Love your library - at the Natchez Little Theatre!

This Wednesday, February 9, at 7 pm is the preview performance of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Buying a ticket to this performance for the bargain price of $10 will benefit your Library!

The Natchez Little Theater designates the preview performance (the night before the official opening) of each show as a benefit for a worthy cause in Natchez. This time, your Library has been selected! We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Executive Director Layne Taylor for choosing us. All funds raised from ticket sales to this performance will be used to offset budget cuts made by the City for books, materials, and programming.

The Friends of the Library will be providing delicious refreshments at intermission. Library staff will be taking tickets and greeting you at the door. This is a great chance to show your support for your Library and see a classic of American theatre performed by talented local actors.

Events like this one are a great example of community involvement and support. The Library wins, Natchez Little Theater wins, and the community wins. When you purchase tickets, you are voting with your feet and pocketbook for your favorite community causes.

The benefit performance is this Wednesday, February 9th at 7 pm. (Please note the starting time is earlier than regular performances.) You can purchase your tickets at the door or reserve them by calling 601.442.2233 or emailing theatre@bellsouth.net. Be sure to specify that you want tickets reserved for Wednesday's benefit.

Let's have a full house for our Library! See you there!

EITC Awareness Day and Tax Forms @ Your Library

The Armstrong Library is celebrating Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day on January 28, 2011, with a grant provided through Entergy. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) may be available to anyone who earned $48,362 or less from wages, self-employment, or farming in 2010. You could be eligible for a special tax credit this year and not know it. As a result, you may overlook claiming the EITC, which can put anywhere from $2 to more than $5,600 into your pockets.

People move into and out of EITC eligibility based on changes in their earnings, their parental status or their marital status. Many people will qualify for the first time this year due to economic changes in their incomes. We encourage people to see if they qualify. Eligible workers can get their EITC only if they file federal income tax returns – even if they are not otherwise required to file – and specifically claim the credit.

Taxpayers can get information and forms at the Armstrong Library from Friday, January 28 through Monday, April 18. Tax day is Monday, April 18 (this year only), in observance of Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia on April 15.

With the grant from Entergy, the Library will be of even more help to those needing tax forms and who wish to e-file. Grant funds will provide a computer dedicated to downloading tax forms and e-filing. People may come to the Library and download tax forms at a reduced price of 10¢ (ten cents) per printed page. The State of Mississippi, as a cost savings factor, is no longer mailing tax forms to individuals; therefore, the Department of Revenue has partnered with public libraries. All State tax forms are available at the Armstrong Library. People who wish to e-file may use the grant-provided computer to complete their tax filing. But, please don’t ask Library Staff for advice! We are not tax experts! Library staff can provide assistance in locating online forms, only!

The Armstrong Library also partners with the AARP in their Tax Aide program. Participation in this program is available on Wednesdays, from 9-4, beginning February 2 and ending on April 13. Persons assisted through the AARP Tax Aide program are served on a first come, first served, basis. Information on what is needed to participate in the Tax Aide program is available on Wednesdays only, during this time.

Come see what your Library can do for you!

• Tax information and forms, available @ Your Library
• A specific computer for downloading tax forms and for e-filing, available @ Your Library
• AARP Tax Aide program, available @ Your Library

What to Read Next

Looking for a good fiction book? Whether you want a list of all the titles by your favorite author or want to know the next title in a good series, your Library has a really cool way to get these answers - and more. It's called NoveList. NoveList is a fiction database with information on more than 135,000 titles, searchable in a variety of ways - and it's incredibly useful.

 First, let me show you how to find this great resource, so you can follow along as I tell you how to use it. Go to the Library website. In the menu on the left, click on Resources, then click on Online Research Tools. Scroll down until you find MAGNOLIA and click on it. MAGNOLIA is an extensive online research tool provided by the Mississippi State Legislature through the state's public libraries.

MAGNOLIA is close to a hundred different databases that can be searched for reliable information, but today we're just going to focus on one - NoveList. To reach it, click on the letter N under the Database A-Z List. Click on the title NovelList. Now you are in NoveList.

You can search for information by author, title, series, or even find a forgotten title by just entering a description of the book in the Search Box. If you look to the left, you'll see you can look at age range or by different genres, like Mysteries or Science Fiction. If you look to the right, you'll see other interesting things you can do - like looking for Book Discussion Guides or Award Winners.

One of the coolest features is the Author Read Alikes. If you find an author you like, you can find other similar authors. For example, let's say I like John Grisham books and I want to find more like them. Click on Author Read Alikes, then find the author's name, either by entering the Grisham, John in the search box or just clicking on the G. Once you see his name, click on it. Scoll down the page, and you will see a description of his writing style, and a description of similar authors. Isn't that cool?

Takes some time to play around in NoveList, and you will see everything you need to find that perfect book. It's also useful for all sorts of other projects like book reports and discussion guides. If ever you need help, just click on the purple button How to Use NoveList in the upper right hand corner for a series of tutorials. And of course, you can always call or come in the Library.

January New Books

There is a section in the Library called New Books, where we put new books when they arrive. They usually stay there for a few months before being shelved in their appropriate place. This section is a favorite place for many of our patrons. But in case you haven't been here in a while, here are some of the new arrivals.

