Mymoney.gov

With the recent financial crisis on Wall Street, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to money matters. However, it’s important to realize that the best thing for you to do is learn how to manage your own personal finances.

Mymoney.gov is a website that pools together financial literacy information from federal government sources. Articles include:

• Helping Victims of Hurricane Ike: Your Guide to Giving Wisely
• Saving Money at the Gas Pump: A Bumper-to-Bumper Guide
• Want to learn about controlling your credit? Try staying at the Bad Credit Hotel, which is a fun, interactive way to learn about credit.

The website was created by the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, which also maintains a toll free number (1-888-MYMONEY) that allows access to the many of the same publications.

Ways Patrons Used the Library After Hurricane Gustav

In times of crisis, access to good information is critical. In the days and weeks after Hurricane Gustav blew through the Baton Rouge area, patrons turned to the library for their needs. Here are some of the questions we answered and services we provided.

• Patrons wanted to know if we were open and had Internet access so they could check their email.
• Patrons were calling about the status of Hurricane Ike (coordinates, projected path, local wind speeds). We turned to the National Hurricane Center website and Weather Underground for up-to-date tropical weather information.
• A patron called wanting to know which hotels in Baton Rouge were “FEMA approved”. FEMA approved hotels in Baton Rouge can be found at this website: FEMA Evacuee Hotel List.
• Patrons wanted to know where they were on the Entergy power restoration map.
• Patrons wanted to know how to apply for emergency food stamps.
• One patron was looking for murder mysteries to watch since their cable was out. We showed her the series we have on DVD: Inspector Morse, Miss Marple, Murder She Wrote etc.
• Patrons wanted to know where they could get MREs and tarps in Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes. Information about MREs and tarps, along with a lot of other information could be found at http://emergency.louisiana.gov/.
• Patrons have wanted to use our computers to apply for FEMA aid and to check on the status of their applications.
• A patron who evacuated to Mississippi was traveling through Jackson to come back home. But she desperately needed to find a Chik-Fil-A in Jackson. We found two and gave her the phone numbers and addresses. (Everything doesn’t have to be an emergency, does it?)

Public Access Computers Around Baton Rouge

Aside from the open locations of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library (see below), the following locations have public computer access.

• Middleton Library at LSU
• John B. Cade Library at Southern University
• State Library of Louisiana (with wi-fi hotspots on the 3rd floor)
• Fed-Ex Kinko’s
• West Baton Rouge Parish Library

For wi-fi hotspots in Baton Rouge try the following links:

• Wifi Hotspots in Baton Rouge (superpages.com)
• Wifi Hotspots in Baton Rouge (JiWire Wi-Fi Hotspot Directory)
• Other possible locations not included in these lists include the Borders bookstore and the Apple store at the Mall of Louisiana, Whole Foods, and Books-a-Million.

Library Hurricane Notices

• The Main Library and the Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library are closed today (Monday, September 8, 2008) due to power outages. All other branches of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library will be open today from Noon to 8:00 p.m. The River Center Branch will close at its normal time at 7:00 p.m.
• Beginning Tuesday, 09/09/08, through Thursday, 09/11/08, all branches of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library will open at the regularly scheduled time and will close at 8:00 p.m. One exception is the River Center Branch which will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• GREAT NEWS!!!! Storytime in the Children’s Room will be held as scheduled at each of the branch libraries. Come by and join in the fun!
• Overdue fines will be suspended for a brief period of time due to the effects of Hurricane Gustav. Check with the Circulation Desk at your local branch library for more details.
• Meeting room use has been suspended at all branch libraries for the remainder of this week, 09/08/09 through 09/12/08. Therefore, community organization meetings are also canceled this week. Check with your individual community organization to determine if an alternate meeting location and time has been arranged.