Flu season came early this year, and this year we have Swine Flu (H1N1) as well as the normal Seasonal Flu and other strains to worry about. Here are some websites to help you get news and information about different strains of influenza.

• Swine Flu Resources –News stories and background articles from Boston.com
• H1N1 (Swine) Flu Website — Information from the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services
• Flu: What You Can Do — The goal of this site from the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services is “to provide the public with information and tools to care for persons with influena at home, including during a flu pandemic.” Resources here include a 33 page printable guidebook called “Flu: What You Can Do, Caring for People at Home” available in several languages.
• WebMD Flu Guide — “Here you’ll find answers to all your flu questions along with a wealth of health resources to help you prevent flu. You’ll also learn how to treat flu symptoms if you or any of your family members get sick.”
• Flu.gov — “‘One stop’ for flu information featuring critical, current information on seasonal and H1N1 flu”
• 2009 H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) — Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Influenza: Evidence-based Information Portal — Resources from the Medical and Nursing editors of DynaMed, Nursing Reference Center and Patient Education Reference Center, courtesy of EBSCO Publishing. The Patient Information includes guides in several languages.

September 15 – October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrating the culture and traditions of Americans with roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

Hispanic Heritage Month — This page has links to more information about Hispanic Heritage Month, including lesson plans and other resources for students and teachers.

September is Library Card Sign-up Month! Do you have your own library card?

Your library card is called “the smartest card” because it saves you money, helps you learn, entertains you and makes you smarter! So get a library card, use it often and spread the word to your family, neighbors and friends

You can use your library card to borrow some stories about kids and their library cards:

• Brown, Marc Tolon
  D.W.’s library card
  After finally getting her first library card, Arthur’s little sister D.W. tries to check out her favorite book, with humorous results.
• Fraser, Mary Ann
  I.Q. goes to the library
  After going to the library with Mrs. Furber’s class every day of Library Week, I.Q., the class pet, hopes to take out a funny book with his own library card.
• Miller, William
  Richard Wright and the library card
  Based on a scene from Wright’s autobiography, Black boy, in which the seventeen-year-old African-American borrows a white man’s library card and devours every book as a ticket to freedom.
• Rey, Margret
  Curious George visits the library
  George is lucky to arrive at the library just in time for story hour. But it’s not easy for a little monkey to sit still too long. From selecting books to getting his very own library card, George’s day at the library makes reading fun.
• Spinelli, Jerry
  The library card
  The lives of four young people in different circumstances are changed by their encounters with books.
• Stadler, Alexander
  Beverly Billingsly borrows a book
  Beverly is thrilled to finally check out a book with her own library card, but when she accidentally keeps the book too long she worries that she’ll have to pay a huge fine or go to jail.

As part of its national tour, the Digital Bookmobile, will be visiting at the Beverly Public Library, 32 Essex Street, Beverly on Monday September 14, from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Readers of all ages are invited to explore digital downloading through interactive demonstrations and experience the North Of Boston Library Exchange’s (NOBLE) audiobook download service at this free event. NOBLE library card holders can also check out and download digital titles any time, anywhere by visiting the NOBLE Digital Catalog.

The Digital Bookmobile is housed inside 74-foot tractor-trailer and is equipped with broadband Internet-connected PCs, high definition monitors, premium sound systems, and a variety of portable media players, all of which help visitors explore NOBLE’s download service. While NOBLE’s collection only includes audiobooks at this time, the interactive learning stations give visitors an opportunity to sample eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video, as well as search the library’s digital media collection, and use supported mobile devices. Read more about it.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn more about this popular audiobook service. Bring your mobile devices and start downloading!

Here are some great sites that can help with all that homework!

• America’s Story — Meet famous Americans, Jump back in time, explore the states and more at this fun site from the Library of Congress
• MathCats — This site really does make math fun, with quizzes, logic puzzles and more. Mouse over the magic blackboard to see the answers appear!
• Destination Modern Art — Explore some famous artworks at this interactive site from the Museum of Modern Art
• Time for Kids — Keep up with current events at this site from Time magazine. There are some games and homework links here, too!

Libraries are busier than ever these days, and people who have a library card consider it one of their most valuable possessions. Your library card can provide you with a wide variety of books for information, education, entertainment or inspiration, as well as DVDs, CDs and more.

But your library card can also provide you with free access to licensed databases of high-quality reference sources and articles from newspapers, magazines and journals that are not otherwise available free anywhere on the Web. You can also use your library card to checkout free audiobooks that you can download and listen to from your home computer or transfer to your MP3 player. Your own library may have other services, including museum passes you can borrow, book groups, story hours, training classes, study rooms and much more.

If you haven’t checked out your library lately, this is a good time to drop by your library (in person or online) and see what’s going on, and spread the word to your fellow students, friends and neighbors!

Reference Database | Downloadable Audibooks | NOBLE Member Libraries