Winter Blues?

If you are like me, the time from December until Spring Break can really drag on.  Bleary weather does not make for ideal traveling weather.  So what else is there?  Have you checked out all that is available at our local AF and Army libraries?  I recently went and found out I am definitely not utilizing all their resources.  As the librarian said, "It's so great, it is just like shopping on Amazon but without a cart or credit card".  Especially because you can search every library in Europe from the comfort of your home AND have it delivered directly to your nearest library.  They have an extensive collection of books, CD's, DVD's, audio books, travel books and videos, language software, magazines (which they get sooner than you do with your magazine subscription that comes to your mailbox) and much much MUCH more FOR FREE!!  Click on the links to peruse their collections, find out about programs for all ages of children and adults.  Warning: make sure you have time to waste, it will pull you in and never let you go!

USAFE library home page

Army Europe Library

Just this week I found out from the Army libraries (which you may already know) that you can download movies and TV shows as well as audio and written books from the Army website.  Did you also know that you can check out Nintendo DS, Playstation, XBox and Wii games?  They aren't the old ones either as I just requested the brand new Band Hero for Wii that they aren't even carrying in the BX yet (only Playstation and XBox) Also, they have updated their system to allow you to get an online user id and password which allows you to browse the entire Europe collection, make requests and assign a pickup location all from your home computer!  You have to have an account already that has an email that is not listed on other family members accounts.  Then you can assign a pin online and you are ready to go.

Here are a few other useful links:

Used Book Store at Ramstein  Did you know you can peruse their inventory online and if you find something you want you can put it in your shopping cart and they will pull if for you.  You can either pay online or pay in person.  Also, they run specials on their children's books every payday weekend AND this month all hardback fiction (including collectibles) are half off.

Military OneSource is a website with about a bazillion resources, all free, all for military.  Any question you have . . . any! . . . you can find the answer here from taxes to deployment issues to travel ideas.  They have 24/7 phone line for questions about anything.  Make sure you check out the kids section of the online library for culture grams and tumble books.  Recently I ordered over $60 worth of information material and booklets all for free, shipped to my APO address.  The handouts were very high quality and I was impressed!  Go here to see the all the resources available on this site.

And now that you have all this technology at your fingertips, how do you make sure you want that content to come into your home?  I use Common Sence Media, which shows detailed info on movie, book and CD content so that you can make an informed choice when it comes to entertainment.

What about you?  Any resources that you would like to share?  Add them to the comments and thanks for stopping by.