Introducing HeritageQuest!

East Central Regional Library is pleased to announce that it now offers a family history tool that complements the already popular Ancestry Library Edition. We are thrilled to add HeritageQuest Online database to our growing list of high-quality resources. HeritageQuest is conveniently accessed via the library's website anywhere with an internet connection by logging in with your library card!

HeritageQuest Online is a comprehensive database of American genealogical and historical sources with unique primary sources, local and family histories, convenient research guides, interactive census maps, and more.  With coverage dating back to the 1700s, it is a great place for people to start searching for their ancestors or discovering a place’s past.

This authoritative resource consists of the following core data sets:

• U.S. Federal Censuses feature the original images of every extant federal census in the United States, from 1790 through 1940, with every-name indexes for all years.
• Genealogy and local history books and directories deliver more than 40,000 family histories, local histories, city directories, and other books.
• Revolutionary War records contains original images from pension and bounty land warrant application files help to identify more than 80,000 American Army, Navy, and Marine officers and enlisted men from the Revolutionary War era.
• Freedman’s Bank Records, with more than 480,000 names of bank applicants, their dependents, and heirs from 1865–1874, and full-page register views, it offers valuable data that can provide important clues to tracing African American ancestors prior to and immediately after the U.S. Civil War. It is considered one of the most important resources for African-American genealogical research.
• U.S. Serial Set records the memorials, petitions, private relief actions made to the U.S. Congress back to 1789, with a total of more than 480,000 pages of information.
• Periodical Source Index (PERSI) Archive (1800-2009), published by the Allen County Public Library, it contains more than 2.3 million records covering both English and French periodicals published around the world since 1800.

To learn more about HeritageQuest Online or for help using HeritageQuest Online, view the LibGuide.

Whether you are a beginner or an expert family historian, try HeritageQuest today!

Sarah Hawkins, Resource Librarian

Introducing Mango Languages!

East Central Regional Library is pleased to announce that it now offers an online language-learning database to our patrons. We are thrilled to add the Mango Languages system to our growing list of resources.   

Mango is free for all library patrons and is available 24/7 anywhere with an Internet connection. All you need is your library card! You can also create a Mango profile to track your progress.  Mango can be accessed via the library's website or on-the-go with apps for iPhone, Android, Kindle, and Nook.  To access Mango on the app, first register for a Mango profile via the library's website.

Mango offers access to 60 foreign language courses and 17 English as second language courses. These courses include a variety of specialty mini-courses including Medical Spanish, Shakespearean English, Endangered Languages, Pirate, and more.

Each Mango lesson teaches conversation through audio from native speakers and critical thinking exercises. The courses are presented with an appreciation for cultural nuance and real-world application by focusing on the four key elements of language learning: vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and culture.

In addition to traditional language courses, Mango also offers the opportunity to learn through with Mango Premiere, the first of its kind program to teach language through full-length foreign films.  Users are able watch a film in “Movie Mode,” watching the entire movie with subtitles (English subtitles, subtitles in the language you’re learning, or both) or “Engage Mode,” learning each scene’s dialogue, part-by-part. 

We are always looking to provide patrons relevant online resources that can be used whenever and wherever is easiest for the learner. Whether you want to learn a second language for business or travel, personal or professional development, or just for fun, Mango is the place to start!

Sarah Hawkins, Resource Librarian

2013 BOOK AWARDS - Booker, Nobel, Pulitzer !

The votes are in, and the winners have been announced!  Here are the authors and books that received major literary awards in 2013:

 

 

THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE – Alice Munro

 

Cited as a “master of the contemporary short story”, Munro is the first Canadian to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.  She is also a three-time winner of Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Fiction.  Her works include:

Dance of the Happy Shades (1968)             

The Progress of Love (1986)

The Love of a Good Woman (1998)

Dear Life (2012)

 

THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION - Adam Johnson

 

Johnson is a South Dakota native and Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Stanford University.  He received the Pulitzer for The Orphan Master’s Son.  His works include:

Emporium (2002)

Parasites Like Us (2003)

