Did you receive a new eReader for the holidays?

We have put an eBook FAQ on our website to help you borrow library eBooks for your Nook, Kindle, iPad or similar device. It is available at www.framinghamlibrary.org under the downloadable eBooks and eAudiobooks button. http://www.framinghamlibrary.org/ebooks.htm

We'll also be holding a hands-on eBooks workshop for people who would like help borrowing library eBooks for their Nook or Kindle.

Or if you are ready to jump right in, go to http://digital.minlib.net/.

Access our databases from your IPhone

You can now access our Databases even when you're not at the library.
It's as simple as using the AccessMyLibrary mobile app for the IPhone or IPod from Gale, the publisher of our reference databases.  Search Books & Authors for your next book, the Health & Wellness Resources Center for medication info, or the Business and Company Resource Center for up-to-date company info, for example.
AccessMyLibrary uses GPS to find libraries within a 10-mile radius of your location and then gives you free, unlimited access to their reputable, authoritative online resources, without the need to log in.

For more information and to download the App, visit: www.gale.cengage.com/apps or
search for accessmylibrary in the AppStore.

Receiving too many catalogs?

If you are receiving a lot of unwanted catalogs and junk mail at home, you can cancel them by going to www.catalogchoice.org and listing ones you do not wish to receive. This not only reduces clutter but helps the environment and helps protect your privacy.

This free service launched in 2007 works with over 4000 companies who guarantee to honor your choice to opt out.

Consumer Reports Rates Ebook Readers

The December 2011 copy of Consumer Reports has a helpful article rating the different ebook readers that can be used to borrow ebooks from the library. If you are trying to decide what type of ereader to buy, please ask at the Reference Desk to see the December issue of Consumer Reports.

Are you an avid reader looking for something new to read? Then check out the online version of Bookpage.  Here you can explore new books by genre, read author interviews and discover ideas for gift giving.

This site also provides weekly and daily newsletters that you can subscribe to and provides links to connect to other readers through Facebook and Twitter.

And, you can “discover your next great book” with the Bookpage app on your Iphone, Ipad or iPod. The app allows you to keep track of what you’ve already read and what you want to read next.

Mango Languages App

There is a Mango Languages app available for the iPhone, iPod, or iTouch. People with one of these devices and a Framingham Public Library card can use Mango Languages from anywhere! The app is available for free from the iTunes store.

Details about the app are available here...
http://www.mangolanguages.com/libraries/products-overview/mango-mobile/

Access to Mango Languages is available from http://www.framinghamlibrary.org.

Native American Heritage Month

North American Natives have long been known as Indians because of the belief prevalent at the time of Columbus that the Americas were the outer reaches of the Indies (i.e., the East Indies). Most scholars agree that Native Americans came into the Western Hemisphere from Asia via the Bering Strait or along the North Pacific coast in a series of migrations. From Alaska they spread east and south. Some scholars accept evidence of Native American existence in the Americas back more than 25,000 years, while many others believe that people arrived later than that, perhaps as recently as 12,000 years ago. In pre-Columbian times (prior to 1492) the Native American population of the area North of Mexico is conservatively estimated to have been about 1.8 million, with some authorities believing the population to have been as large as 10 million or more.

By the time of early European colonization attempts, there were over 30,000 Native Americans in Massachusetts living amongst a variety of tribes belonging to the Algonquin language group. Some of the most well known tribes were the Wampanoag, Pennacook, Mahican, Pocumtuck, Nipmuck, and the Massachusett (for whom the state was named). Unfortunately, the Europeans would bring with them diseases for which the Native Americans had no immunity against, resulting in large, deadly epidemics. The first such epidemic hit the coastal region of Massachusetts between 1616 and 1617. The Native population continued to suffer from disease and warfare throughout the remainder of the 17th century. Nearly ninety percent of the Native population was killed during this period.

What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.

In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kans., formally approved a plan concerning American Indian Day. It directed its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to observe such a day. Coolidge issued a proclamation on Sept. 28, 1915, which declared the second Saturday of each May as an American Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens.

In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 "National American Indian Heritage Month." Similar proclamations have been issued each year since 1994.

For additional information on Native American history and culture visit our online databases at: http://www.framinghamlibrary.org or come in and browse our collection of Native American materials located at call numbers 970.004 – 970.1.