Thanksgiving 2009 Resources List!

It's our second annual Thanksgiving Resources list! We've updated last years and in the honor of preemptive reference, we're posting it through twitter, MySpace, and Facebook. Check it out:

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Are you prepared for the food, family, and fun?

To help you have a happy, safe, and healthy holiday, we’ve put together some resources we hope you’ll find useful.

Happy Thanksgiving from all your friends at Maryland AskUsNow! (We’re thankful for librarians and all our friends like you!)

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What do I do with this Turkey?
Butterball’s Thanksgiving guide is complete with shopping lists, conversations, thawing guides, seating, safety, what to do with leftovers, and more:
http://www.butterball.com/tips-how-tos/tips/thanksgiving-guide

I may need to know CPR
http://health.howstuffworks.com/cpr2.htm
(TIP: don’t know what the timing is? hum the Bee Gee’s Stayin Alive for the right rhythm (http://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20081017/cpr-gives-stayin-alive-new-life))

Vegetarian Thanksgiving?
eHow’s “How to choose a Turkey Substitute for your Vegan T-day” http://www.ehow.com/how_4599009_turkey-substitute-vegan-thanksgiving-dinner.html

Vegan holiday recipes http://www.vegcooking.com/f_holiday_cooking.asp

Worried about handling the family stress?
Check out the Mayo Clinic’s 12 tips for coping: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/MH00030 or the Family Guide’s Guide to Managing Holiday Stress: http://family.samhsa.gov/be/holidaystress.aspx

Send your thanks to our military?
Go to http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Usgresponse/Help.shtml#vgn-support-our-troops-vgn to send care packages, donate calling cards, or write letters, emails, or text messages of gratitude.

Volunteer this holiday!
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicService.shtml

What’s the real story behind Thanksgiving?
History.com tells the tale of the First Thanksgiving: http://tinyurl.com/6jwxzx and what was actually on the menu. Also check out the Smithsonian’s site at http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmah/thanks.htm

Have kids to entertain?
Print out some coloring book pages here: http://coloring-page.net/thanksgiving.html or here: http://www.preschoolcoloringbook.com/color/cpthanksgiving.shtml or here: http://holidays.kaboose.com/thanks-color.html

Interested in Thanksgiving Facts?
The U.S. Census Bureau can help: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/014332.html

Traveling?
Check out highway conditions at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/Trafficinfo/

The Federal Aviation Administration can tell you what the status of flights and airport delays are: http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp

Have a question about something else? Get answers at www.askusnow.info We’re available 24/7, even on Thanksgiving!

Happy Holidays,
Your friends at Maryland AskUsNow!

Gaming draws families together - at libraries, too with National Gaming Day 2009

There seems to be a surging renewed interest in board, card, and video games these days. Maybe it's the recession. Maybe it's due to our innate desire to be around people. We are social creatures, after all.

Personally, I have many pleasant childhood memories and great moments with my own (now semi-adult) kids playing games. Mario Cart (Wii) is a standard activity these days and we can connect this over the Internet to include family members who live 3,000 miles away. Still, we pile the old stand-by board and card games in the closet and on top of the refrigerator and grab these for a change of pace once in a while. Sometimes it's just nice to sit together at the dining table clutching UNO or Apple-to-Apple card and talk about everything and anything while we play.

The American Library Association's National Game Day is on Saturday, November 14th. Many libraries around the country participate in this fun event with creative and energetic programs, and the interest is not limited to children or teens. According to a Pew report from December 2008, more than half of the U.S.'s adults play video games, and about 1 in 5 play everyday or almost everyday (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1048/video-games-adults-are-players-too).

This is exciting news, since the adults are the ones who own and drive the cars (mostly) and set the family's daily agenda. The library can really embrace the family's inter-generational interest in gaming! It's good for anyone, any age since gaming also stimulates brain activity, helps with social skills, and having fun is just plain good for our health. And when gamers come to the library, they are more likely to explore the shelves and options around them. For this librarian, it's a win-win situation.

For more about National Gaming Day, see I Love Libraries at: http://ilovelibraries.org/gaming/index.cfm

Game on!