The Orphan Master’s Son (2012)

 

THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION – James McBride

McBride is a writer and musician whose 1996 memoir, The Color of Water, was a huge bestseller.  He received the National Book Award for The Good Lord Bird.  His works include:

 The Color of Water (1996)

 Miracle at St. Anna (2002)

 Song Yet Sung (2008)

 The Good Lord Bird (2012)

 

 THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE – Eleanor Catton

 

A native of New Zealand, Catton attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2008.  She received the Booker Prize for The Luminaries and is the youngest recipient (at age 28) of that award.  Her works include:

 The Rehearsal (2008)

 The Luminaries (2013)

 

Many of these titles and various other award-winners are in the East Central Regional Library collection.  Check Evergreen (our online catalog) or contact your nearest ECRL branch library for assistance!

Bob Gray, Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

 

 

 

SCOTT and ZELDA -- ECHOES OF THE JAZZ AGE





     

During his lifetime, The Great Gatsby brought F. Scott Fitzgerald only $8397.00 in royalties. Today the book is a staple in high school and university English classrooms and is widely regarded as one of the greatest 20th century American novels. On June 10, 2009, a first edition copy sold for $180,000.00 at Bonham's in New York.

Scott, as he was called, was born on September 24, 1896, at 481 Laurel Avenue in St. Paul.  This Side of Paradise, his first novel,  was published to wide acclaim in March 1920.  The Beautiful and Damned followed in 1922, The Great Gatsby in 1925, and Tender is the Night in 1934. During the early 1930s, he was one of the highest-paid writers in America, earning $4000.00 per story from The Saturday Evening Post.

East Central Regional Library owns many of Fitzgerald's works in various formats.  With Baz Luhrmann's dazzling, ambitious, over-the-top adaptation of The Great Gatsby currently in theatres, there is a renewed interest in Fitzgerald, the Roaring Twenties, and the Jazz Age.  Check out the following, available through any ECRL branch library:

Fiction

"Beautiful Fools" by R. Clifton Spargo

"Call Me Zelda" by Erika Robuck

"Gatsby's Girl" by Caroline Preston

"The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain

"The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

"Tales of the Jazz Age" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Z:  A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald" by Therese Ann Fowler    

Nonfiction

"A Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemingway

"Everybody Was So Young" by Amanda Vaill

"Sometimes Madness is Wisdom" by Kendall Taylor

"Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Anything Goes" by Lucy Moore

"Fool for Love:  F. Scott Fitzgerald" by Scott Donaldson  

 DVDs

"Midnight in Paris" starring Owen Wilson

"The Moderns" starring Keith Carradine

"The Great Gatsby" starring Robert Redford

"The Sun Also Rises" starring Ava Gardner

"Chicago" starring Renee Zellweger

"Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries" starring Essie Davis

If you haven't read F. Scott Fitzgerald since high school, it may be time to revisit Nick Carroway, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby. And perhaps ponder again the closing words of Fitzgerald's most famous novel, which seem to whisper of the Jazz Age and the "Lost Generation" -----

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past"

Bob Gray

Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

NEW BIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS at Your Library!

Publishers are gearing up for fall!  New biographies and memoirs are sure to be popular and many will hit the bestseller lists.  Check the ECRL catalog in the coming weeks for the following:

Bruce by Peter A. Carlin – the life of Bruce Springsteen based on interviews with family, band members, friends, and ex-girlfriends

But Now I See by Steven Holcomb – the Olympic gold medalist faces possible blindness

Butch Cassidy by W.C. Jameson – the life, exploits, and controversial death of Robert Leroy Parker

Call of the American Wild by Guy Grieve – the author escapes to the Alaskan wilderness and builds a new life

Five Lieutenants by James Carl Nelson -- five brilliant young soldiers from Harvard serve their country during WWI

A Gift of Hope by Danielle Steel – the romance novelist discusses her tireless work with the homeless

The Godfather’s Daughter by Rita Gigante – growing up in the household of Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, head of all five New York crime families

Heisman by John M. Heisman – the first authorized biography of the man memorialized by the Heisman Trophy

