Health Care Reform 101

It might be possible that you’re just as confused and unclear about health care reform as I am. In a world where information travels quickly and in large quantities, it’s difficult to feel anything but overwhelmed when it comes to the big issues.
Health care is an extremely important topic and of course, the Library is [...]

Why I ♥ My Library

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. However, these pictures are worth 5.5 million books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, government documents, microfilm, music scores (just to name a few), 19 library branches and their knowledgable and extremely dedicated library staff.
At Main, we have two giant white boards where patrons can articulate why they love their library. Here are just a few [...]

How to Eat Your Lawn

Dreaming of an edible estate? Closing our Sustainable September series is this Saturday’s collaborative program with Phipps Conservatory. We’ll begin with a screening of Gimme Green, a short but clever documentary that examines the $40 billion industry that harmfully impacts the environment and our wallets — the lawn.

Fall’s arrival doesn’t mean you should stop [...]

Busy Bee

photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/57402879@N00/

Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of ongoing buzz (pun completely intended) in the news about honeybees. In late 2006, the hardworking honeybee began disappearing, and soon became a mysterious curiosity of the natural world, one that is now known as colony collapse disorder. A new study led scientists to discover that the cause of [...]

Eat Your Veggies

As a CSA member, I’m getting my fill of beautiful vegetables. If you’re unfamiliar, CSA is an acronym for Community Supported Agriculture, and Pittsburgh has a nice selection of local farms to choose from.  The idea is simple. You buy a “share” in the farm and gain boxes of vegetables and other edible items throughout the season.  [...]

Moving On

I’ve seen a lot of moving trucks lately, and I mean a lot.  Summer is a common time for people to do this much dreaded task.  Whether your lease is up or you’ve decide to make an even bigger transition and buy a home,  moving can be awfully stressful.  Although the Library can’t offer to lend [...]

Summer Camp in the City

The Three Rivers Arts Festival is finally here, marking the unofficial start of summer in Pittsburgh. Farmer’s Markets, city pools, new spray parks, festivals and a ton of music make this city a great place to be for kids and adults, even during the doggiest days of summer.  
As an adult, this kind of summertime [...]

Stop and Listen

The simple act of listening is easier said than done.  A recent opinion piece in the New York Times commented on the lost art of reading aloud, nostalgic for a time before the existence of recorded audio books, when people practiced reading aloud to each other as entertainment. 
Being read aloud to doesn’t have to be something adults do [...]

Lunchtime Lust

Sunday evening  11:45 pm, I suddenly had an urge to make burrito filling in anticipation of my Monday lunch. Sounds totally insane, I know, but I don’t mess around when it comes to preparing a meal I’ll be enjoying when away from home. Midnight lunch preparation is something I do far too often. Bringing a tasty meal on [...]

Presidential Puppy

Getting a new pet is always exciting, but imagine if you were a puppy, and you got a new home, and it just so happened to be the White House.  This past week, Sasha and Mailia Obama got the puppy they earned, Bo, a six month old Portuguese water dog with family ties to Pittsburgh.   Bo’s [...]