In the ideal world, reading slumps don’t exist. You’ll have the perfect book, feel like relaxing with a new title, and don’t get bored with the books that are on your Libby app or the tables and bookshelves throughout your house.

If you’re in the middle of a reading hiatus, here are several ways to get out of it:

• Give yourself a break — Once in awhile you’ll go through a season where you might have to ride out your reading hiatus by watching a show or trying a new activity. That’s totally fine.

• Reread a favorite — Reach into your book arsenal for a favorite title. It might just be the title to keep you reading on.

• Listen to an audiobook — This is what worked for me this past month. I strapped on my sneakers and listened to two audiobooks in the span of a week. While I’m not one to listen to anything other than nature on a walk, it worked like a charm. You can listen while you garden or putter around the house too.

• Try a new genre — Switch up your repertoire. If you read a great non-fiction try a mystery instead of turning to the same format because it’ll be entirely different.

• Hide your phone — If your devices are a distraction (and if you’re not reading on your phone!) move it to another room while you read. Or hide it in the backyard.

• Pick up a young adult book — It may be easier to get into reading a young adult since they’re shorter and have great plotlines. Like a favorite, it might just be the title to keep you reading on.

• Schedule a time to read — Get into the habit of starting or ending the day with fifteen or twenty or thirty minutes of reading. Having a time slot in your day to read might help you on your way to getting out of a reading hiatus.

If you’d like to request any library items, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and click on Library Catalog or give us a call at 507-359-8331. We’d be happy to place materials on hold for you.

The library is located at 17 N. Broadway and is open to the public Monday to Thursdays 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday and Saturdays 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. The library will be closed the morning of Wednesday, August 18 for staff training and will reopen at 1 p.m.