Thirty is a pretty big number in publishing. In 30 days, you can do pretty much anything — thin your thighs or change your life. In 30 minutes, you can cook an Asian meal or give yourself a makeover. And when it comes to advice, a lot of that comes in doses of 30. Here are our favorite books about our special anniversary number of 30.

30 days to finding and keeping sassy sidekicks and BFFs : a friendship field guide by Clea Hantman

30 reasons employees hate their managers : what your people may be thinking and what you can do about it by Bruce L. Katcher with Adam Snyder

Before the internet, librarians needed a way to get quick answers to patrons' frequently-asked questions. To accomplish this, many libraries, including CPL, used a small file called a "Fugitive Fact" file. Below are 30 highlights from CPL's ready reference file:

1. Indian Place Names — United States
   • Alabama — I clear the thicket
   • Arizona — Small Spring
   • Arkansas — Meaning--unknown
   • Connecticut — Long River
   • Idaho — Light on the mountains
   • Illinois — Tribe of men
   • Iowa — This is the place
   • Kansas — Swift wind
   • Kentucky — Land of tomorrow
   • Massachusetts — At the great hill
   • Michigan — Great water
   • Minnesota — Sky-colored water
   • Missouri — Meaning--unknown
   • Nebraska — Flat water
   • New Mexico — after Aztec war god
   • North Dakota — Friends
   • Ohio — Great river

Jimmy Carter, U.S President. A first ever 24-hour all news network CNN launched by Ted Turner. Gordie Howe, professional hockey player, retired after 32 seasons. New York Islanders won their first Stanley cup. University of Michigan lost to North Carolina at the Gator Bowl 15 to 17. Consumers first saw cordless phones on the market. 3M's post-it notes sold nationwide. The Olsen brothers manufactured the first Rollerblades in their parents’ basement in Minnesota. WordPerfect, a word processing application, being sold by Satellite Systems International (SSI). John Lennon, former Beatles rock star, shot and killed outside his apartment in Manhattan. George Nichopoulos indicted for over-prescribing drugs for Elvis Presley. Ronald Reagan elected 40th

Our CPL History post on October 25 talks about our grand opening celebration and the flag raising ceremony with the Canton Veterans of Foreign Wars so here's a contest question for you based on the American flag. Be the first to post the correct answer to this question in the comment of this post, along with a link to the CPL database where you found the answer and win a prize.

Here's the question: On what date was the stars and stripes pattern adopted as the official flag and by whom?

Canton Public Library is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. To celebrate, we're making 30-item lists of interesting facts and links. For music lovers, here's a list of great albums:

1. Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy
2. Exile in Guyville by Liz Phair
3. Renegades by Rage Against the Machine
4. Nevermind by Nirvana
5. London calling by The Clash
6. Ten by Pearl Jam
7. 1999 by Prince
8. Born to run by Bruce Springsteen

Jeffrey Bilhuber's design basics: expert solutions for designing the house of your dreams by Jeffrey Bilhuber with Annette Tapert; foreword by Anna Wintour

Interior inspirations by Roger Banks-Pye; Colefax and Fowler; photography by James Merrell

Decorating details: projects and ideas for a more comfortable, more beautiful home: the best of Martha Stewart living by Stewart, Martha

Marcia Barker, CPL's programming specialist and long-time library employee, suggests this list of books everyone should read.

To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee

Anne Frank : the diary of a young girl by translated from the Dutch by B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday ; with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt

The Friends of the Canton Public Library have been the biggest donors to the library over the last 30 years. In addition to their very generous gift to the Endowment Fund and programs like Summer Reading, they have also purchased some very nice items. Here are 30 items given to CPL by the Friends.

1. The Sculpture
2. Our first globe
3. READ posters
4. Courtyard benches
5. Sundial
6. Countless computers, including our first

Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen ; edited with notes by Vivien Jones — Austen’s powers of subtle discrimination and shrewd perceptiveness is revealed in "Pride and Prejudice". She is able to convey such a complex message using a simple, yet witty, style.

On the road : the original scroll by Jack Kerouac ; edited by Howard Cunnell ; introduction by Howard Cunnell, Penny Vlagopoulos, George Mouratidis, and Joshua Kupetz — On The Road, the most famous of Jack Kerouac's works, is not only the soul of the Beat movement and literature, but one of the most important novels of the century.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë ; edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davies — An evergreen book that one can read again and again.

Canton Public Library is celebrating our 30^th Anniversary, and to mark the occasion we're making lists of 30 things. Today, Adult Services Department Head Rebecca Havenstein-Coughlin recounts 30 things she remembers from throughout the library's history:

