Face your fears

Did you know that the second Tuesday of October is Face your Fears day? What are you afraid of? Don’t be a scaredy cat, read on to find out how the library can help you to face seven fears (its lucky seven actually, just in case you’re superstitious as well).

Bibliphobia. This is a fear of books. Whether books are too challenging, too intellectual, or just too big, face your fear and come into the library. Where else can you find so many books?

Arachnophobia This is one of the most common fears of all… of spiders. The best way to overcome this irrational fear is to educate yourself. Come into the library and borrow some spider books with big glossy pictures of these clever and cute, web spinning weavers.

Thanatophobia If you are one of the many people who spend too much time pondering on one of the two certainties in life (the other one is taxes), the library can at least offer the diversion of reading. Set yourself a goal of reading as many books as you can from the 1001 books you must read before you die collection!

Glossophobia Are you scared speechless? Another common fear is that of public speaking. The library has a solution. Start small and join a library book group. You can face your fear by expressing your opinions of the book in front of up to nine other people. Just try it, you might just find other people actually listening to you!

Do you suffer from Metathesiophobia?
This is a fear of change. Face your fear by reading from a book from a genre outside your comfort zone. Do you love to read romance? Read a thriller. Or do you enjoy reading adventure stories? Then try reading a fantasy. You might just surprise yourself and enjoy it! Check out our readers guides to help you make a choice.

Fragapanephobia (Fear of birthdays)
In an effort to help library staff face any possible fear they may harbour of this yearly celebration, we have started interviewing the birthday person on or around their birthday, asking “What are you reading?”. Their replies are posted on Facebook on Fridays. Join in the celebrations and share your current reads-every Friday on Facebook.

Phonophobia Face your fear of LOUD noise at the library. The myth of silence in the library is just that. A myth. There’s not a lot of sshhing going on here. There is discussion, conversation, music and laughter. However, if it all gets too much, you can beat a hasty retreat upstairs to the reference section, where silence still rules...