Knox County Public Library, Knoxville, TN

Hundreds of Knox Co. nonprofits may lose IRS status

On May 17, 2010 the IRS is set to revoke the 501c3 status of tax-exempt organizations if the organization has not filed tax returns for three years in a row. There are over 400 organizations in Knox County that may be impacted by this.

Once the status is revoked, the only way to reinstate the status is for the organization to reapply. This law was passed in 2006 but is just now coming in effect.

This will most likely impact small organizations that may not even be aware of the tax code change.

 

There is a database established by the National Center for Charitable Statistics where organizations can check their status:

http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/PubApps/990search.php?epostcard=1&state=TN

I set the location to Knox and checked the box to list only organizations in danger of revocation, and saw over 400 organizations.

 

Organizations can go to the IRS site to find out how to avoid this penalty. ( http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=217087,00.html ).

Knoxvillian Found

The latest Knoxvillian Found is Ken Block, the project manager for the first LEED Gold Standard homes in the state of TN, all seven of which are in the Park City neighborhood.

Brown Bag Green Book

Join us on Tuesday, February 2nd at 12 p.m. in the East Tennessee History Center Auditorium, 601 S. Gay Street for an informative panel discussion of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water by Maude Barlow. We'll feature a panel of experts including Renee Hoyos from the Tennessee Clean Water Network, Joanne Logan of the Department of Environmental and Soil Sciences at the University of Tennessee, and Tiffany Foster from TVA.

This program is part of a special film, lecture and discussion series presented in partnership with the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Institute for a Secure and Sustainability Environment.

Learn more here.

Brown Bag Green Book

Join us Wednesday, October 28 at 12 p.m. in the East Tennessee History Center Auditorium, 601 S. Gay Street. Pat Hudson, Director of the Lindquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship (LEAF), and Dawn Coppock, Legislative Director of LEAF, will lead a discussion of Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal by Silas House and Jason Howard.

"This book is directly relevant for all Tennesseans," Hudson says. "We are at a crossroads-we have a choice. In Kentucky and West Virginia, so many mountains have been lost forever, but we can still decide to protect our mountains."

Learn more here.

2 Great Brown Bag Opportunities this Wednesday, April 8, 12 p.m.

Brown Bag Green Book
The series continues at a new location: the Market House Room of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce at #17 Market Square. Elizabeth Eason, Principal Architect at Elizabeth Eason Architecture, will discuss the book Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Reading the book is optional; bring your own lunch or order in advance and pick up lunch from a downtown restaurant.


Stories Torn from the Pages of Time
"The year 1875 provided plenty of grist for Knoxville newspapers," says local historian Robert Booker, "with a mix of good news and bad." This was the year the Gay Street Bridge blew down, a sensational murder trial and subsequent public gripped the community, and Knoxville College was established. Booker will discuss these and other stories he has uncovered while scanning the pages of Knoxville history. Booker is a columnist with the Knoxville News Sentinel, the author of Two Hundred Years of Black Culture in Knoxville, 1791-1991, a former member of the Tennessee Legislature, and a current Knoxville City Councilman. The lecture is at the East Tennessee History Center, and is free and open to the public. Visitors are invited to bring a bag lunch.

Human Rights and Reform in China: The 2009 Wilman Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture

Friends of the Library will present Minky Worden, Knoxville native and long-time observer of contemporary life in China, at the 2009 Wilma Dykeman Stokely Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, March 24, 7:30 p.m. at the East Tennessee History Center. Worden is the Media Director of Human Rights Watch, where she works with journalists to help them cover crises, wars, human rights abuses and political developments in over 70 countries. She'll be speaking on "Human Rights and Reform in China: A Look at Global Consequences," from her recent book China's Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges. For more information, please contact 215-8775.

Facebook is Hot--Email is Not

Facebook now claims over 175 million users worldwide, and it's gaining a million new users every week. With the ability to link elementary school friends with current colleagues, it brings new meaning to keeping in touch. But what does it all mean? On Monday, March 9 at 6 p.m. at Lawson McGhee Library, join Dr. Trena Paulus, assistant professor of educational pyschology and research at UT, and Melissa Brenneman, reference librarian at Lawson McGhee Library, for a two-hour workshop that explores social networking from a variety of angles including a tour of features and applications, its history and uniqueness. The discussion will also look at issues of privacy, identity, trust and relationships. For more information, please call 215-8767.

Brown Bag, Green Book

Knox County Public Library and the City of Knoxville are bringing a new Lunch and Learn series to downtown Knoxville called "Brown Bag - Green Book" with a focus on the important topic of sustainability. Each program will feature a prominent Knoxvillian talking about a timely "green book" with a particular look at how ideas in the book are relevant to issues of sustainability in East Tennessee.

Mike Edwards, CEO and President of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce will launch the series on Wednesday, March 11 at 12 p.m. in the Café 4 Conference Room as he discusses Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman.

The public is invited to join the conversation each month, but is not required to read the books to attend. Participants may bring their own lunch or order in advance from Cafe 4 or another downtown restaurant.

Help for Teens Coping With School Violence

Take a minute to check out How to Deal--part of Teen Central dedicated to resources to help teens navigate the aftermath of a traumatic or violent experience and to build skills to prevent future violence. You can find information ranging from how to control anger to how to cope with grief. Looking for something in particular? Contact our reference desk for even more resources.