National Public Radio (NPR) posted an interactive map, searchable by zip code and/or city, that allows you to find out who has been emitting hazardous chemicals into the air. The map lists more than 17,000 facilities nationwide. The color-coded dots and scores of one to five smoke stacks are based on an EPA method of assessing potential health risks. You can zoom into your neighborhood by clicking on the map or use the search box in the upper right hand corner to find your area of interest. You can even look at the full EPA reports on selected facilities.
[Photo courtesy of AP Images]

Recently the Michigan Secretary of State announced expanded online services. ExpressSos.com allows residents to renew or replace standard state driver's licenses and ID cards, change their address when they move order multiple copies of vehicle registrations and titles.

Michigan Humanities Council, in conjunction with Michigan Roundtable for Diversity & Inclusion, has selected nine host sites for the Great Michigan Read traveling exhibit: We Don’t Want Them. The exhibit places the events documented in Kevin Boyle's Arc of Justice in a broader context of policies and practices that limited where some could live, thus impacting their past and present quality of life. We Don't Want Them opened in Flint and will travel around the state to the following cities:

• November: Three Rivers Public Library
• December: Davenport University, Grand Rapids
• January: Peter White Public Library, Marquette
• February: Detroit Science Center (Pending re-opening of the Detroit Science Center)
• March:
  • Interlochen Center for the Arts
  • Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City
  • Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City
• April: Castle Museum of Saginaw History
• May: Old Mill Museum, Dundee
• June: Artworks, Big Rapids

For many older adults the holidays can be highly stressful, confusing, or even depressing if their mental, physical and emotional needs are not taken into account. Senior Living offers 10 Tips to Help Seniors Enjoy the Holidays and make the holidays more joyful for the whole family.

Reddit, a social sharing site that bills itself as "the front page of the internet," might be the last place you'd look for book suggestions. Then again, it might be the last place you'd look for random acts of pizza, daily learning, or help with "tip of my tongue" questions, but those are examples of vibrant niches (called subreddits) on the site. Some book-related subreddits include: r/books, r/bookclub, r/booksuggestions, and r/bookexchange. Check out the top 50 of reddit's favorite books, available here at CPL:

The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams

1984: a novel by George Orwell; with an afterword by Erich Fromm

Dune by Frank Herbert

Slaughterhouse-five, or, The children's crusade: a duty- dance with death by Kurt Vonnegut

November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month. According to the Peanut Butter Lovers website, Americans will celebrate by eating more than 65 million pounds of peanut better during the Month of November.

Southern Peanut Growers, representing southeastern peanut farmers, started the celebration as Peanut Butter Lovers Day on November 4, 1990. November 4 marks the anniversary of the first patent for peanut butter, applied for by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg on November 4, 1895. It grew to a month-long celebration in 1995 when peanut butter celebrated its 100th birthday!

Send your parents a Tech Support Care Package. Google has created a series of short videos demonstrating simple computer tasks such as changing the time on a computer, enlarging the text, copy and paste materials, and more.

Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 60 million Americans will increase 3.6 percent in 2012, the Social Security Administration announced today. The 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that nearly 55 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2012. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2011.
[Photo Courtesy of AP Images.]

If you weren't able to attend the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. on September 24-25, videos of the event including authors' talks are now available. Historian and author David McCullough appeared at the 2011 National Book Festival, as did Sylvia Nasar, Cassandra Clare, Wally Amos, Sara Paretsky, and more.

It's that time of year when 19 million acres of woods slowly explode in a frenzy of color. It's when an entire state is in its annual blaze of glory. It's when autumn arrives in Michigan. And there's no better place to see the dynamic colors of a trillion trees aflame than along our highways, country roads and coastlines. So let's head out to the forests. And let's prepare to be amazed, on the fall color tours of Pure Michigan.

It's that time of year to start making plans for Halloween! Whether you're throwing a party, going trick-or-treating, or passing out candy, you can never have enough spooky treats around to snack on. Check out The Halloween Cooking Blog and Food Network's Halloween Cooking page for some great recipes, as well as our own collection of Halloween cooking and idea books.

The League of Women Voters of Northwest Wayne County has released their nonpartisan voters guide for the school board election on Tuesday November 8th. Contact the Canton Township Clerk for information regarding polling locations and absentee ballots.

Our Databases page has a fresh new look!  We have streamlined our subject categories and added a new "Best Bets" category. Due to changes made by MeL, OCLC FirstSearch and its components are no longer part of our collection. As always if you can't find what you are looking for, do ask a librarian for help.

The Obama Administration has launched a new website called We the People where ordinary citizens can petition the White House to take up any issue of importance to them. Participants must be 13 years or older and have an account on Whitehouse.gov. Once a petition is submitted, the creator must work to gather support. If a petition meets the 5,000 signature threshold in 30 days or less, the issue will be reviewed by the White House.

September 6–November 27
Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman Exhibit

The lives of partisans depended on their ability to remain unseen, undocumented and unidentifiable. But one fighter, Faye Schulman, had a camera. Schulman’s rare collection of images captures the camaraderie, horror and loss, bravery and triumph of the rag-tag, tough partisans—some Jewish, some not—who fought the Germans and their collaborators.

This exhibit is sponsored by the University Library and the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. Additional events will be held at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, Gallery in Room 100 (use Diag entrance) at 913 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI.

Public parking is available in the structure at 650 S. Forest, just south of S. University. Free and open to the public

Thursday, October 6, 4:00-5:30pm
Lecture at Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, Gallery (use Diag entrance)
913 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI

According to Dan Okrent, "The digital revolution has upended the roles of bookstores, libraries, publishers, and, of course, readers. It’s the biggest change in the world of words since Gutenberg, and may turn out to be just as beneficial—or even more so." Daniel Okrent is best known as the first public editor at the New York Times, but he first spent more than 25 years in magazine and book publishing. He has written several books, including Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history. He also attended the University of Michigan and worked on the Michigan Daily.

Public parking is available in the structure at 650 S. Forest, just south of S. University. Free and open to the public

Bouchercon 2011: Spirits of St. Louis officially begins today. Featured American Guests of Honor this year are Robert Crais and Charlaine Harris. Val McDermid and Colin Cotterill are the British Guests of Honor. On Sunday, September 18 awards for best novel, best author will be announced at the Anthony Award Brunch. Sara Paretsky, author of the V.I. Warshawski series will receive a Lifetime Achievement award.

Michigan eLibrary, or MeL for short, is a great site for students that features many sources of information like full text articles, genealogy, reading advice and online resources, just to name a few. Or check out a YouTube video tutorial which gives a good overview of MeL resources that targets middle/high school students through freshman/sophomores in college.

The Michican eLibrary Catalog (MelCat) will be down beginning at 11:30 AM on Wednesday, Sept. 14 for a software upgrade. It is expected to be down the rest of the day. Patrons will still be able to check out and return MeL loans. However, requests for renewals may receive the message "server unavailable." Patrons and library staff will not be able to search or place new interloan requests using MeLCat. Databases may also be affected. Patrons may not be able to do a remote login (via an account at a MeLCat library).

Egypt is a fascinating country and the children's department offers a lot of books to help you learn about its history and ancient sites. Tour Egypt also offers teachers, parents, and kids information about Egypt's monuments, ancient and modern life, as well as travel and events.