The Truth About Renewable Energy and Solar Power

Are you curious about solar power or other forms of renewable energy? If so, come out to the library on Thursday, September 10th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Brian Betron from Abundant Energy will be here to discuss how to make your home more green!

Renewable energy is energy that is naturally replenished and generated from natural resources. This includes energy from the sun, wind, and rain. If you want to learn more about renewable energy check out the Go Green section located on the first floor of the library. We have an amazing assortment of books to help you reduce your carbon footprint, start your own business, or even have a green wedding! Check out our catalog and see how you can be green.

See you at the library,

Annya

Staying Safe (and Hopefully Dry) During Hurricane Season

CC by Flickr user bglasgow

With Ana petering out, Bill hightailing it up North, and Claudette already gone, we’ve been pretty lucky so far this hurricane season.  However, those of us who have lived in Florida for awhile know how quickly circumstances can change.

The city of West Palm Beach has implemented an emergency notification information website to keep people in the know about a wide variety of possible emergency situations.  There you can find a link to the latest hurricane guide, information on hurricane preparedness, details about the different stages of evacuation, important phone numbers to keep on hand, and many other emergency-related resources.

Here are some other hurricane-related websites you may find useful:

• The National Hurricane Center
• Hurricane Tips from FEMA
• Hurricane Emergency Preparedness and Response from the CDC
• The National Hurricane Survival Initiative
• Bad Weather Safety Tips from the Florida Highway Patrol

**Britta**

To Kindle, Or Not to Kindle?

I saw Kindle!

My neighbor bought her Kindle reader and showed it to me.  Essentially Kindle is a hand-held device roughly the size of a paperback book.  It has a large screen on which you can download your book.  The idea is that we won’t have to buy books: all books will be available to anyone who has access to Kindle.  I can understand the logic behind Kindle, but I hope it won’t make the books obsolete in times of technology onslaught.

For me it is the romance of buying a book or borrowing a book from the library that I will miss if Kindle drives the book into obsolescence.  It is sheer pleasure for me to go to a bookstore or library go and through the book shelves, perusing each book and flipping through the pages and making my selections.

Reading a book is an experience.  There are people like me who would like to take the book in their bed and would miss the feel of a book in their hands.  I read for pleasure and Kindle reading cannot be pleasurable as you are reading from a machine.  This technology might not provide the same reading experience, and I wonder if it would test my power of concentration too.  I hope, even if Kindle technology catches on, there will always be a market for books.

There is nothing like finding a book, smelling the pages, holding it and turning its pages, discovering the world.  Is there anything comparable to this pleasure?

What do you think?

- Manju