Hello, Gorgeous by William J. Mann – Barbra Streisand’s early New York years and her rise to stardom

Killing Kennedy:  The End of Camelot by Bill O’Reilly – focuses on a 20^th century assassination shrouded in mystery and conjecture

Lady Bird Johnson:  An Oral History by Michael L. Gillette – 37 newly released oral histories collected over 14 years

Marmee & Louisa by Eve LaPlante – Louisa May Alcott’s relationship with her mother based on recently discovered family papers

Martin Luther King Jr:  A King Family Tribute edited by Angela Farris Watkins – family members share their memories

Pray the Gay Away by Bernadette C. Barton – the extraordinary lives of 50 Bible Belt gays and lesbians

Thornton Wilder:  A Life by Penelope Niven – the life of the great playwright and literary icon based on his personal papers

Titian:  His Life by Sheila Hale – a definitive study of the great Renaissance painter

Twitch Upon a Star by Herbie J. Pilato – Elizabeth Montgomery “Bewitched” thousands of TV viewers in the 1960s

The Voice is All by Joyce Johnson – a groundbreaking portrait of Jack Kerouac as a young artist

Bob Gray
Librarian
East Central Regional Library

April 15, 1912 - TITANIC SINKS IN NORTH ATLANTIC!

It was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of its time.  Captained by Edward J. Smith, the RMS Titanic left Southhampton, England, for New York City on April 10, 1912.  Four days later, at 11:40 pm on April 14th, the ship struck on iceberg in the North Atlantic, south of Newfoundland, Canada.  In the early morning hours of April 15th, the Titanic broke in two and sank to the ocean floor.

1517 people perished.

April 15, 2012, is the 100th anniversary of a maritime disaster that continues to fascinate people around the world. 

East Central Regional Library has a wide variety of materials on the Titanic in various formats that can be requested and borrowed from your local branch library.

If you enjoy fiction, consider these novels, all published in 2012:

“By the Light of the Silvery Moon” by Tricia Goyer

“The Company of the Dead” by David Kowalski
“The Dressmaker” by Kate Alcott
“Echoes of Titanic” by Mindy Starns Clark
“Hearts that Survive” by Yvonne Lehman
“Promise Me This” by Cathy Golke

For nonfiction readers, the following 2012 titles should prove interesting:

“Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage” by Hugh Brewster
“Shadow of the Titanic” by Andrew Wilson
“Titanic:  Last Night of a Small Town” by John Welshman
“Titanic in Photographs” by Daniel Klistorner
“Titanic Tragedy” by John Maxtone-Graham
“Voyagers of the Titanic” by Richard Davenport-Hines

For film buffs, the library offers both feature films and documentaries:

“Titanic” starring Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck (1953)

“A Night to Remember” starring Kenneth More and Jill Dixon (1958)
“Titanic” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (1997)
“Titanic” starring Toby Jones and Linus Roache (2011)
“Titanic:  the Complete Story” (2011)
“Titanic:  100^th Anniversary Collection” (2012)
“Titanic:  the Definitive Documentary Collection” (2012)

 These are only a few of the items you'll find in the ECRL catalog.  For additional materials in various formats (for children, teens, and adults), access our homepage at www.ecrlib.org and click on "ECRL Catalog" on the upper left. 

And remember that library staff are always happy to assist with queries and suggestions!

Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

Minnesota's Own - JUDY GARLAND !

Eighty-nine years ago today, Frances Gumm was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.  In 1935, she signed a seven-year contract with MGM, the biggest motion picture studio in Hollywood.  In 1939, she shot to international stardom as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz".

Frances Gumm was better known as JUDY GARLAND.

It was a rough and rocky road for the young girl who first entertained audiences at age two in her father's theatre.  Musical hits like "Meet Me in St. Louis", "The Harvey Girls" and "Easter Parade" kept her at the pinnacle of Hollywood stardom in the 1940s, even though she battled personal demons and drug addiction in her private life.  Today Garland is considered one of the great icons of 20th century American entertainment. 

