It is not too soon to begin planning your flower and vegetable gardens. We have a wide assortment of gardening books to give you ideas and inspiration while you wait for the warmer weather. Here are some titles that might interest you.
A title geared for seniors is The Illustrated Practical Guide to Gardening for Seniors (635.0846 CAS). This book includes over 900 plans and photographs and shows seniors how easy it is to continue gardening in their retirement years.
Gardening with Prairie Plants (635.951 WAS) will 
show you how to create beautiful native landscapes. The author of this book is award-winning landscape designer Sally Wasowski.
For those interested in learning how to grow heirloom vegetables, take a look at The Beginner's Guide to Growing Heirloom Vegetables (635 IAN). This book 
covers the 100 easiest to grow and tastiest vegetables.
Do you want to garden, but have limited space? All New Square Foot Gardening (635 BAR) might provide the answers you need. This book will show you how to grow more in less space. 
For other titles check our online catalog, our Hobbies and Crafts subscription database, or Ask Us!
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Remember the children's rhyme to help you remember how many days are in each month? Well, this is the year when February has 29 days instead of 28.
Under the Gregorian calendar, a leap day is added to the calendar once every four years, except for century years that are not exactly divisible by 400.
During any year that is not a leap year a year is 52 weeks plus one day. So, if your birthday was on a Monday one year, the next year your birthday would be on a Tuesday. However, a leap year is 52 weeks plus two days. If your birthday fell on a Monday last year, this year it would be on a Wednesday. It has "leaped over" a day of the week.
Leap year will begin March 1, 2012 and end February 28, 2013.
Here is some leap year trivia: Astrologers claim that those born on February 29 have unusual talents and personalities reflecting their special status. American Presidential elections and the Summer Olympic Games are both held every four years and occur in the Leap Year. Greeks believe it is bad luck to get married in a leap year. On the other hand, women can propose to a man in Ireland. Walt Disney World and Disneyland are staying open for 24 hours on February 29 to celebrate Leap Year.
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Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor became Queen Elizabeth II upon the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952. Queen Elizabeth was 25 years old when the King died. The British are preparing to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, only the second Diamond Jubilee in Britain's long history. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to achieve this distinction.
If you would like to learn more about Queen Elizabeth we have several new books now available.
The Real Elizabeth: an Intimate Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Andrew Marr (B Elizabeth II)
Elizabeth the Queen: the Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith (B Elizabeth II)
Queen Elizabeth II: Portraits by Cecil Beaton by Susanna Brown (941.085 BRO)
Prince Philip: the Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II by Philip Eade (B Philip)
For more info on the Diamond Jubilee check out this official website.
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If you enjoying reading about animals, especially dogs, here are some new titles that you might enjoy.
Rin Tin Tin: the Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean tells the story of the famous dog's journey from an orphan puppy to a movie star. A young American soldier found the German shepherd puppy on a WW1 battlefield in France and brought the pup back with him to California. Rin Tin Tin went on to star in many movies and he became the most famous dog in the world. This is his story. 636.7376 ORL
Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog by Susannah Charleson tells the story of Puzzle, a 
golden retriever, and her search pilot owner as they search for the missing, including a lost teen and an Alzheimer's patient. 636.70886 CHA
No Buddy Left Behind: Bringing U.S. Troops' Dogs and Cats Safely Home from the Combat Zone is about American troops serving in the Middle East and the stray dogs and cats they rescued. Author Terri Crisp makes it her mission to save these animals and bring them back to the states and back to the soldiers who love them. 636.08 CRI
Sergeant Rex by Mike Dowling tells the story of a bomb-sniffing 
German shepherd in Iraq and his handler. They were part of the first military working dog team sent to the front lines since Vietnam. This is a tale of courage and devotion set against the backdrop of war. 956.70443 DOW
For other titles, check our online catalog or Ask Us!
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A new state law adds 13 electronic devices to the list of items than cannot be disposed of with your regular trash collection.
Banned items include computers, TVs, fax machines, scanners, stereos, microwaves, printers and other similar devices. It is now illegal for Illinois residents to place these items in their trash and it is likewise illegal for the landfills to accept these items.
The purpose of the law is to encourage recycling and the reclaiming of the valuable resources these items contain, such as gold, lead, silver, and cadmium.
