Rock Island, IL: The Rock Island Public Library will host a screening and discussion by Heritage Documentaries on Thursday, May 23 of "The Rock Island Civil War Prison: Andersonville of the North?" The screening starts at 6:30 pm in the Community Room of the Rock Island Main Library, 401 19^th Street. The event is free and open to the public.

The 30-minute documentary tells the story of the Rock Island Confederate prison camp using dramatic photos and other high-definition images.  It documents the life of prisoners using their own words from diaries and letters and demonstrates that the death rate at Rock Island was much lower than the astonishing death rate at Andersonville Prison in Georgia. The title, "Andersonville of the North," is derived from a passage in Margaret Mitchell's literary classic, Gone with the Wind.

Writers/directors Ed Isenberg and Ezra Sidran will be present to discuss the production and answer questions. The documentary is also available on DVD.

For more news about Rock Island Public Library events, visit www.rockislandlibrary.org, call 309-732-7323 (READ) or follow the Rock Island Library on Facebook and Twitter. A monthly calendar of library events is available online and at Rock Island Library locations.

This is the first novel of its kind because its storyline centers on volunteer firefighters and emergency medical service personnel and not on the paid departments.

Scotrun, PA-- Tom Ward has a new book out, The Volunteer, just released by Cambridge Books whose advanced copies are available on Amazon.com.

In 1983, in war-torn Lebanon, Robert J. Doyle ordered the complete destruction of an unsuspecting village. As he walked through the carnage later, he vowed one day he would somehow pay off the loss of innocent lives.

Later, Doyle decides to become a volunteer firefighting paramedic. He feels that with each life and property he helps to save; he makes a payment on his debt. For years, as Doyle responds to his community's calls for help he ignores his own needs. To counteract flashbacks brought on by burnout, Doyle uses alcohol to keep going. Still, the memories of the destruction and dead villagers compel him to respond.

The Volunteer centers on one man's struggle with to find inner peace. And examines the question of what compels volunteers to respond no matter what time of day or night, to sacrifice their time, financial resources, their talents, and even their lives in the service of their communities.

"I am ecstatic at this time to finally have 'The Volunteer' published after all these years," said Tom Ward. "For the past 20 years this story has always been important to me because it shows one man's reason why he volunteers to serve his community. But his is only one reason out of 800,000 other reasons of those who serve their respective communities.

Hollywood always makes movies and TV series about the Paid Departments and not once ventured to portray the volunteer firefighter or emergency medical service personnel. These men and women willingly place themselves and everything they hold dear into harm's way for their communities and don't expect anything in return not even a thank you.

Hollywood's neglect and that of other authors was and always has been my motivation to get my novel published for it tells of one volunteer's reason why he is willing to risk it all for his community."

Cambridge Books is a small press located in Cambridge, MD.

"We are very proud to have published The Volunteer by Tom Ward," said Arline Chase, publisher. "We are a small company and choose our books carefully. We only publish work from writers we feel are talented and have a lot to offer."

Tom has a trilogy, The Volunteer, Volunteers: A Breed Apart which he is editing and Station 1260-1270 which he hopes to finish.

Tom Ward enjoys meeting fellow volunteers both firefighters and emergency medical service personnel, and may be contacted by e-mail at tmwardjr@gmail.com.

Join director Luis Argueta for a special sneak preview of his moving documentary, "abUSed: The Postville Raid" at Rozz Tox on May 10 at 8pm.

Iowa Public TV will air the film on the fifth anniversary of the raid, May 12 (check your local listings), but join us Friday, May 10 at 8pm, for a special screening and chance to meet the award-winning director and immigration activist Luis Argueta.

abUSed: The Postville Raid has received both critical acclaim and broad praise from communities across the country.  The film has been screened at over 200 venues, including colleges, law schools, immigration and workers' conferences, faith-based communities and at the OIM/CMS Conference on Irregular Migration for the UN Permanent Delegates in NYC. It has been an official entry in 16 international film festivals, receiving the Best Documentary Audience Award at CINEMASSÍ Film Festival in Finland (2012).

For additional information please contact Luis Argueta at luisarguetaa@gmail.com or 646.418.3599 or Adam Burke at atomburke@gmail.com or 319.331.6638.

Comic Book Brings Unique Approach to Financial Education into Classrooms and Homes Across the Country

Foster City, CA - May 3, 2013 - Free Comic Book Day is the first Saturday in May each year - when comic book shops across around the world give away comic books free to anyone who comes into their stores. Marvel Comics and Visa Inc. have teamed up to create an enormously popular financial literacy comic book called Avengers: Saving The Day.  Combining Marvel's iconic characters, including the Avengers and Spider-Man, with Visa's financial literacy expertise, this comic introduced children to basic money concepts.  Visa distributed over 250,000 copies of the free comic since the release in March, 2012

Avengers: Saving The Day is a 16-page comic book with a fast-moving plot revolving around Spider-Man and the Avengers learning about personal finance, while battling the evil Mole Man during an attempted heist.  The book is accompanied by a teacher's guide that uses Marvel's characters to introduce children to basic financial concepts such as budgeting and saving.

Available at no cost, both in print and online at www.practicalmoneyskills.com/avengers, Avengers: Saving The Day is available around the world and is available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Hard copies can be ordered at http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/resources/free_materials/