May is Personal History Month, so why not write your life story.

The first  four(4) titles will help you get started in writing your memoir, while the others are highly recommended memoirs published In the last 3 years.

Some call him the best all-around baseball player of all time, and most would agree that he is the greatest player alive today. Born on this date in 1931, Willie Mays grew up in Westfield, Alabama and played in the Negro Leagues as a teenager. Scouts for the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers passed on their chances to recruit him and he signed with the New York Giants in 1950. In 1951, he made it to the major leagues and had a Hall of Fame career with the New York/San Francisco Giants and New York Mets over the next 23 years. Nobody could hit, run, and field like the legendary Willie Mays.

An excellent new biography of Mays was released earlier this year and looks to be the definitive record of his life. Author James S. Hirsch interviewed Mays extensively for the book, and includes many new stories and revelations from the man whose name is synonymous with all-out effort and baseball talent. Mays' career began in a golden era of baseball in New York, when there were three teams for fans to choose among and the rivalries were deep and bitter (see below for our favorite books on the topic). But even the most die-hard Yankees and Dodgers fans knew that Willie Mays was a Giant among men. Today, he's Major League Baseball's greatest ambassador, lives close to the Giants' ballpark in San Francisco, and is known for giving out autographed baseballs to trick-or-treaters. Thanks to this new biography, Willie Mays is back in the spotlight -- happy birthday and many more to #24!

Mortgage-backed securities. Synthetic collateralized debt obligations.  Abacus 2007-AC1. Are you having trouble deciphering the headlines these days? Check out these books for the inside skinny on the global financial crisis.

Privacy concerns are nothing new to Facebook users, but the latest changes to the FB site are causing quite a stir. The FB blog responded to the most commonly asked questions, but concerns linger.

Why the fuss? The social sharing features (also called plug-ins) introduced last week open up personal information far beyond the FB site, expanding its network throughout the web. By not changing your account settings, you are automatically opting in to the new "Open Graph" social sharing service. What does this mean? FB has partnered with Pandora, Yelp and Microsoft Docs to create instantly personalized sites that cater to your personal likes.  Are you a fan of Ben Folds? Pandora will create playlists based upon his style of music, whether you ask for it or not. If you prefer to keep your information private, here are some great articles from PCWorld that will walk you through the process of tightening up your account infomation.

Facebook Safety: A Primer: Friends aren't all bad and this article provides easy-to-understand explanations with a step-by-step guide on how to make friends safely.

Facebook: 5 Privacy Settings You Must Tweak Now: The essential information regarding the latest changes with easy-to-follow instructions for protecting your personal FB information.

Facebook's New Features and Your Privacy: What You Need to Know: An in-depth description of the five new features introduced by FB, along with an explanation of how they impact your privacy.

The redesigned $100 bill

Actually, it's all about anti-counterfeiting measures.

Yesterday the new $100 bill was officially unveiled by the United States Department of the Treasury, the Govenors of the Federal Reserve and the United States Secret Service. Where would such an event take place? Where else but the Department of the Treasury's Cash Room.  The high-tech bill is loaded with new security measures, including a 3-D security ribbon that changes images as you move the bill around (special glasses not required).  Check out the liberty bell-- it changes colors from copper to green and actually looks like it disappears when you tilt the bill. For an inside look at all the new features, check out the animated, interactive tutorial

And oh, what about the other 6.5 billion $100 notes already in circulation?  According to Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner, all U.S. currency remains legal tender, regardless of when it was issued. This is the final bill in the family of redesigned notes, ending a project that began with the new $20 bill introduced in 2003.

April 22nd  is Earth Day, which will celebrate its 40th Anniversay this year.  Find out more about  the many activities being held at their web site: www.earthday.net

Image courtesy of Flickr user blmurch.

Tick, tick, tick...April 15 is fast approaching and our number one question on the 2nd Floor is, "Tax forms?" Right behind that is, "Do you have extension forms?" The answer, of course, is yes! All tax forms, including state and federal extensions, are available in our Collaborative Reference Area on the 2nd Floor. We're here to help you beat the deadline!

Did you know that the very first form of income tax was implemented in 1862, to support efforts during the Civil War? Our modern system was established almost 100 years ago, in 1913. Today, the government collects over $1 billion in taxes annually from over 300 million Americans. What does all this money buy? Highways and bridges, environmental research, consumer protections, border security, scientific and medical researh, defense here and abroad, police services, and education funding, among many other benefits.

Just in case you're so strapped for time that you can't stop by, click here for extension forms you can print right now: Federal and State. Many happy returns!

(photo courtesy of flickr user wonderwebby)

Every Friday, from noon to 1 p.m., during the month of March, we’ll be offering Finance Fridays, a series of drop-in technology sessions. Highlighted will be resources available throughout the Library, including subscription databases and free online resources. These sessions will be taught by the Library’s Knowledge and Learning Services librarians and held at the reference area computers on the Library’s Second Floor.

The series is strictly drop-in; registration is not required.

This Friday,  March 26: Finding the Value in ValueLine - with Sally Ijams – ValueLine is one of the most useful financial resources at the Library.

For information from March 5th, where Blanche talked about the Ins and Outs of Income Tax Forms, click here. 

For information from March 12th, where Erica and Kyle discussed How to Get Your Free Credit Report, click here.

For information from March 19th, where Janet discussed How to Be a Confident Consumer Online, click here.

(image courtesy of flickr user Andres Rueda.)

Every Friday, from noon to 1 p.m., during the month of March, we’ll be offering Finance Fridays, a series of drop-in technology sessions. Highlighted will be resources available throughout the Library, including subscription databases and free online resources. These sessions will be taught by the Library’s Knowledge and Learning Services librarians and held at the reference area computers on the Library’s Second Floor.

The series is strictly drop-in; registration is not required.

This Friday, March 19: How to be a Confident Consumer online - with Janet Davis – How can you know if a site is safe, and what to do if it isn’t.
March 26: Finding the Value in ValueLine - with Sally Ijams – ValueLine is one of the most useful financial resources at the Library.

For information from March 5th, where Blanche talked about the Ins and Outs of Income Tax Forms, click here. 

For information from March 12th, where Erica and Kyle discussed How to Get Your Free Credit Report, click here.