L Frank Baum was born on this day in 1859. He was a prolific writer of children's stories in the early 20th century with 60 books published. Of course, he is best known as the author of The Wonderful Wizard of OZ (published in 1899) and thirteen more OZ stories. His modern American fairy tale of Kansas farm girl, Dorothy Gale, and her adventures in the Land of OZ were immensely popular and inspired the classic 1939 movie with Judy Garland as well as a 1970's musical, The Wiz, and the most recent movie version, OZ, the Great and Powerful. There have also been numerous spin-offs and continuation of the OZ stories. Most popular may be the novel and musical show, Wicked.

Generally a March visit to Columbia would be a spring time treat unless, of course, you are shot to death in the Jefferson Hotel cafeteria. Bell Captain John Bassard easily recalled March 8, 1940 when a "black clad and heavily veiled" woman entered the cafeteria and shot 58 year old Isabella Burleson. Isabella was having a late lunch with her husband, Richard, when Maisie Walker Burleson, first wife of Richard, "pumped two .45 slugs" into her back and chest.

In 1920, the Jefferson Hotel hired 19-year-old John Bassard for a bellboy position. Over time, Bassard became the Bell Captain and stayed with the Jefferson until it was demolished in 1968.  During his employment he witnessed a murder and assisted famous guests like Jack Dempsey, Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert Kennedy. 

Columbians, attired in “smart evening dress”, celebrated the opening of the Jefferson Hotel on May 13, 1913.  The city was anticipating a thoroughly modern hotel from the rathskellar in the basement to the electric sign on the roof.  The $250,000 complex, at 1800 Main St., was owned, operated and built by John Cain. Cain also built the Palmetto Building and the Arcade.

Oh, to be in Austin right now! 

What a year for animation! This year's Oscar race may be too close to call. Brave just won the Golden Globe, but I still think Tim Burton's Frankenweenie might have a chance (it would be Tim Burton's first Oscar). Checkout the nominees with us and make your own prediction!  Make sure to catch the Oscars on Sunday, February 24 to see who takes home the big prize.

It doesn’t have to be snowing or super cold outside to enjoy fantastic Winter Reads. Our teen collection features great winter and holiday titles that are both frightful and delightful.   Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is a fabulous book. The title alone makes me want to grab a warm blanket.  You might also enjoy Phantoms in the Snow by Kathleen Benner Duble. 

For my summer vacation I traveled to upstate New York for R & R and a genealogy road-trip. This year I left all my papers, notebooks, pencils and pens at home and relied on my IPad as a research tool. It was awesome companion. I discovered that my iPad was all I needed. Here are my top ten reasons for using a tablet as a genealogy research tool.

I feel like I’ve mastered the concept of saving money. Like Suze Orman recommends in The Money Class, I live beneath my means and any money that I don’t spend by the end of the month, I put it into a savings account and pretend like it doesn’t exist unless a financial emergency arises. Saving is one way to build wealth, slowly, but I’m quite comfortable with that. When I think about other ways to make my money work for me, I always get terrified when I hear these two phrases: STOCKS and WALL STREET!