The 36th Annual Judy Garland Festival will be held June 16-18  in Grand Rapids.  Her childhood home is a popular museum and can be visited. For additional information, call 1-800-664-5839 or visit the following website:  http://judynoplacelikehome.org

East Central Regional Library has a wide variety of materials pertaining to Garland that can be requested and checked out.

"Get Happy" by Gerald Clarke is the definitive biography, while "Me and My Shadows" by Lorna Luft is an enlightening, bittersweet memoir written by Judy's second daughter.

If you enjoy musicals, look no further than our DVD collection.  "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944) is a gentle, nostalgic look at a Midwestern family during the 1904 World's Fair.  Judy and Van Johnson play feuding music store clerks destined for romance "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949).  And in "A Star is Born" (1954), she gives the finest performance of her career as a young singer rising to stardom while her husband battles alcoholism.   Garland received her only Academy Award nomination as "Best Actress" for this film.

To find these materials -- and more, including music CDs -- visit the library's homepage:  www.ecrlib.org and click on "ECRL Catalog" on the upper left.  Then enter "Judy Garland" as a keyword search.

Staff are always willing to help or make suggestions!


Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

Library Online is open while branches are closed

East Central Regional Library branches are closed this week while we transfer our data to a new online library system. Just like road construction season, when sometimes the transportation department has to close a road in order to make major upgrades, we’ve closed all 14 of our branches in order to perform the migration of data. During this week, staff members are learning the new system so that when we re-open they’ll be ready to serve the public and help people use the new online catalog.

In truth, I think that many people will find that the new catalog is so user friendly that they will easily find what they need on their own. The menu screens are cleanly designed, and options are clearly described.

We’ve been testing the system for a couple months. All library records are transferring correctly, the hold lists are maintained, even fines and fees are transferred (sorry ).

In the meantime, all of our online resources are still available – our online branch never closes. For the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) – use this link to MnKnows.


Newsflash! Find Encyclopedia Britannica in 3 editions (Academic, Public Library, and School editions). Select the MnKnows box above > select "ELM" > select "Databases, alphabetically" from the left menu > find "Britannica . . . "

Please note that you won’t be able to request through MnLINK during this time, because MnLINK relies on the ECRL system to authenticate your library card.

While the ECRL branches are closed, you might find AskMN especially useful. At AskMN, you can contact a librarian (in real time) to get questions answered that you would usually ask someone at an ECRL branch. AskMN is ready to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.


Besides MnKnows, our other popular ECRL resources are still there: Chiltons, Learn a Test, NoveList -- find them here: http://www.ecrlib.org/database.html
The other resource provided by ECRL is Ancestry.com, which is only available in our branches (no remote access due to licensing restrictions).


We will re-open with our shiny new catalog the week of May 24th -- but then, we're really not completely closed!

Barbara Misselt, Director

82nd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

On the evening of March 7, 2010, the 82nd annual Academy Awards were presented at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was officially organized on May 4, 1927, but the first "Oscars" were not awarded until May 16, 1929. That evening, in the ballroom of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, "Wings" was named "Best Picture" of the year. Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor took home the acting prizes.

Fast forward 81 years. On March 7th the following winners were announced:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in "Inglorious Basterds"

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique in "Precious"

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker"

It was a night of firsts! Bullock, Waltz, and Mo'Nique were all first-time nominees, and Bigelow was the first woman in the history of the Academy Awards to receive the "Best Director" prize. Also, for the first time since 1943, ten films were nominated for "Best Picture".

Here are some fascinating facts about the Oscars:

Most Awards (11): "Ben-Hur", "Titanic", and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

Most Nominations (14): "All About Eve", "Titanic"

Most Awards - Acting (4): Katharine Hepburn

Most Nominations - Acting (16): Meryl Streep

East Central Regional Library has many Oscar-winning films on DVD and more are being added to the collection on a regular basis. Check our catalog!

The best book ever written about the Academy Awards is probably "80 Years of the Oscar" by Robert Osborne. It's located in the central reference collection at the Cambridge library for your enjoyment and perusal.