Kane County is continuing to offer a drop-off service for electronics on the second Saturday of each month from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kane County Circuit Clerk's Office, which is located at 540 Randall Road, St. Charles.
For more information, visit the Kane County Recycles website.
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The Stop Online Piracy Act seems like a good idea - protect copyright owners from digital piracy. Who wouldn't agree with that? Turns out quite a few people, including free speech activists and technology companies and sites like Wikipedia, Facebook, Google, Reddit, and others who fear that the language of the bill would make it easy to shut them down on just an accusation of piracy. How worried are they? Some major sites, including Wikipedia, are planning to "go black" on January 18th as a protest. Are they overreacting?
Check out these overviews and opinions:
PC World Pro and Con
New York Times
Fox News
CNET
SOPA is not the only Internet anti-piracy bill making its way through Congress. PIPA (PROTECT IP Act) is more narrowly focused on similar issues. If you want to learn more, check out Congressional Digest's overview and scroll down for the Pro/Con arguments. Outside of the library, you'll need your library card and PIN to access this copyright-protected content.
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The Survey of American Industry & Careers is a new Reference set for job seekers and students. This six volume set, shelved on the library's Career and Job Information table, provides in-depth overviews of 112 core North American industries and related jobs and careers. This set is also available online for St. Charles card holders.The industries profiled include manufacturing, the service sector, e-businesses, etc. The scale of industries range from those dominated by individuals or small businesses to those dominated by national and international corporations.
A wealth of information is provided for each industry including an industry snapshot, industry market segments, organizational structure and job roles, industry outlook and related resources.
If you are looking for information on an industry, this set would be a great place to begin your research. For additional resources on industries and careers, check out the other titles shelved on Career & Job Information Table or ask us!
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If you have a new eReader or tablet computer, congratulations! We'd love to help you get started checking out library books online. We hope you'll love borrowing digital books for free.
The Rules:
- Library books are checked out to you for 14 days.
- You don't have to worry about returns or over dues, the books are returned automatically.
- You may have up to 5 downloadable items checked out at once.
- Most eBooks may be returned early (so you can download another immediately) and you may place holds on checked-out items.
How-To:
How you download library items depends on your device.
- Have a Kindle?
- Have a Nook, Sony, or other eReader?
- Own an iPad, Xoom, smartphone or other tablet computer?
- Would you rather listen? You can download audiobooks to compatible devices, too!
Help!The My Help! on our eBook site is easy to use and understand. Just click the icon to get started.
If you would like some in-person assistance, we offer drop-in sessions for adults and children accompanied by an adult. No reservation is required, but please bring your device,and any and all cords. If you are using a Nook or other eReader and own a laptop, please bring it with you, too.
We have lots of upcoming dates and times for you to choose from.
Tips and Tricks:All readers, except Kindles, read the Adobe EPUB format.
Begin your search for titles on the Library's eBook/eAudiobook site.
If you do an advanced search, you can limit to your device's format, items that are immediately available to checkout, and genres such as mysteries, biographies, or romance.
You'll need your library card and PIN to checkout. The default PIN is changeme. If you've changed your PIN, but can't remember it, it can be emailed to you.
If you're a Kindle owner, you'll need to have your Amazon login and password.
Photo:Sapphireblue on Flickr via everystockphoto
More Free Stuff!
Since we're talking about free digital stuff, don't forget that we also have free music downloads (3 per week, and you get to keep the music). And if you like to listen to books, but don't want to download them, you might like to check out a digital Playaway device. Youth Playaways and Playaway Views are available for kids, too. Just supply your own headphones and batteries and you're good to go.
Enjoy!
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Yes, it's that time - our annual eReader purchasing advice. The good news is that if you're hoping for a shiny new eReader or tablet computer this year, chances are better than ever that you can checkout books for free from the Library (Kindle owners, rejoice!). For a complete list of library compatible reading and listening devices, click here.
But how to decide what to buy? CNET has reviewed the major players in the field for you. They even talk about library borrowing! Read the review. Stop in the library to see other reviews.
Once you have your reader, check out our Digital and Downloadable page for quick start
guides and more information. We regularly hold drop-in help sessions. Just check your current issue of Discover, our website, or give us a call for more information.Finally, if you're feeling an overload of technostress, we once again recommend turning to the Medieval Help Desk for a laugh.
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