Library Card

The Wheel Deal"So You Want to Make a Car" examines the auto industry inside out, giving you a glimpse into the world of cars, from the Ford Model T to the Porsche 911. Shift into high gear and head to http://www.ipl.org/autou/ where you'll join Eddie and Cathie on a tour of the Chrysler Sterling Heights Plant in Michigan. You'll watch welders, glass installers and body shop experts ply their trades on the assembly line. The site also provides cool movie clips, photos and links to sites dedicated to racecars, solar cars, antique cars and more.

Don't forget using the library to help save a little money Maryland libraries rank among the best in the country. You pay for them. Now get your money's worth. The movies you rent. The books you buy for $25 and $35 apiece. The video games costing $50 and more. Barney DVDs. They're often at the library, in most cases for free. The Baltimore County Public Library might be exaggerating when it estimates you can save $2,432 a year by using your library card instead of your VISA card. (It figures adults spend $450 a year just on books.

While on vacation last week, I stumbled on one of the most pleasant library settings imaginable: Bryant Park , swath of green behind the main branch of the New York Public Library . Among the trees on the northern end of the park are book carts and tables, creating the perfect setting for a day of reading -- even when temperatures were in the mid-90s. If I hadn't been on a tight sight-seeing schedule, I would have loved to sit down with a book or magazine for an hour in the Bryant Park Reading Room.

Hey, what's that beep? Cell phone? Pager? Watch alarm? No, it's your wallet -- you left your Visa card back at the store.Yes, the beeping wallet, technology's latest effort to save us from ourselves. It works like this: Remove a credit card from your wallet, it beeps. One beep, like when the microwave has the Lean Cuisine ready. If the card isn't back in the wallet within 20 seconds, it beeps again, three times.This beeping continues intermittently until your card is safely back in the wallet or until five minutes have passed, whichever comes first.

If you have a library card and a personal computer, the world's libraries can be yours.Students can research term papers without ever leaving home -- no more asking parents for a ride to the library, waiting for a computer when you get there or standing in line to check out books.People without easy access to transportation can scan computer listings to find out whether the latest best-seller they want to read is on the shelf and avoid wasted trips to the library.Researchers can tap into articles in Time, Newsweek or 100 other magazines and print out the articles for future reference.

The audio version of the historical novel Master and Commander lists for $49.95 in its unabridged form. But last week Bob Hammond of Manhattan Beach, Calif., downloaded it off the Internet free. Hammond is no hacker or identity thief. He simply has a library card. Public libraries have long offered audio books on cassette tapes and CDs that can be checked out, but now they can be downloaded directly to home computers. In Maryland, anyone with a public library card from the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore or the public library systems of surrounding suburban counties can download audio books by entering the patron's name and library card number on the Web site of the Maryland Digital eLibrary Consortium and then selecting the desired books.

Kindergartner Madi Costigan stood on her tiptoes at the desk of the Miller Branch library, reaching up to hand the librarian a picture book and her library card. Regular patrons waited in line while Madi and her Worthington Elementary kindergarten class checked out books, many of the children doing so for the first time. The students were visiting Miller as part of a partnership between the Howard County Library and public school kindergartens. The field trips draw children and their families to the library, but also teach students map reading and literacy skills.

The administrative offices of the Baltimore County government are in the Old County Courthouse, 400 Washington Ave., Towson 21204. You can get answers to general government questions by calling 410-887-0000 or online at www.baltimore countyonline.info. The county's Web site has a guide to county agencies and services, and residents may pay parking tickets, report potholes or e-mail the county executive online. Baltimore County police In case of emergency, call 911. For nonemergencies and for police department information, call 410-887-2222.

Their eyes on store windows or on their small children, passers-by at Towson Town Center mall seemed to take little notice yesterday of the kiosk near one of the escalators -- despite the flashing computer screen, keyboard and telephone receiver.But the $35,000 device, which looks like a bank machine, may be a glimpse of the county library system's future.Starting today, mall patrons can, by merely touching the screen, call any county library or county office, apply for a library card, reserve a book or check its availability, and get information on anything from their favorite chocolate candy to the latest Consumer Reports article on something they want to buy.Access to the Internet is free, too, and library officials say it's the first such public device in Maryland to offer free graphic Internet access.

Like many 8-year-olds, Lindsey Frank has no idea where she wants to go to college. But her love of books has helped her win $50,000 to help pay for any school she chooses.The third-grader from Chatsworth School in Reisterstown was the national grand prize winner in the Prudential JumpStart sweepstakes.Winning was as easy as filling out the entry card inside JumpStart magazine -- a publication circulated to students through schools and libraries -- and returning it to her local library.With her parents, her 6-year-old sister Alyssa and other family members looking on, the youngster shyly accepted a ceremonial check yesterday at the Baltimore County Library's Reisterstown branch where she turned in her winning entry card.