Bob Gray

Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

LOOKING FOR RELIABLE HEALTH INFO?

Did you know that East Central Regional Library maintains an extensive list of web sites that we use on a daily basis? Just check our "Reference Desk" page and click on "Web Links". There are many different categories! One of the most popular is Health & Medicine.

Here you'll find links to the American Medical Association, Medline Plus, WebMD, and the Mayo Clinic, among other reliable online resources. You can easily locate information on diseases, medical conditions, drugs, and specific health-related topics pertaining to children, men, women, and seniors.

The library also maintains outstanding print resources for your use, including:

"Mayo Clinic Family Health Book"

"Complete Guide to Prescription & Non-Prescription Drugs"

"American Medical Association Complete Medical Encyclopedia"

Please contact your nearest ECRL branch library for assistance with these and other library resources!

Bob Gray

Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

NOVELIST - Your Guide to Fiction !

As we move into the chilly, dark days and nights of January, there's nothing more rewarding than relaxing with a good book.

Many people come to the library to request the latest bestsellers or to browse the new books recently added to the collection. Others like to discuss their favorite authors with library staff and make recommendations.

Did you know that the NOVELIST database is available to all East Central Regional Library cardholders? It is your complete guide to fiction and can be used in the library, at home, or wherever you have access to a computer!

With NoveList you can search for books by author, title, or series. You may also limit your results to adults, teens, or children.

On the left side of the home page, you'll find links to "Author Read-alikes", "Award Winners", and "Recommended Reads". Are you interested in books similar to "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown"? Locate his entry under "Author Read-alikes". Who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction? You'll find the answer under "Award Winners". Would you like a list of historical fiction novels? Check "Recommended Reads"!

To access NoveList go to the ECRL homepage: http://www.ecrlib.org/

Then:

---Click on "Magazines & Databases" on the left

---Scroll down and click on the "NoveList" link.

You're in and can begin looking for that perfect novel!

Please feel free to contact your nearest ECRL branch library if you have questions or comments about NoveList. Staff are happy to assist!

Bob Gray

Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

THE ROAD to Cormac McCarthy

When No Country For Old Men won the Best Picture Academy Award in 2007 I told myself, "I must read Cormac McCarthy."

I didn't get around to it, however, until recently. I knew that All the Pretty Horses, volume one of "The Border Trilogy", had received both the 1992 National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Then The Road was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Last week I picked up The Road, thumbed through it, and noted the absence of quotation marks to indicate dialogue. Finding this somewhat distracting, I laid the book aside and turned to a different novel. Yesterday I picked up McCarthy's book again----and finished it this morning.

A man and his son, both unnamed, struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Possessed of meager provisions and a pistol with two bullets, the man convinces the boy that some kind of salvation exists near the sea. Through a blighted landscape of gray ash, dead trees, and chilling temperatures, the reader joins them on the road, encountering harrowing instances of debased humanity, cannibalism, and despair. The boy, who has never known any other life, seems, at times, touched by God, for he is ever aware of the fact that he and his father are the "good guys" who "carry the fire". Eventually the man succumbs to disease, starvation, and exposure---yet remains convinced that "Goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again."

The Road has been called both "a masterpiece" by Booklist and "a novel of horrific beauty" by Kirkus Reviews. I agree. The book, deceptively simple and straightforward, is devastating and reminds us that the world teeters on the edge of the abyss.

On June 5, 2007, McCarthy sat down with Oprah Winfrey for his first and only television interview. When asked about his writing, McCarthy said he prefers simple, direct sentences and refuses to muddy up his text with "weird little marks" (quotation marks). The video can viewed on Oprah's site: http://www.oprah.com/. Just enter his name in the "Search oprah.com" field on the upper right of the screen.

Directed by John Hillcoat, the film adaptation has just been released in theatres and is receiving generally favorable reviews. Viggo Mortensen, whom many will remember as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, plays the man.

East Central Regional Library owns all of McCarthy's works in various formats: regular print, large print, audio, VHS, and DVD. Access our homepage at http://www.ecrlib.org/ and click on "ECRL Catalog" if you'd like to request a specific item. Remember that library staff are a quick phone call away if you need assistance.

Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

JOB WORRIES? CHECK OUT THESE LEGAL RESOURCES!

Minnesota Dept. of Human Rights http://www.humanrights.state.mn.us/index.html -- Investigates charges of illegal discrimination under the Human Rights Act

EEOC (http://www.eeoc.gov/) -- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigates charges pertaining to employment discrimination

American Civil Liberties Union ( http://www.aclu.org/)-- National organization advocating individual rights, by litigating, legislating, and educating the public

The library has other sites of interest pertaining to legal issues and employment discrimination on our "Reference Links" page:

---Access the library homepage: http://www.ecrlib.org/

---Click on "Reference Desk" on the left, then "Web Links"

---Click on the "Legal Resources" link

If you need assistance, please feel free to contact your nearest ECRL branch library.

Although staff cannot offer legal advice or assistance, they can refer you to appropriate literature, reference books, websites, and other resources.

Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

FIND THAT PERFECT JOB - IT'S STILL POSSIBLE!

It's still possible to find that "perfect job", even in this economy. The library can help!

Check out the following books:

"Knock 'em Dead 2009: The Ultimate Job Search Guide" by Martin John Yate
"The Job Search Solution" by Tony Beshara
"60 Seconds & You're Hired" by Robin Ryan


Need help polishing up your resume or interview skills? Take a look at these:

"301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions" by Vicky Oliver
"Resumes for Dummies" by Joyce Kennedy
"No-Nonsense Resumes" by Wendy Enelow


There are many others. Search the ECRL catalog or ask your librarian for assistance. ECRL staff can also point out our "Web Links" page and the "LearningExpress Library" database.

There are many excellent internet sites that can help you in your job search.

---Go to the library homepage: http://www.ecrlib.org/
---Click on the "Reference Desk" link on the left
---Click on "Web Links", then "Employment"

Minnesota residents may want to pay particular attention to the following sites:

---"Minnesota Jobs"
---"Minnesota's Job Bank"
---"Workforce Centers"


The library also has access to a very helpful database: "LearningExpress Library".


With LearningExpress you can polish up your basic math, reading, writing, and grammar skills, take tests geared toward specific careers (military, nursing, civil service, teaching, law enforcement, and more), as well as get tips on effective interview techniques, job search strategies, and writing resumes.

---Go to the ECRL homepage: http://www.ecrlib.org/
---Click on "Magazines & Databases" on the left
---Scroll down to "Learning Express Library" and click on the blue "Learn A Test" link
---New users must click on "register". You can then create your own, confidential, account and add tests and courses to "My Center". You can use the database wherever you have access to a computer - home, work, school, or in the library.

Stop by your local ECRL branch library for an introduction to "Learning Express Library". We have a helpful brochure that will guide you through account setup and taking the online tests. Staff are happy to answer any questions you may have!

Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

Home Schooling Resources

Are you planning to homeschool? If so, you’re probably wondering what the Minnesota laws are concerning home education, the types of curriculum to use, and where you can go for support. Here are some helpful websites that will answer these important questions:

● A to Z Home’s Cool Homeschooling - Features laws, lesson plans, support groups, and community networking resources
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/Minnesota.htm

● National Home Education Network - Provides a wide array of information and resources for all styles of homeschooling
www.nhen.org

● ECHO (Early Childhood Homeschooling Opportunities) - An inclusive outreach group that helps connect families by setting up local support groups
www.echo-mn.org

● Jon’s Homeschool Resource Page - One of the largest and most popular collections of online homeschool resources
www.midnightbeach.com/hs

● Homeschool.com - A comprehensive resource for all aspects of home schooling
www.homeschool.com

Minnesota Home School Associations:

• Minnesota Homeschoolers' Alliance: www.homeschoolers.org

• Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators: www.mache.org

Don’t forget your local library! We have resources and materials available for all age groups. Contact us at 1-888-234-1293 (x16), or email us at ref@ecrlib.org.

Nancy Dunbar, Reference Assistant