The helpful, nonpartisan folks at Factcheck.org are busy evaluating and debunking internet rumours, chain mails and all sorts of falsehoods. Here’s from their Viral Spiral page:
Don’t get spun by Internet rumors
Just because you read it on somebody’s blog or in an email from a friend or relative doesn’t mean it’s true…On this page we feature a list of the false or misleading viral rumors we’re asked about most often, and a brief summary of the facts. But click on the links to read the full articles. There is a lot more …

Home gardeners, patio farmers, landscape architects, and biotechnologists will dig this free, full-text magazine collection, blooming with more than 100 titles. Each magazine is focused specifically on key issues in gardening, landscaping, and other areas of horticulture. This fertile and growing collection includes content for garden enthusiasts, professionals and students.

Photographs, scrapbooks, family records, newspapers… how do you protect your memories? Preservation Week, April 22-28 , is the time to make sure your treasures will last to tell your family’s personal history.
Disaster could strike anytime–we’ve heard tragic stories of family keepsakes lost due to a busted water heater–so act now to protect your precious things.
Quick Tips:  hang family photographs far from windows to avoid sunlight and water intrusion, store scrapbooks and albums high (remember that leaking water heater!), bolt your bookcase to the wall, and make digital copies.
Here are some resources to …

UPDATE: KINDLES Have Arrived!
Download Audiobooks and eBooks Anytime, Anywhere! Enjoy popular titles from the comfort of home.
Monroe County Public Library is proud to offer you best-selling and classic audiobooks and eBooks, available 24/7 from the library’s website,

Our library eBook collection is now compatible with the world’s bestselling eBook reader, the Amazon® Kindle! Download popular and classic eBooks to a Kindle device or any mobile device running the free Kindle app, such as iPhone®, iPad®, Android™, and more. To get started, visit http://estuff.keyslibraries.org.

Due to scheduling conflicts, the February 28th Library Advisory Board meeting has been cancelled.

Join us in paying tribute to the African-Americans who shaped Keys history with these favorite  library resources:

In observance of Presidents’ Day, the libraries will be closed on Monday, February 20th.
We will reopen Tuesday, February 21st at our regular time. Click here to view our usual schedule.

We’re all going a little Centennial crazy here in the Keys. And why not? How often do we get to revel in a centennial celebration?
Library folks are all aboard, too! Take a look below for a documentary featuring a familiar face, library read-alongs, oral histories from our vault, and more.

‘Tis the season for all of those great “Best of the Year” lists. For a change, here are two “Worst/Biggest Whoppers of the Year” lists–the most egregious political lies heard in the past 12 months. First up is from FactCheck.org, a non-partisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters:
Despite what you may have heard in 2011:

The new health care law won’t cost many jobs (and they’ll be poorly paying jobs at that).
Republicans aren’t proposing to “end” Medicare (and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden has signed onto a modified version of the GOP plan).
Most …