1. We started out on the 3rd floor of Township Hall
2. The card catalog was a piece of furniture
3. To call someone in from lunch to help at the reference desk we rang a bell from the 3rd floor window
4. We had a huge fly problem when we were in the old building and we were intimately acquainted with the "death dance" flies do
5. All reference questions were answered from one reference desk
6. Monday mornings the entire staff filed cards into the catalog
7. On opening day, our staff numbered 9 people
8. A large part of our opening day collection was discarded from the Wayne County General Hospital collection
9. The night before we opened we worried that no one would come
10. At the end of our first open day, there wasn't even 1 picture book left on the shelf
11. The book drop was a long 3 floors down when the elevator wasn't working & books were hauled up the stairs in canvas bags
12. Name badges looked like this
13. A president visited the library
14. It was big news when in 1990 we stopped charging rental fees for videos, compact discs, and new books
15. In the late 80s there was a shortage of public librarians that really threatened our ability to offer the best customer service possible
16. The library once had an assistant director [it was me!]
17. My confirming letter
18. The library has always been known for its strong customer service and was the front page feature of the July 1990 "Customer Service Report"
19. Books received a due date stamp rather than a printed receipt
20. Reference questions were answered from reference books rather than from the internet
21. We maintained a Fugitive Fact file of reference questions which I believe morphed into what is now Google
22. Old newspapers were viewed on microfilm rather than as digitized images on the web
23. The library once had a LAN instead of internet databases
24. Books were checked out with paper forms rather than on a PC
25. Many of the best-selling authors of 30 years ago are still best-selling authors today
26. Email didn't exist and we mostly ran around desk-to-desk when we needed to communicate with colleagues
27. Phone messages were delivered on pink memo slips rather than via voicemail
28. Students prepared reports using our typewriters rather than computers
29. Students used the Readers' Guide To Periodical Literature to search for magazine articles
30. Our library logo was once a tree

1. 1983 Michigan Panthers win USFL Championship
2. 1984 Detroit Tigers are World Series Champs
3. 1986 Michigan State Spartans win NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship
4. 1988 Detroit Drive win first ArenaBowl Championship
5. 1989 Michigan Wolverines win their first NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
6. 1989 Detroit Pistons win their first NBA Championship
7. 1989 Detroit Drive are ArenaBowl Champs
8. 1990 Pistons win NBA Championship
9. 1990 Detroit Drive win ArenaBowl Championship
10. 1991 Detroit Turbos win the National Lacrosse League Championship
11. 1992 Detroit Rockers are National Professional Soccer League Champions
12. 1992 Detroit Drive win their fourth and final ArenaBowl Championship
13. 1995 Plymouth Whalers are the OHL Champions
14. 1996 Michigan Wolverines win NCAA Championship in Men’s Hockey
15. 1997 University of Michigan Wolverines win share of NCAA Football Championship with Nebraska
16. 1997 Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup, first in 42 years
17. 1997 Detroit Vipers are IHL Champs winning their only Joseph Turner Memorial Cup
18. 1998 Michigan Wolverines win NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship
19. 1998 Red Wings are Stanley Cup Champions
20. 2000 Michigan State Spartans win NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
21. 2001 Detroit Dogs win American Basketball (ABA 2000) Championship
22. 2002 Red Wings win their 10^th Stanley Cup
23. 2003 Detroit Shock win WNBA Championship
24. 2004 Detroit Pistons win their third NBA Championship
25. 2006 Shock are WNBA Champs
26. 2007 Michigan State Spartans win Men’s NCAA Hockey Championship
27. 2007 Plymouth Whalers win OHL Championship
28. 2008 Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup
29. 2008 Detroit Shock are WNBA Champs
30. 2010 University of Michigan wins NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship

Canton Public Library is celebrating its 30th birthday this year, so it seems like the perfect time to note some of the other notable 30s in our history and popular culture:

• The Thirty Years War lasted from 1618-1648. Fought primarily in what is now Germany, it eventually involved most of Europe. Although it began as a religious conflict it gradually  turned into one of the most desctructive in European history
• thirtysomething. This television popular drama about baby boomers in their thirties ran on ABC from 1987-1991.

Canton Public Library is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. To celebrate, we're making 30-item lists of interesting facts and links. For food lovers, here's a list of great gastronomical texts:

Patricia Wells' trattoria: simple and robust fare inspired by the small family restaurants of Italy by Patricia Wells

The art of simple foods: notes, lessons, and recipes from a delicious revolution by Alice Waters, with Patricia Curtan...et al; illustrations by Patricia Curtan

…but I have because co-workers and library patrons have recommended them.

Alphaville: une étrange adventure de Lemmy Caution by Chaumaine Production-Film-Studio

The band's visit by July August Productions; Bleiberg Entertainment; Sophie Dulac Productions

I just read Sleeping Naked is Green by Vanessa Farquharson — one woman's attempt to incorporate one new green activity a day into her life for one year. If you are trying to lead a greener life, but sick of feeling guilty about that one cup of coffee you had in a Styrofoam cup last week, this might be the book for you. It is told with a sense of humor and interesting Canadian view-point, but yet has some good ideas as to how to lead a greener life. In celebration of CPL's thirtieth anniversary, here are thirty of the more entertaining (and sometimes downright gross) ideas that Vanessa attempted to incorporate into her life during her one year adventure:

1. Forgo electronic gym equipment
2. Switch to recycled toilet paper
3. Use handkerchiefs instead of tissues
4. Switch to vegan-friendly dental floss
5. Invest in permanent laser hair removal rather than shaving and waxing
6. Pick up litter when you see it
7. Switch to recycled, recyclable razors

My fave pet books and what I can't wait to read

Marley and me : life and love with the world's worst dog by John Grogan

Dewey : the small-town library cat who touched the world by Vicki Myron ; with Bret Witter

Homer's odyssey : a fearless feline tale, or how I learned about love and life with a blind wonder cat by Gwen Cooper

Three presidential candidates took part in the 1992 presidential debates: Republican nominee and then current President George H.W. Bush, Democratic nominee William Jefferson Clinton, and Independent Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot. Which two of these nominees were also named to People Weekly's annual list of the 25 Most Intriguing People of 1992?

The first poster with a correct answer that includes a link to the CPL database where you found it wins a prize!