FICTION

• Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy with Grant Blackwood. Many characters from Clancy's previous novels make an appearance as an intelligence group tracks a vicious terrorist called the Emir.
• Cross Fire by James Patterson. Alex Cross investigates a professional assassination in Washington and receives a chilling call from his deadliest adversary. 
• The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson. The third volume of a trilogy about a Swedish hacker and a journalist. 
• Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King. Four long stories which are light on the supernatural and deal mostly with grisly human behavior. 
• Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell. In the 18th Kay Scarpetta novel, the forensic pathologist masters a sophisticated autopsy technology at an Air Force base.
• Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. Five interrelated families from five countries are caught in the upheavals of World War I and the Russian Revolution.
• Hell's Corner by David Baldacci. Recalled to duty, Oliver Stone hunts for those responsible for a bomb detonated near the White House.
• An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin. A young, beautiful and amitious woman ruthlessly ascends the heights of the Manhattan art world.
• Crescent Dawn by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler. Dirk Pitt seeks to discover the connection between a trove of ancient Roman artifacts and a series of mosque explosions.

NONFICTION

• Decision Points by George W Bush. The former President's memoir discusses his Christianity and the end of his drinking; his relationship with members of his family; and his decisions on 9/11, Iraq, and Katrina.
• Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain. The first of three volumes collected by the Mark Twain Project on the centenary of the author's death.
• Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff. A biography of the last queen of ancient Eqypt.
• America by Heart, by Sarah Palin. The former Vice Presidential candidate reflects on family, faith, and patriotism.
• I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron. Reflections on age and memory, from the author of I Feel Bad About My Neck.
• Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. The third and concluding volume of Morris's monumental biography of Theodore Roosevelt.

Come check out our other new books.

New Year's Traditions from Around the World

If we were celebrating New Years in England, it would be very important to be sure a good first footer entered your home before anyone else in the New Year. The most desirable first footer would be a young, good looking, healthy male, carrying a small piece of coal, money, bread, and salt, symbolizing wealth. The least desirable first footer would be a woman, and those people with blonde or red hair - I guess those would be considered trouble makers! I can't help but wonder if this is the source of the expression "put your best foot forward." The ancient first footer tradition is practiced to this day in England.

In Ireland, the direction of the wind at New Year is traditionally an indication of the trend in politics for the coming year. If it blew from the west, it would be a good year for Ireland; if from the east, England would gain the upper hand. I thought this interpretation of signs to be very typically Irish. Of course, after the year we've had politically, there's no telling which way the wind will blow after New Year's.

Many countries have traditions that involve large, even massive, amounts of food being served, invoking coming prosperity and surplus. The French feast customarily includes special dishes like foie gras, seafood such as oysters, and drinks like champagne. It can be a simple intimate dinner with friends and family, or a much fancier ball. I'm leaning towards the French approach!

I'm not so sure I'd want to celebrate in Denmark, where friends and family show their good wishes by throwing dishes at your front door. If you have heaps of broken dishes at your door, you can consider yourself blessed with many friends. Really?

Well, Happy New Year to everyone! I guess I'll be sticking with the Southern tradition of good old black eye peas and cabbage to ensure good fortune. Does cole slaw count?

Merry Christmas from Your Library!

We have had a busy Christmas this year. It started on Saturday, December 4, when the Library Drill Team made its debut in the Christmas Parade. Let me be kind and say we're not quite ready for prime time yet. But we had a really fun time, and we plan to do it again next year - but we're going to practice first. (Click on the link to see pictures and video.)

On Sunday, December 5, the Friends of the Library held their annual Christmas Tour of Homes, which was a huge success. We had the most attendees ever, and the Friends made a record profit. This is very timely, since your Library is suffering financially due to budget cuts. (Click on the link to see pictures.)

On Monday, December 6, we were closed for staff development, and we held our annual Christmas luncheon for the Board of Trustees and the Friends Board to thank them for all they do to help us. We also used that day to decorate for the holiday. Come by and see!

I was looking on the web for what other Libraries were doing for Christmas. Some had a Christmas tree made of books. One library in Memphis had a flash mob singing carols. Do you know what a flash mob is? I think they're so cool! It's a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform a brief act, and then disperse. The first one I heard of, and maybe the first in Mississippi, occured in the Student Union of Ole Miss right before spring break.



Remember that your library can help you celebrate Christmas. We have some new Christmas movies on DVD that you might want to borrow and share with your family: Babes in Toyland, The Christmas Blessing, Miracle on 34th Street, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Disney's A Christmas Carol. We also have lots of Christmas books on decorating, cooking, crafting, gardening - or just great stories.

HOLIDAY HOURS

CHRISTMAS

Close on Friday, December 24 & reopen on Tuesday, December 28

NEW YEARS

Close on Friday, December 31 & reopen on Tuesday, January 4

Library Staff in Christmas Parade

Book Cart Drill Team from a
public library in Indiana

This year the Armstrong Library makes its debut in the annual Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 4 at 6 pm. However, we were not sure what we could do, so we decided to follow the example of  other libraries across the country and pimp our book carts and do a book cart drill.

WHAT??

Pimp My Bookcart is a parody of MTV's Pimp My Ride and is an annual contest run by Unshelved, a hilarious webcomic by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes that is about a public library and is read by public library staff across the country. The purpose of the contest is to see who can best pimp, trick out, or otherwise improve a standard library book cart. The entries range from outrageous to clever. Check them out here.

But it gets worse. There is also a Book Cart Drill Team competition sponsored by Demco, a library supply company, that is held at the annual American Library Association conference. Your Library staff is going to try (and I do mean try!) to do a book cart drill.

The theme of this year's Christmas Parade is Broadway. So how many librarians are characters in Broadway plays? What a challenge! Then our Director remembered - Marian the Librarian from The Music Man. And what better music to drill to than 76 Trombones!

We may (will) make total fools of ourselves, but we will have fun. You don't want to miss this!

Pimping book carts and doing book cart drills are only the tip of the iceburg when it comes to putting a new face on libraries and their staff. Libraries are no longer as quiet as they used to be, and I can't remember the last time I wore my hair in a bun! We invite you to come downtown and get into the spirit of the season and see your local librarians in a whole new way!