February is American Heart Month

. . . and a good time to take stock and start fresh with a few resolutions.

Libraries are great places to research ways to implement your goals.

Read on to hear from Gregg, Ranger, and Shab about how the THI Library can help you with your resolutions. — Sonya  

Texas Heart Institute is celebrating American Heart Month 

Watch our "front page" to read a new heart-health tip each day, to send e-cards to your loved ones, to join our community partners, H-E-B and Shipley Do-nuts, and to learn much more about cardiovascular disease.

The public library comes to you  

The Texas Medical Center Library is now partnering with the Harris County Public Library to make even more resources available to you here in the TMC. Check out items using your Harris County Public Library card, and select TMC Library as the pickup location in their online system.

Request cookbooks to help you with your diet goals, exercise videos to pump up your fitness, or job-hunting resources to build your career. The public library is also a great resource if your goal is to read more fiction during your lunch break or to read out loud to your kids every night.

To apply for your library card: 
www.hcpl.net/about/library-cards 
To look for materials:
www.library.tmc.edu/findlibrarymaterials/hcpl.html

Nutrition news can give your diet a boost

It's that time of year again. You know what I mean—it's time for those New Year's resolutions to "lose weight, join the gym, and get in shape." I'm active and fit but my diet is less than ideal. I love my sweet iced tea and chocolate chip cookies. My diet can stand some improvement and if you think yours could as well, we can help. News articles about diet, nutrition and cardiovascular health are regularly posted on the "News Beats" bulletin board in the Library & LRC and they're posted on the web too. Recently, for example, we linked to a US News article on the Best Heart-Healthy Diets and to an article on msn.com about surprising ways to improve your cholesterol. Did you know that eating more nuts, grapefruit, oatmeal cookies, and Concord grapes, and drinking more cranberry juice can improve your cholesterol levels? Also newsworthy - dark chocolate is good for you - in small doses, of course. — Gregg

 Pump up your exercise routine

If you're like me, you try to make New Year's resolutions that are goal-oriented and doable.  For that reason, mine never have to do with changing my diet. Exercise, however, is something I do. This month's library display is about exercise, from prescribing it, to starting your own regimen. The next time you swing by the library, stop and learn something new about exercise. — Ranger

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Get tips on career development 

We see a number of students at every stage in their training come and go every year at THI. This month we say farewell to our student worker, Shab, as she pursues her career as a librarian. When asked about her chosen field, she said, "One of the most important things libraries stand for is the opportunity to learn and grow as much as possible." If your resolutions include career growth, check out our resources on resume writing, investing, and professional development for medical careers. Search the catalog.

     Thanks to everyone who has made working here for the past year as educational, insightful, and fun as it could have possibly been.  — Shab