Blog Post
Affordable Care Act
by sherlonya
For those looking for more information about the Affordable Care Act and associated changes, the government offers healthcare.gov as the one stop shopping point. Beginning today, October 1, people seeking healthcare can go there to explore options. While they are encouraging people to begin at the site, there is a toll free number people can use to ask questions: 1-800-318-2596.
Consumer reports has published a booklet called, "Health Reform: Seven Things You Need to Know Now." This booklet aims to help people understand the changes brought about by health care reform. This booklet is also available in Spanish as "Reforma del Sistema de Salud: 7 cosas que necesita saber ahora." The Michigan eLibrary pulled together some resources to help Michiganders understand changes in health care law. AARP has also compiled several factsheets that explain how the Affordable Care Act affects different groups of the population.
Finally, AADL is offering an event called How the Affordable Care Act Affects You on October 2, 7:00-8:30 in the Multipurpose Room at the Downtown Library. This program is intended to provide community members age 64 and under with the information and resources to correctly navigate the decisions that must be made in order to comply with new healthcare laws.
Blog Post
Financial Awareness for Older Adults
by iralax
As adults over 55 with low income and disabilities strive to stay in their homes, the threat of theft, fraud, and other forms of financial exploitation increase. To become more educated about this, they, their caregivers and service agencies who assist them, Michigan Ability Partners (MAP) is offering training to increase financial management skills. This is made possible by a grant from The Anna Botsford Bach Fund for Seniors at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. MAP will promote this service through the organizations in the Washtenaw Elder Justice Coalition. For more information call Misty Hendershot, MAP Payee Supervisor at 734-975-6880.
Blog Post
Bus riders! TransitTime + has added AATA's The Ride to its app
by sernabad
The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority just announced that the award-winning app, TransitTimes + has added Ann Arbor to its list of more than 50 cities that provide details about their transportation modes to this popular app.
Now you can easily locate The Ride's bus schedules, the location of your particular bus and its arrival time, or map out and save a route to a new location.
To see how easy this app is to use, check out TransitTimes' YouTube channel here.
For more information about this app and to see the growing list of U.S. and international cities being added all the time, click here.
Blog Post
Bankruptcy-Not the End of the World: Thurs Feb. 23rd 6:30 pm
by cecile
What do Thomas Jefferson, PT Barnum, Walt Disney and Henry Ford have in common? If you guessed bankruptcy, you are spot on.
If consumer bankruptcy is something you are considering, come to the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library this Thursday, February 23rd at 6:30pm, and get answers to your questions.
Local Attorney Greg L. Dodd will explain everything about the bankruptcy process including: how it works and how you may qualify; what debts are wiped out and which ones are not; what happens when a house is foreclosed on; what information you need to provide to start a bankruptcy case; the costs of filing bankruptcy; and how bankruptcy affects your credit.
This past January, the American Journal of Medicine released the most recent data available and found that 62% of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were tied to medical expenses. This shocking data is from before the recession really began to take hold in 2008.
Even with the changes in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, bankruptcy in the U.S. is still an opportunity for a fresh start and not the end of the road. The library has many bankruptcy resources to help navigate these difficult waters.
Blog Post
Wanted by AAPD: Unwanted RXs
by Debbie G.
On April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the City of Ann Arbor Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. This Special Collection will be held at the Ann Arbor Justice Center at 301 E. Huron St., 2nd floor. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Blog Post
Prevent Grandparents Scam
by iralax
All grandparents should know about a recent telephone scam that tries to persuade them to send thousands of dollars to their distressed grandchildren. Michigan’s Attorney General Mike Cox provides information on how to avoid this deception. Everyone wants to help family in trouble, but it's important to know who you're sending money to. Sid Kirchheimer’s book and his AARP Bulletin column Scam Alert will inform you how to handle many rip-offs out there.
Blog Post
More Energy Meters Available!
by Beth Manuel
Are you curious about how much energy your appliances are using? You can borrow one of our 19 Energy Meters to find out. The City of Ann Arbor has given AADL 7 meters for our patrons to use. You can borrow these kits for 4 weeks or longer if there are no holds on them. Need to research new appliances? Nothing beats Consumer Reports for unbiased information about products on the market. Even better: You can access this info from home with your aadl log in by going to our Research Page and clicking on Magazine articles!
Blog Post
More Energy Meters Available!
by Beth Manuel
Are you curious about how much energy your appliances are using? You can borrow one of our Energy Meters to find out. The City of Ann Arbor has given AADL 7 new meters for our patrons to use. You can borrow these kits for 4 weeks or longer if there are no holds on them. Need to research new appliances? Nothing beats Consumer Reports for unbiased information about products on the market. Even better: You can access this info from home with your aadl log in by going to our Research Page and clicking on Magazine articles!
Blog Post
A Helping Hand from the State of Michigan
by Debbie G.
Michigan citizens have a new one-stop site for assistance with job searching, job training, health care, unemployment benefits, housing, family support and much more at Helping Hand. The site is easy to navigate and gets you quickly to the right state agency. Looking to improve your job-seeking closer to home? The Library's One Hour to Better Resumes class offers hands-on training for print and online resumes. Then proceed to our One Hour to Better Cover Letters and Employer Research and One Hour to Better Job Interviews with Manpower classes for a job search makeover!
Blog Post
Don't be a victim to Fraud!
by french_film_grl
The Better Business Bureau has released a DVD titled Know fraud: don't be a victim to show us all how NOT to fall prey to common schemes of fraud. In this Dvd you will learn about common telemarketing and mail frauds. You will learn why these scams work, and how con artist pick their potential victims. This Dvd will discuss all the red flags to look for when dealing with the public so you can be on the lookout for fraud.