image thanks to flickr user alexmuse

If your refrigerator and freezer(s) are without power, please read through the following resources about food safety, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Information includes what to save and what to throw out, and what to do upon returning home after an emergency. When is thawed food safe to eat? All the information you need to know can be found on this website. The general rule of thumb: Discard any perishable food (such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers) that has been above 40 °F for over 2 hours.

http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/emergency/index.html

image courtesy of flickr user AMagill

Myth #1: Credit reports are costly

Myth #2: Accessing my credit report will adversely affect my score

Myth #3: There's no need to keep track of my credit report

The above are a few of the myths Erica Bess and I (Kyle Jones) debunked during our Finance Fridays session on Free Credit Reports.  We had a wonderful time speaking with those who attended on the free and for-pay resources available to you to help with keeping tabs on credit history.  If we missed you today, Finance Fridays will continue every friday until March 26th.

The answers to those myths.....

#1: Three credit reports are free to you per year guaranteed by law from these major companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.  You can get access to your report at www.annualcreditreport.com - the only government approved site for access to your credit report.

#2: Simply getting access to your credit report does not at all affect your score.

#3: The credit reports are provided to you at no cost because the government believes that maintaining a stable and healthy financial history is important.  You may find inconsistencies or inaccuracies within your reports that need attention to help you maintain a solid credit score.

 You can find further information on credit at these online resources:

• Federal Trade Commission
• Feed the Pig
• What's my Score?
• Practical Money Skills for Life
• FICO's Financial Help Center

 We also have some great print resources in the library:

• Search our catalog using a subject search with one of these terms: 

• personal finance
• financial security
• consumer debt

• Consumer Reports Money Advisor (in the magazine room)
• Kiplinger's Personal Finance  (in the magazine room)

 See you next friday!
~Kyle and Erica~

April 15, that is!

So here are our favorite resources for filing your taxes.

Top Four Free Tax Software Sites

Top Four Pay Tax Software Sites

Highlights of 2009 Tax Changes for Individuals 

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
There are several changes affecting Alternative Minimum Tax for 2009.

Child-Related Tax Changes
Information on adoption benefits, child's investment income, the definition of a qualifying child, and additional child tax credit.

COBRA Premium Assistance
P.L. 111-118 made changes to the COBRA premium assistance provisions.

Decreased Estimated Tax Payments for Qualified Individuals With Small Businesses
For 2009, qualified individuals with small businesses may be eligible to make smaller estimated tax payments.

For more tax changes for individuals, click here to go to the IRS website.

If 3 1/2 hours of television didn't sate your Oscar curiosity, you may be interested in the actual transcripts from last night's ceremony. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences posts not only the transcripts of the acceptance speeches, but also of the off-stage interviews with the winners. Here you will find the inside skinny on how Sandra Bullock feels about winning both an Oscar and a Razzie on back-to-back nights, hear Mo'Nique describe her debt to Hattie McDaniel and how Katherine Bigelow feels about beating out her ex-husband for best director honors.

If that's still not enough, you can borrow these 2009 Oscar winners from the Library:

If you're looking for those long lost ancestors, then these blogs are for you. These blogs have been voted some of the best in the nation.

creativegene.blogspot.com

www.geneabloggers.com

www.thegraveyardrabbit.com/

http://www.ancestry.com/

stephendanko.com

ancestryinsider.blogspot.com

http://www.genealogyblog.com/

For the next four weeks, Fridays mean Finance at Darien Library, with a new series of drop-in technology classes taught by our Knowledge & Learning Services librarians. We’ll be providing hands-on instruction and plenty of time for Q&A. These sessions are free, open to the public, and take place from 12 to 1 PM at the reference area computers on the Second Floor. Registration is not required, so please join us!

On March 5, we’ll talk about the Ins and Outs of Income Tax Forms; our paper forms have been flying off the shelves and we’ll show you reproducible and online forms, as well as information about where to get fast, free, expert local tax help.

March 12 will cover the confusion around the credit information you’re entitled to by law…where is the ONE legitimate place to get this, absolutely free? On March 19, we’ll be talking about How to be a Confident Consumer online. How do you know a site is safe? What if it isn’t? We’ll tell you! Then, on March 26, join us to learn about Value Line, one of our most useful financial resources here at the Library.

Along with the classes, we’ll be posting resource guides, podcasts, and screencasts on the Darien Library website every week. There is so much going on in March at Darien Library, but you really can’t afford to miss Finance Fridays – see you there!

Photo from Flickr user stopnlook.

See our tips when you check in!

From the Darien post office to your grocery store of choice to, of course, the Darien Library, there's a lot of places you visit in a day.  What if you recorded - checked in - where you went daily on your mobile phone and what if you were given points for those visits?  Sounds like the making of an interesting game...

That's the exact premise behind the online game foursquare!

Play along with your fellow community members to see what places are of interest in the area.  When you check in other folks may have left tips for you at different locations - called venues.  The library staff has put together a nice list of things to check out while in the library at our venue on foursquare.

The more you check in, the more points you get.  Check in enough times and become mayor of that location!  If you become mayor of Darien Library please stop by the Welcome Desk and show our staff your mayor badge to claim your very own Darien Library tote bag (a $25 dollar value)!

One bag per mayor please :) 

Photo courtesy of flickr user mondays child

Frazzled by snow storms and then dazed by the coming spring, it may slip your mind that the annual looming tax filing deadline is right around the corner - April 15th to be exact.  Darien Library has the resources to help get what you need.

We have print copies of these tax forms on the second floor in the Reference Room:
Connecticut

• 1040 & Instruction Booklet
• 1040 NR/PY & Instruction Booklet

New York

• IT-203 & Instruction Booklet

Federal

• 1040 & Instruction Booklet
• 1040A & Instruction Booklet
• 1040EZ & Instruction Booklet
  
  1040 Schedules
• Schedule A
• Schedule B
• Schedule C
• Schedule C-EZ
• Schedule D
• Schedule L
• Schedule M

We also have the 2009 Federal tax forms booklet so that you may make copies of any specific form that is allowed to be reproduced.  As always, we have great information at our Tax Information research page.

Please feel free to ask a reference librarian if you need any assistance finding forms.

photo courtesy of flickr user mark ovaska

Looking for information on stocks or mutual funds? Then Value Line Research Center is the tool for you. Included in this database is:  Value Line Investment Survey Standard;  Value Line Investment  Survey Expanded Edition; Mutual Fund Survey; Value Line Daily Options Survey; Value Line Special Situations Service; Value Line Convertible Survey. 

Value Line is accessible to our members inside the library.

Photo: flickr user adamtbailey

Have questions?  We've got [mobile] answers!

You can now text us your questions from your mobile phone to: 203-665-8398

We're proud to offer this in addition to our phone, IM, E-mail, and our face-to-face reference services.  Are there any other ways we can answer your questions?  Let us know by leaving a comment.