life. I never thought of myself as someone that was naive and ignorant, but during the last couple of months I have discovered that there is a lot of things in the world that I have no idea about. I won’t…

Publishing a peer reviewed journal article

I recently had the opportunity to publish a paper with the School Libraries Worldwide (SLW) Journal. It came off the back of finishing my thesis; my supervisor shared the call for submissions from SLW with me, saying I should send in my work. At first, I was hesitant because I couldn’t see why anyone would…

Developing a reading habit

During my research for my thesis, I spent a lot of time reading about the importance of reading (how meta is that…) and I discovered some very interesting things. I thought I’d share some of the most interesting tidbits of information that I discovered here. I also shared a video on my YouTube channel with…

Life update for 2020

In this crazy time of 2020 I, like so many others, have had to make some hard decisions about what I want out of this year. And so, I thought I’d write a quick update about where I’m at and give some details around those hard decisions. In my 2020 goals post earlier this year,…

2020 Goals

It’s that time again! Last year I wrote about resolutions/goals, and I’ve got to say, it set me up beautifully for the year. I made it to the end of the year feeling more like myself, having read 52 books, and with a brand new masters under my belt. I achieved a lot, and setting…

Remembering 2019

It seemed like a good idea back in 2017 to keep track of all that I achieved during the year. However, as the years continue to get busier and busier, I’m starting to think that I need to draft this post at the beginning of the year and just add to it as I go……

Finishing a Thesis

As some of you may know, I went back to university at the end of last year to study a second Masters of Education in Educational Research. I wanted to start a PhD, but discovered that I’d have to do a research Masters first. My first Masters of Education was a coursework Masters, meaning that…

Personal branding

Early last year, I went on a bit of an adventure in terms of personal branding. I made the decision to change the focus of my professional Instagram account (@krystalgagen) to include not only my #bookstagram photos, but also my lifting and #gymownerlife content. Whilst some would say that doing so has killed my chance…