It never fails. Every day I receive a call from a family member that starts “I know you’re at work, but I need to know…” If I’m lucky, it’s one of my sisters.  If not, it’s my dad, who after a five minute inquisition by me still hasn’t  said what information he wants (the age old male communication deficiency we won’t get into here).  This month alone, I’ve fielded:

- Who’s the cute guy in Inglorious Basterds and I don’t mean Brad Pitt?
- What’s the plot of The Prince by Machiavelli because I’m not going to finish by October?
- You want that tree moved—how do I fix the chainsaw?
- My Gym magazine article summary is due tomorrow.  Can you find an easy one?
- What’s on the SAT, again?
- Can you find 3 journal articles for my MBA wellness plan paper?
- Stuart Woods isn’t writing fast enough, so who else can I read?
- What’s the phone number for that barber in town (no name given of course)?
- Peter Pan must be in the Disney vault.  Does the library have it?
- Men and communication—what gives?

This weekend, my sister (the one working on the MBA wellness paper) actually asked me to show her where to start.  All you need is this link:  http://www.cecil.ebranch.info/digital-library/online-resources/ and your library card.  In about five minutes, we found all she needed in the Health and Wellness Resource Center.  “Wait, that was easy—why am I calling you?” she said.

She’s right – all my “questions of the month” were answered using the library’s online resources.  Check out the links above to see where. You’ll need your library card number.  Now my secret is out – librarians really don’t know it all, they just know where and how to find it. Maybe my phone will ring less, but I doubt it, there’s still my father…

What’s the strangest/”stupidest” question you’ve never found the answer to?

Halloween is fast approaching and we’re planning fun activities for everyone.

For adults, check out our spooky book discussion on the creepy short stories of Edgar Allan Poe. We’ll also be commemorating Mr. Poe’s birthday and death with an intriguing look at his final days with this stellar program.

Teens can check out a special teen-only viewing of the eerie movie  Coraline!

For kids, we have special Halloween StoryTimes, plus special programs like the Monster Mash and Trick or Treat at the Library.

But what’s so cool about Halloween anyway?  Is it the costumes, spooky houses, scary movies or candy?  Well, in my opinion it has to be the candy.  Candy is center stage of the Halloween holiday.  My favorite is an Almond Joy bar – which, by the way, didn’t even make the list.

We did a little poll and the top ten candies according to our local library taste bud sources are:

1.    Snickers
2.    Nerds
3.    Tootsie Rolls
4.    Life Savers
5.    M & Ms
6.    Reese’s Pieces
7.    Twizzlers
8.    Butterfinger
9.    Skittles
10. Candy Corn

What’s your favorite Halloween candy?  What is the candy that you will sneak out of your child’s Trick-or-Treat bag? Post your comment!