FINANCIAL AWARENESS – INDIVIDUALS AND LIBRARIANS
Personal Finance is important for all of us to be up-to-date for our daily living and future security. People sometimes say “I’m not working so why do I need to know about personal finance?” It’s in everybody’s interest to understand personal finance and it is even more so for people who have fewer resources. It is very important for blind individuals to read as much as possible in order to compete in this global economy. Some suggested books for our readers are:
DB 68937 – Rescue Your Money (Ric Edelman)
DB 69694 – Getting Back to Even (Jim Cramer)
DB 67859 – Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan (Suze Orman)
DB 69533 – AARP Retirement Survival Guide (Julie Jason)
DB 70720 – First Budget Smarts – for young adults (Judy Peterson)
DB 72343 – A Purse of Your Own (for women) (Deborah Owens)
DB 69499 – Estate Planning for People with a Chronic Condition or Disability (Matthw Shenkman)
The National Library Service has contracted with two news-content and media-placement services to prepare and distribute newspaper, radio, and television features about the talking book and braille program. The two services offer the features free of copyright and free of charge.
The first of those features is now available to newspapers across the U.S. It is entitled “Money Matters for Visually Impaired People” and focuses on how important it is for blind and physically disabled people to understand the economy and personal finance.
You may read the feature at www.napsnet.com/articles/68007.html.
Willing Hearts and Hands
The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center is a busy, busy place with cheerful, energetic staff matching talking book users with the books to suit their reading tastes, pulling and preparing those books for mailing, and opening and inspecting those books before filing them back on the shelf. Our volunteers help the mailing and returning of materials move more smoothly and quickly. To further smooth our workload they shred paper, stuff envelopes for mailings, and prepare new books for the shelf.
Two community partnerships help us find those giving people who help us help you. The Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and the Morton High School special education program have been long term partners that connect us with willing hands and caring hearts. The four Morton High School special needs students come with a job coach that teaches them the task, oversees their work, and works with them on basic work and socialization skills. These talented coaches teach students to say thank you, how to use a microwave at lunch, and how to manage their tasks effectively. The RSVP volunteers are retired people who give us a portion of their week year after year. They are both sunny, dependable people who either pull books for mailing or open the returned containers to speed up the check-in process. Two other community people come in weekly to open containers to help check in books or to fill in where needed on special projects.
Having been a volunteer myself, I can tell you what a rewarding experience it is to do something to help others. I have knitted hats and scarves for the homeless and lapghans for hospice, manned the Salvation Army kettles at Christmas, worked food booths for Kiwanis, … It makes me feel good to help and adds much to my life. As the director of Mid-Illinois Talking Books Center, I can tell you it also makes be feel good to be on the receiving end of the help. If you have time, consider giving back to your community. It enriches your own life while helping others who need it. We are doing okay, but there are many other organizations that would benefit from your time and help.
Titanic
A popular news topic in the last few weeks has been the Titanic. It has now been 100 years since the passenger liner sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg on April 15, 1912.
The following titles can provide you with more information and adventure.
DB 66711 Beyond Reach: The Search for the Titanic” by William Hoffman
An account of the 1981 search for the wreck of the Titanic. It also recounts the Titanic’s sinking.
DB 71644 “Disasters: Natural and Man-Made Catastrophes through the Centuries” by Brenda Guiberson
Written for grades 6 – 9, this title includes the sinking of the Titanic, the 1930′s Dust Bowl and other disasters.
DB 72188 “Voyage of the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady” by Ellen Emerson White
Written for grades 4-7, this is the fictional diary of a 13-year-old aboard the Titanic.
DB 48575 “Raise the Titanic!” by Clive Cussler
This fictional book describes Cussler’s character, Dirk Pitt’s adventurous attempt to raise the ship.
Manners and Civility
How would you respond to the following?
