Adult & Teen Services News

ReferenceUSA - The Premier Source of Business and Residential Information

Did you know that the library has a powerful database available to its members? ReferenceUSA is a leading provider of business and consumer research. The site was initially designed as a powerful research tool for small businesses, students, and job seekers. The database has information on over 20 million businesses as well as 222 million consumers. You can use ReferenceUSA to look up the phone numbers and addresses of any of these businesses or people in the database.

Do you own or are planning on opening a small business here in Bloomington? You can use ReferenceUSA to scope out the competition. This database will allow you to select a location and conduct a radius search of similar businesses in an area defined by you. You can look up how long the competition has been in business as well as how good their credit rating is. Read more »

Posted by Travis C. on Oct 30, 2012

Proper care and feeding of your DVDs, CDs and BluRays.

Not this way When compact discs first came out they were proclaimed to be almost indestructible. I still remember watching the Today Show and being amazed as the new media storage for music was demonstrated. Part of the demonstration was taking a small hammer and hitting the CD disc with it. A wonder of wonders; the disc still played. Looking back on this event today I wonder if the disc would have played all the way through. The Idea that digital disc storage was indestructible has been more than a little overblown. Digital discs need the same care and sometimes greater care than the old vinyl recordings. I would like to share with you some guidelines for caring for your digital discs. " Read more »

Posted by Keith C. on Sep 10, 2012

Family History Month is coming!

The Indiana Room is gearing up early for National Family History Month in October.

Be sure to mark your calendars now for these programs:

Dating Old Family Photos

Image from the Smithville News Digital Collection

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 | 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Joan Hostetler from Heritage Photo Research will give clues on dating and identifying the person pictures or era of old photos. Participants are encouraged to bring mystery photos. You may email photos and questions in advance to Joan at heritagephotoservices [at] gmail [dot] com. Registration Required

Beginning Genealogy: Just the Basics

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 | 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

This class is designed for people interested in beginning research on their own family history. The basic resources will be reviewed including census records, marriage, birth and death records and obituaries. The class will also include a very brief review of Ancestry Library Edition and Family Search.org Registration Required

Posted by Christine F. on Sep 5, 2012

Civil War "Rock Star" Ed Bearss Speaks on the 27th Indiana and the Battle of Antietam

AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, David Grubbs

Civil War expert and popular battlefield tour guide Ed Bearss will talk about the Hoosier Soldiers who fought in the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. Bearss provided commentary for Ken Burns' PBS series, The Civil War, and has served as Chief Historian for the National Park Service. Presented in partnership with the Monroe County Civil War Roundtable; part of the David Wiley Lecture Series.

According to Adam Goodheart of the Smithsonian Magazine, Bearss is "nothing short of a rock star" in Civil War circles.

Don't miss this wonderful opportunity! Event is Tuesday, September 11th at 7pm in the Main Library's auditorium. Drop in.

Posted by Christine F. on Aug 29, 2012

What's an Alex Award?

In Zanesville Warning! Don't look for these books in the Young Adult section! These are "Adult Books," written for adults. Teens beware!

Ok, now that I've got your attention, let me also say that these books are just great for teens. So great, in fact, that the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) made an award just for them, and named them after a famous Baltimore librarian - sort of. Her name was Margaret A. Edwards, but her friends called her Alex, and that's where we get the Alex Awards. The 2012 Alex Awards feature ten books written for adults, but with special appeal to teens. Read more »

Posted by Chris H. on Aug 7, 2012

August Books Plus

Snobs Whether you're inside enjoying the cool air or outside braving the weather at pool-side, consider that small country across the pond. Yes, England, and we're not talking about the Olympics but a Downton-Abbey type novel set in contemporary times. Are the rich really different from you and me? Screenwriter, novelist, and actor, Julian Fellowes tackles this subject in Snobs, a novel about a middle-class woman named Edith who would love the wealth and title of the Earl, Charles Broughton, whom she'd love to marry.

Fellowes knows about castles and big estates. He's the son of a diplomat, and he visited many of the estates he writes about. He's also known struggling actors who aren't sure how they will pay next month's rent. As New York Times reviewer, Jonathan Ames said, Snobs is a "field guide to the behavior of the English aristocracy." Ames also wrote, "When you read a book, you're lost in time. All the more reason to read Snobs. It will distract you pleasantly. It's like a visit to an English country estate: breezy, beautiful and charming."

Read more »

Posted by Sarah B. on Jul 27, 2012

Takin' It To 11

Hello, music lovers.

The world has always produced great musical groups as well as great musical groups that never existed. The Greeks gave us the Sirens of Odysseus. From Rome we got Nero who didn't really fiddle but was a notorious Lyre player. Egypt gave us Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs - uh, well, maybe not. But, as generous as history has been with great examples of real musical groups, it is worth noting that history is also littered with musical groups that never existed, such as Alexander's Ragtime Band, Benny and the Jets, The Sultans of Swing, Willie and the Poor Boys. And that is what we are celebrating for the next eight weeks - some of the greatest bands that never were and in some cases it's probably better that they weren't.

Anyway, we will be meeting here, in the lavishly appointed MCPL Auditorium at 6:30 for the next 7 Wednesdays to explore this little researched phenomenon of Bands that never existed in film and the eighth week will be a live performance by a band that never (quite) was. Be there or be square.

Posted by Mark B. on Jul 18, 2012

5th Annual All-Day Anime!

Tuesday, July 15, 12 PM - 9 PM

12 PM - 9 PM

Meeting Room 1B/1C, 1st Floor

Drop in, ages 13-20 only.

Schedule:

12-5 - Crafts, character cafe, games, anime, general shenanigans.

5-6: Pizza

6:30 - 8:30: Movie in the Auditorium - Summer Wars

Posted by Chris H. on Jul 10, 2012

New Website for Fiction Readers

What's the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy? What comes after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? It's easy to find out using this new website available to you from the Monroe County Public Library. eSequels is an online guide to series fiction that is current and complete so you can find the newest title by your favorite author or spot a title that you may have missed. Novels are listed in the correct reading sequence so you can begin at the beginning . Character, location and subject are indexed as well as author and title. Brief annotations are provided that describe each title without "giving away" any surprise endings.

You can find eSequels and many other great sources of information on our A-Z Research Tools page.

Posted by Jim G. on Jul 2, 2012

Index to 1940 U.S. Census for Indiana is Completed

Indiana Room torch and stars

Our good friends at the Indiana Genealogical Society have just announced that FamilySearch has posted the Indiana portion of the 1940 census index!

These indexes as well as the corresponding images of the census pages are free, part of the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project.

To find this and other searchable databases to help you with your genealogy, try the Indiana Room's Genealogy Research Guide.

Posted by Christine F. on Jun 20, 2012

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