Tax Time

Doing my taxes is not high on my list of fun things to do during my lunch hour, but I always remind myself of the following:

---Taxes pay for things.
---When my street light goes out, I don’t have to pick up a bulb from Lowes and shimmy up a pole.
---When the fire department comes out for a fire, you don’t have to cut them a check.
---Clean water comes out of my tap without me having to tell anyone, “Hey, I want clean water!”
---The police have yet to charge me for when I call them on the neighbors and they have to bring out 5 squad cars and a helicopter. (On a related note, does anyone have a house in a nice neighborhood I can buy? Or a nice guy I can marry who lives in said house? It’s okay if he’s on his death bed…)
---$10,000 per year for private school ($130,000 for K-12 education) vs. $0 for public school. (Top that!)
---When something goes wrong in the government I can actually reach a representative. (Or, as one put it, "It's you again!")
---Amtrak’s Capital Corridor is the best trip ever!
---Cal Grant and Pell Grant were very good to me.
---While UPS and Fed Ex wanted $66 and $72 to ship my box to Hawaii, USPS only wanted $20. (No wonder they’re going broke!)

Plus:
---Taxes support libraries.
---I like having a job.
---Libraries are warm in the winter and cool in the summer. (Or, in Kids’ Place, it’s sweater weather in the summer and bikini season in the winter.)
---Having a job and healthcare is a good thing.
---We have DVDs you can borrow for free.
---Having a paycheck means I can pay for incidentals such as food, clothes and a roof over my head.

Remember, there are a few things you don’t want to mess with in life, and IRS is at the top of the list. If you haven’t filed your taxes yet and you made under $58,000 last year, you can file both your state and federal taxes for free!!! Go to the Beehive to do so.



Tax time, too, shall pass.

Technology Festival

On Wednesday, March 24, Sacramento Public Library staged a Digital Technology street festival on 9th Street, just outside the Central Library. Overdrive's Digital Bookmobile was the anchor, and staff from all branches set up tables showcasing all the digital and electronic materials and services the library offers.

Staff with bright orange laptops sat at tables in tents and demonstrated our array of databases, which patrons can use at home even when the library is closed. Using our newly-revised database page, it's even easier to find them and select just the right one, whether it be homework, Do-it-Yourself, business research, or browsing newspapers.

Staff also highlighted our online text and chat services: AskNow and Homework Help Now, where you can get your questions answered via the web, JobNow, where you can get help with your resume and practice for a successful interview.

Our newest service, Info Quest: Txt4Nswrs had its own table. When you're on the go and don't have access to your computer or the Internet, just text your question to 309-222-7740 and a librarian will text the answer back to your cell phone.

Digital storytelling is growing in importance as people age and less emphasis is placed on print preservation. Who writes in diaries any more? and how many of us blog regularly to tell the stories of our daily lives? And even if we did, how long will blogs last, before the Next Big Thing? (Does Twitter count?) The library is creating and preserving digitally the stories of Sacramento residents. These stories, told in their own words and enhanced by photographs, increase our appreciation for the people who helped Sacramento become the great place it is.

Rincón Latino: ¡Libros en Español!

,,Caín" de José Saramago

,, ...En Caín, regresa a los primeros libros de la Biblia. En un itinerario heterodoxo, recorre ciudades decadentes y establos, palacios de tiranos y campos de batalla de la mano de los principales protagonistas del Antiguo Testamento, imprimiéndole la música y el humor refinado que caracteriza su obra..."

,,Gigante" de Adrian Biniez

,,Gigante" es una película uruguaya y se trata de Jara, un tímido y solitario guardián de un supermercado en la ciudad de Montevideo. Cuando la gerencia del super decide instalar cámaras de vigilancia por todo el edificio, Jara se encarga de mantener las cámaras pero lo malo de este oficio es que el turno de Jara es durante la medianoche. Solo, aburrido y frustrado con su fabuloso trabajo, de repente se entera de Julia, una bella limpiadora y se enamora. De ahí, la vida de Jara toma un cambio enorme. ¿Qué pasará después de este cambio? ¿Quién sabe? Tendrán que ver la película