State Library Services Will Come To You!

Are you interested in how the Arkansas State Library could help your department or agency? Confused about how to make use of Interlibrary Loan or Ask a Librarian? If you are a State Agency, let the State Library Services staff come to you! We have a presentation that is ready to take on the road that will cover all our services, including:

• Circulation
• Interlibrary Loan
• Ask a Librarian and other reference resources
• Databases
• Patents and Trademarks

In less than an hour, we cover these topics and show what we can do for you. If you are interested, contact the State Library Services supervisor, Michael Strickland, through Ask a Librarian or by calling (501) 682-2053.

Are you registered to vote?

April 19th is the deadline for Arkansans to register to vote before the May 18 Preferential Primary.  Are you registered to vote? If you are, do you know where your polling place is? The Secretary of State's office has several ways for you to find out.

• The Vote Naturally web page. This is your one-stop shopping place for all election information. You can search the voter database by your name and birth date; if you are registered, you will see the address where you are registered, as well as your various congressional, judicial, school and state congressional districts.  Your polling place location and address will also be listed.  Vote Naturally also has information about when and how to vote, candidates, the machines you will be using to vote, and past elections.

• Prefer to check via your smart phone?  The Secretary of State has just introduced a new mobile application for you. Check it out on the SOS website: www.sos.ar.gov/m 

Plan to vote and make your voice heard. 

April Showers (of information)

These days, every month (and every week) has a plethora of celebrations, awareness-raising causes, and anniversaries associated with it.  April is not only Tax Month and Census Month, it is also National Kite Month, Alcohol Awareness Month, and National Pecan Month.  Here are a few more April Celebrations and Causes:

• Child Abuse Prevention Month : Sponsored by the National Exchange Club Foundation. Their website has lists of resources about child abuse prevention. For information about reporting child abuse here in Arkansas, go to the Arkansas Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting page of Arkansas.gov.

• Jazz Appreciation Month:  The Smithsonian Museum launched JAM in 2001 as an annual event that pays tribute to jazz both as a historic and living American art form. It has since grown to include celebrations in all 50 states and 40 countries.

• National Donate Life Month:  "Every day in April, people across the U.S. make a special effort to celebrate the tremendous generosity of those who have saved lives by becoming organ, tissue, marrow, and blood donors and to encourage more Americans to follow their fine example." At the website you can find information about how to become a donor and read President Obama's proclamation declaring April National Donate Life Month.

These Month designations and many more have been taken from Chase's Calendar of Events 2010, which we have available here at the Arkansas State Library. Now, go out and celebrate April!

Get Counted!

Last week I wrote about taxes, but that is not the only activity this season - it is also time for the decennial census. Every 10 years, the people of the United States are given the opportunity to be counted. Census questionnaires are being mailed out to every household in the country, and your response will help the government better allocate funds to improve your community.

Here are some facts about the history of the census, taken from the Census.gov website:

• The first census began more than a year after the inauguration of President George Washington. At its conclusion, the U.S. population totaled approximately 3.9 million and the largest cities were New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Boston, MA.

• Following the abolition of slavery in 1865, ex-slaves were named in the 1870 census for the first time. Before then, they were simply recorded numerically by age.

• The 1900 census included Hawaii (annexed in 1898) for the first time. Census takers counted approximately 154,001 inhabitants on the islands.

• The 1940 census collected information about the population and its housing. It was also the first decennial census to use advanced statistical sampling techniques. Sampling allowed the addition of a number of demographic questions without unduly increasing the overall burden on respondents and data processing.

• Census 2000 incorporated a $167 million advertising campaign to reach every person living in the United States. This advertising contributed to a reversal in the decline of response rates experienced since the 1970 census.

For more information about this year's census, visit the 2010 Census page. If you have questions, or need help filling out your form, the English language assistance number is 1-866-872-6868.

Tax Season

It is tax season once again, so here are a few links that can help you file your taxes.

• Internal Revenue Service: The website for the IRS has information about filing your taxes, from the most simple, to the more complex. All the forms you need are available for download, and there are links to e-file providers. You can also find a link to IRS offices in Arkansas, where you can go to get help with problems and questions about tax law.

• Here in Arkansas, we also have to file Individual Income Taxes, so you will need the website for the Income Tax Office. As with the IRS website, you will find forms, instructions, and a FAQ section to help you file your taxes. If you are eligible to file electronically for your federal taxes, you may also be eligible to file your state income taxes electronically, and you will find the links for state e-filing here.

• Some low-income, military and/or elderly filers may qualify for free tax-preparation assistance. For more information on who qualifies, go to the IRS Free Tax Preparation page.

Opening Day!

It is official! We will be re-opening to the public on Monday, March 15. Our hours will be 8 AM to 4:30 PM, and we will still have public computers available, as well as reference services, patent and trademark information, and plenty of books to check out.

The blogosphere and traditional news are full of appeals and information about how to give money to help Haiti. If you decide to give money, it is important to make sure that the charities you give to will use your money wisely, not just now in a time of crisis, but on a regular basis. There are several places online that you can go that evaluate charities. My favorite is Charity Navigator. From their website:

Charity Navigator's rating system examines two broad areas of a charity's financial health -- how responsibly it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. Each charity is then awarded an overall rating, ranging from zero to four stars. To help donors avoid becoming victims of mailing-list appeals, each charity's commitment to keeping donors' personal information confidential is assessed.

This information includes the CEO pay, how much money goes to fund-raising and operational costs, versus how much goes to actually doing their charitable work.

The Better Business Bureau also has a database with information about charities for donors.

Moving Update: The library is in the process of settling in to the new building. We are still closed to the public, but are taking phone and email reference requests. No firm re-opening date has been set, although it is likely to be in late February or early March.