April 15th is fast approaching.  How are your taxes coming? If you need assistance the folks at AARP are here to help.

The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide offers free, individualized tax preparation for low-to moderate-income taxpayers – especially those 60 and older – at nearly 6,000 locations nationwide.  Find a location near you. 

See below for BPL Locations:

Hyde Park Branch
35 Harvard Ave
Hyde Park, MA  02136-2831
E-filing Status: Yes
Contact Telephone: (617) 361-2524
Handicap Accessible: Yes
Site Schedule: Mon 12:15PM-5:00PM
Appointment: Appointment Required

Interested in taking some free online courses at MIT?  Surf on over to their OpenCourseWare site.  Here you’ll find classes on a range of topics with materials from over 2,150 courses.

A sample list of classes from their Entrepreneurship Section:

• Inventions and Patents
• Early Stage Capital
• Entrepreneurial Finance
• Entrepreneurial Marketing

You’ll also find a list of MIT-hosted videos relating to entrepreneurship.

You can also check out Kirstein’s selection of Entrepreneurship titles from our catalog.

According to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation $18.6 billion will be spent on Valentine’s Day this year with the average consumer spending $130.97 on items such as candy, cards, flowers and jewelry.   

Breakdown by item purchased:

• 51.% candy
• 36.6% flowers
• 19.7% jewelry
• 15.6% clothing
• 15% gift cards

Download their complete survey results.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Thirty-five years ago this week, President Carter declared parts of Rhode Island and coastal Massachusetts federal disaster areas.  The National Guard was brought in for the clean-up.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,  the Red Cross reported 73 deaths and 4324 injuries or illnesses attributed to the storm in Massachusetts and 26 deaths and 232 injuries or illnesses in Rhode Island.

Three thousand cars and 500 trucks were stranded on Route 128 in Massachusetts.

There were $500 million in damages in Massachusetts an $15 million in Rhode Island.

Here is the  Blizzard of 1978 Revisited slide show from the National Weather Service in Taunton.

For more information on the blizzard, check out:

The Blizzard of ’78
Tougias, Michael (Book – 2003)

Greater Boston’s Blizzard of 1978
Earls, Alan R. (Book – 2008)

Storm of the Century: New England’s Great Blizzard of ’78
Haraden, Christopher J. (Book – 2003)