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"It's __________.," your doctor said definitively. "I have what?" you respond. Anyone who has just been diagnosed with a medical condition or disease knows only too well the shock and dismay that inevitably tend to accompany such news.

"What do I do now?" you ask yourself, loved ones and friends. "Where do I go from here?"

Don't hesitate to ask your physican where to find credible medical information about your condition, in print and/or online. It's important to educate yourself.

The Des Plaines Public Library can help, too. Let us serve as a guide.

Continue Reading "Newly diagnosed? Don’t despair" →

Here is an interesting statistic: there are over 30,000 registered library card holders at the DPPL and that number is growing every day. Want to make some new friends? Become a partner in library programming for kids and their families and caregivers.

Over 46,000 people on average visit the library in a month, and last year the total number of visits was over 569,000! That number has incredible potential for your organization or business. The library is a wealth of opportunity for businesses and organizations of any size to market to and earn new customers or members, as well as do great things for the Des Plaines community by promoting literacy, reading, and education.

Continue Reading "Des Plaines Public Library Partnerships: Extend Your Reach" →

Frankly, my dear, we do give a damn.

It is estimated that three hundred thousand people lined the streets of Atlanta as Hollywood royalty arrived for the long anticipated world premiere of Gone with the Wind. Three days of festivities preceded the screening at Loew's Grand Theatre on Peachtree Street.

Clark Gable was there with Carole Lombard. Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. Claudette Colbert, Olivia de Havilland and governors from five former Confederate states. Former president Jimmy Carter recalled that the premiere was the biggest event to happen in the South in his lifetime.

Continue Reading "Gone with the Wind: Epic Film’s 75th Anniversary" →

November is National Novel Writers Month, NaNoWriMo for short, and every year thousands of writers participate in a program to write a novel in November. Not only can it be done, it can be life-altering.

I'd always hoped to write a novel, but after many starts it always landed on the back burner. The beauty of NaNoWriMo is that it provides a way to beat both the mental and circumstantial blocks that get in the way of writing. It starts with a commitment to write 50,000 words in November which adds up to about 190 pages. To get there I must write 1666.6 words a day. They don’t have to be good words. It doesn’t have to compare to Hemingway. I just have to write. I can go back next month and fix whatever I don’t like. 

Continue Reading "Do You Want to Write a Novel?" →

With the holidays around the corner, many of us will be spending time traveling to see friends and family, or perhaps just spending long weekends at home. If your holiday get-togethers are anything like those of my family, there’s plenty of eating and visiting and chatting and music and laughter. And if you’re anything like me, after all that visiting and chatting and laughter, it feels really good to plunk down in a quiet corner after the crowd has cleared out and recharge with a book or movie!

Continue Reading "What’s All the Hoopla About hoopla?" →