AARP Driver Safety Program

New River Library will be hosting a 2 day AARP Driver Safety Program on October 14th and 15th from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. This class is a refresher course for drivers age 50 and many insurance companies provide a discount to people who complete the class. More information about the AARP Driver Safety Program can be found here. Registration is requested for this class. To register for the class, please call (813) 780-9168.

[New River Library is located at 34043 S. R. 54, Zephyrhills, FL.]

National Grandparent's Day

National Grandparents Day is the first Sunday after Labor Day, which is September 7th this year. President Jimmy Carter added this celebration in 1978. Marion H. McQuade first championed the idea for this celebration and her descendants created a nonprofit organization, the National Grandparents Day Council. The organization website states:

"Our goals are to honor grandparents and to strengthen
the bond between grandparents and grandchildren.
Additionally, we strive to draw compassionate attention
to the eldest of society's elderly--those in nursing homes."

New River Library is having a Grandparent's Day program on Saturday, September 6th from 2:00pm -4:00pm. There will be Wii video games, activities for children and their grandparents, and refreshments.

[New River Library address: 34043 State Road 54, Zephyrhills, Fl.]

New Genealogy Website

Would you like to chart your family tree? There is a new free website called Geni, which helps you to create your family tree. In addition, it offers social networking features, so that family members can collaborate to create the family tree. One can also add family pictures or videos to share with family or friends. To protect your privacy, you can set the account to allow access only to family members. People are using the website to find out more about their distant relatives and even to plan family reunions.

[This information was found via the a post by Michelle Boule on the ALA Techsource Blog.]

New Online Job Search for Adults 50+

AARP and RetirementJobs.com have formed a partnership to provide a free job search website for adults 50 years or older. One can search for full time, part time, or flexible jobs. A recent press release from AARP stated that "RetirementJobs.com and AARP will identify employers that maintain policies, practices and programs consistent with employment of people age 50 and older based solely on their proficiency, qualifications and contribution." AARP also provides a free online discussion group about career issues, called "The Water Cooler".

New Social Security Retirement Estimator

The Social Security Administration has just recently provided online access to a retirement benefits calculator. This calculator "is tied to a person’s actual Social Security earnings record and eliminates the need to manually key in years of earnings information." (Mark Lassiter, press release). This calculator is easy to use and can be used to compare retirement options. It gives expected benefits, based on different ages of retirement. Click here for the benefits calculator.

Windows Vista Information

Are you considering buying a new computer? Most new computers come with the Windows Vista operating system. There are some changes from the older Windows XP operating system. Here are some new titles about the Windows Vista operating system for Seniors:

Windows Vista for Seniors: for the over 50s


Switching to Windows Vista for Seniors

Internet and E-mail for Seniors with Windows Vista



Photos, Video and Music for Seniors with Windows Vista

If you would prefer to buy a new computer with the older Windows XP operating system, there is an article by Christopher Null from PCWorld about how to accomplish this task. The article is called "What does it take to get a PC with XP?"

Tips on Home Repair Fraud

Richard Zutell of AARP will be giving a talk at the Hudson Regional Library on July 17th at 2:00pm. This presentation will give advice about how to pick an honest contractor. If you would like to attend this presentation, you can register for the program by calling Hudson Library at (727) 861-3040.


[Hudson Regional Library is located at 8012 Library Road, Hudson FL]