Our Media Librarian, Melissa Friedman, has acquired a terrific new resource for the Library: A Playaway PowerNap NapMachine that promises three hours of deep sleep in 20 minutes. I just tested it for her (someone had to!) and it made me feel refreshed and relaxed. Faster and less expensive than a vacation! Thanks Melissa!

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I sometimes find it hard to remember the titles and authors of all the great (and maybe not so great) books I’ve read. To help keep my memory intact, I’ve taken to relying on LibraryThing, “an online service to help people catalog their books easily … with suggestions for what to read next … and connect people.” Their free account allows you to catalog up to 200 books. A paid account costs $10 per year or $25 for a lifetime. I love that it can be checked from my iPod Touch too! Thanks to staff member Barbara Lyons for recommending this site!

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Woot.com is “an online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap.” They sell one item per day until it is sold out or until 11:59 pm central time when it is replaced. I am told that the catch of items is random but the prices are good (usually 50% off). Thanks to staff member Ryan Fisher for this site!

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AskMen.com is a free online magazine currently featuring the Top 29: Best Cities to Live In. The list is international and the criteria include sports and entertainment, culture, fashion, health, power and money, dating, and the good life. It also lists the average cost of a pint of beer in the city. There are also sections on Entertainment, Celebs and Cars. Check it out!

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Time is often at a premium for us and I feel like I miss an important part of my day if I don’t get to read The New York Times (online, of course!). It is good, however, to read other newspapers to get a balanced, national, or global view of what is going on in the world. PatsPapers is a “carefully edited collection of US news headlines delivered each weekday morning.” The site is the work of Pat Kiernan, anchor of the morning news program on NY1 News in New York City. Papers covered include the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Kansas City Star, Seattle Times, International Herald Tribune, Irish Times, Times of India, South China Morning Post, The Australian and more.

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The PLA (Public Library Association) Symposium in Nashville is terrific! First session was about Social Networking, including Facebook and Twitter. I’ll be adding information on these free services in the upcoming days. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter to see what it’s like, I am mamfranco on Twitter. My FaceBook name is Mary Anne Mendola Franco. Will be back at you soon!

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