A salesperson ignores your requests
A fellow driver responds with a vulgar gesture
Your child’s playmate misbehaves
Your boss publicly reprimands you
We find ourselves in a world where we are confronted by rudeness every day Because rudeness begets rudeness many of us are not sure how to respond. We have received some books that will inform us how to confront these difficult situations by being assertive as well as civil.
DB 69018 ” The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude” by P.M. Forni The author asserts that we want to stand up for ourselves when others are trying to put us down. We need to reply to rudeness without becoming aggressive, contentious, litigious, or argumentative. He states that, “civility may not be an appropriate response to every act of rudeness, but it is surely the place to start.”
DB69993 “Excuse Me, But I Was Next: How to Handle the Top One Hundred Manners Dilemmas by Peggy Post (great-granddaughter-in-law of Emily Post)
The book covers 100 etiquette dilemmas that turn up in everyday life. Everything from what constitutes black tie and white tie down to whether an e-mail thank you is ever appropriate. To Peggy Post, etiquette is used to make others feel comfortable and to prevent hurt feelings that can ruin a group’s ability to enjoy itself. The book is full of wonderful examples that model proper responses to uncomfortable situations
DB67124 “Isn’t It Their Turn to Pick Up the Check? Dealing with All of the Trickiest Money Problems Between Family and Friends–from Serial Borrowers to Serious Cheapskates” by Jeanne Fleming and Leonard Schwarz
These authors dissect a host of thorny, sometimes comic, inevitably awkward, and frequently infuriating money-and-ethics problems that arise among friends, relatives and neighbors. Bequests and gifts can also lead to acrimony that shatters families and friendships. This book explains how to resolve these issues and more importantly, how to avoid them in the first place.
DB 69709 Emily Post’s Table Manners for Kids by Peggy Post This book opens with a quote from the twentieth-century etiquette expert, Emily Post. “The purpose of table manners is “to avoid ugliness.” One of the best gifts a parent can give their child is to teach them how to behave at a public gathering in such a way that they will not embarrass themselves or others around them.
This book is written for young people seven to twelve years of age, but parents of children at any age will find this book useful. The reader will learn that anything gross is simply something to be avoided at all costs. The reader will learn what to do when they spill something, how to react when they find something unwelcome in their food, how to engage others in conversation at the table, and learn about manners they might need in different types of settings (potlucks, picnics, buffets, etc). The material in this book is educational as well as entertaining.
DB68850 ”Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age; Mistress of American Manners” by Laura P. Claridge This is a biography of the 20th Century etiquette expert. The book describes Post’s privileged upbringing, her scandalous 1906 divorce and her decision to work as a fiction writer to support her family. Ms Post’s first book of manners was published in 1922 when she was 50 years old.
GARDENING TIME AGAIN!
Its’s that time to plant vegetable and flower gardens. For those of you who plant your own gardens or need ideas for those who will be doing it for you, here are some suggestions:
DB 69864 – All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less
DB 66173 – Fallscaping: Extending your garden season into Autumn
DB 67452 – Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate: The founder of an organic farm and garden program describes 7 principles that influence her garden work & instructions to follow her example.
DB 67838 – Grow It-Cook It: Explains gardening basics.
DB 68366 – Gardening When It Counts – Growing food in hard times.
DB 69189 – Our Life in Gardens – Life partners who co-founded a landscape design firm share gardening history and lessons they’ve learned.
DB 66349 – Dog-Friendly Gardens:Garden-Friendly Dogs – Tips on harmoniously keeping both a garden and a dog.
DB 69998 – Designing the New Kitchen Garden:An American Potager Handbook –Landscape designer discusses year-round kitchen gardens for herbs and vegetables plus ornamental perennials.
DB 69712 – Covering Ground – Ideas for landscaping with colorful and low-maintenance flowers, shrubs, etc.
DB 71745 – The Non-Stop Garden – Step by step guide to smart plant choices and landscaping.
DB 69246 – Plant-Driven Design: Creating gardens that honor plants, place and spirit.
