Sol Yurick was one of many authors who passed away last year. Read more about Child Warriors

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved the challenge of finding things hidden on the printed page. Read more about Find Momo

A lot of things turned 50 this year. My mom, for one. Read more about Look Who's Fifty!

The past year has seen some really interesting developments in the world of country music. While modern country radio continues to rely on Nashville and the large labels for content, a small but growing movement of independent artists have been creating compelling, original, and authentic country music outside of this system. Most of these artists look back to earlier forms that don't rely on modern convention. Although this has been happening for years (No depression/Americana/ Modern bluegrass for example), this last year has seen some especially stellar releases. Read more about Great Country Music at The Urbana Free Library!

Many of you are already familiar with our readers’ database NoveList Plus, which provides recommendations, summaries, read-alikes, series and other useful information about thousands of fiction and nonfiction print titles.

NoveList Plus has just enhanced its offerings and has added recommendations for more than 30,000 audiobooks--both fiction and nonfiction. Read more about NoveList Plus: Fiction, Nonfiction AND Audiobooks!

              Read more about The 811: What is Found There

Have you ever wanted to start a craft project, but never knew where to begin? Read more about BIBLIOCraft

To celebrate Jazz as an American art form, the Smithsonian Institute has designated April as Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). The Urbana Free Library takes pride in holding a broad and deep collection of jazz, as well as rock, pop, blues, folk, country, classical, international, and soundtrack (music and show) genres. To help you dig deeper into this extensive collection, try these specific searches: Read more about Jazz Appreciation Month

  Read more about The Public Library: A Photographic Essay

I don’t know about you, but I loved my older computer with its Windows XP interface. I hung on to the bitter end, until Windows XP became obsolete. Now I’m faced with having to learn a whole new way of computing.

If you’re like me, you’ll want some help discovering the ins and outs of the newest Windows versions--Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. The Urbana Free Library has a collection of informative books that cover the basics of these newer operating systems. Read more about Bye, bye, Windows XP