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For the month of February, several of the neighborhood libraries are hosting an arts and crafts program inspired by the women of Gee's Bend and their famous quilts. Children will create their own quilt pattern using cut paper and other art supplies while they learn about these famous women and the historical significance of their quilts. This program is for children ages 5-12. Advanced registration is not necessary. Children and their parents may simply come into any of the participating libraries to create works of art based on the beautiful quilts of Gee's Bend.

Looking for a new job? Wanting to change careers? About to finish school and wondering what to do next?

The WISCareers database is here to help you. It is a fun and easy tool that lets you explore your career development options.

Through WISCareers you can investigate more than 700 occupations and 4,000 schools of interest by taking on-line assessments and inventories. Information on careers includes job requirements, education path, salaries, outlook, and more.

You can also find financial aid, scholarship, and budgeting information, or research potential employers or apprenticeships throughout Wisconsin and the U.S.

This database also features a Resume Maker and a Cover Letter Writer that can help all job seekers.

Access WISCareers by going to MPL's Web site, select Research Resources, then All Library Databases. You can also access WISCareers from home with your City of Milwaukee library card.

Read the true story I'm about to tell you and then visit a historical marker placed upon hallowed ground, just east of Johnsons Park at N. 17th St. and W. Fond du Lac Avenue. The marker refers to a farmhouse owned by the brave Milwaukee abolitionist Rev. Samuel Brown that was used as a safe haven by runaway slaves, the first of whom being Caroline Quarrells, one of my favorite heroines of all time.

As the story goes, Caroline was fifteen or sixteen years old in the summer of 1842, six years before Wisconsin became a state. She sewed and embroidered while waiting on her demanding St. Louis mistress hand and foot. One day in a capricious fit of pique, the mistress decided to cut off all of Caroline's beautiful long hair. As any self-respecting female can imagine, this was adequate motivation to get the heck out of town. Somehow this illiterate plucky teenager saved $100, threw a bundle of her clothes out of the window, and took off for the Mississippi to board a steamboat for Alton, Illinois. From there, abolitionists snuck her on a stagecoach bound for Milwaukee.

Constantly pursued by bounty hunters, Caroline was hidden by the courageous Rev. Brown in Milwaukee and then spirited away to Pewaukee, Waukesha, Spring Prairie, and parts north. In early September of 1842, Caroline crossed safely to freedom in a town established by escaped slaves called Sandwich, Ontario. After her crossing, Caroline began to cry, asking if it was possible that she had been tricked and taken back to Missouri because it appeared to her as if she were on the banks of the Mississippi, opposite St. Louis. Eventually she was convinced that she was indeed safe and free. She settled in and learned how to read, married happily three years later, and was instrumental in building the first black Baptist church in Sandwich.

Want to read more about the plucky Caroline? Check out Black Pioneers: An Untold Story by William Loren Katz or any number of other MPL titles about the Underground Railroad.

Celebrate Black History Month--it's all around you.

On February 3, 1959, musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed when their chartered plane crashed a few minutes after takeoff on a flight from Mason City to Moorehead, Minnesota. Peggy Sue, Chantilly Lace, and La Bamba were some of the songs that went down in history that day, along with the ill-fated flight. In 1972, singer Don McClean memorialized the trio in "American Pie." To learn more about this chapter in American music history, check out The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens.

The Oscar nominations for 2010 have been released. While there are still 33 days to go before the award winners will be announced, now is a good time to get acquainted with the movies on the list.

Check out CountyCat to see which of the movies on the list are currently available and place a hold to get a copy as soon as possible!

Which movies, actors, actresses, etc. do you think have the best shots of winning their categories?

February is Black History Month! Did you know that Black History Month is celebrated in February to honor the births Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass? Celebrate Black History Month by following Milwaukee Public Library's chronology of important people, events and resources of African-American history. You can check the chronology daily though February 28. Also, check out the library catalog to find more books and DVDs about the history of African Americans.

Three of MPL's neighborhood libraries are offering book clubs next month. Check out the selections and join the discussion!