Let's get the "Word on the Web" and check out some recent topics of interest and discussion from the tech, literary, library, and arts and entertainment sections of the World Wide Web in March 2014.

• The big news this month (or for this year so far, for that matter) was Mayor Nutter increasing library funding by $2.5 million! This new funding will allow The Free Library to extend six-day service to all of our neighborhood libraries!
   
• The City's first Chief Data Officer, Mark Headd, will be leaving his position in April. There has been no announcement yet who may replace him.
   
• ALA talks copyright reform and net neutrality on its library policy, news, and legislation blog.
   
• The Guardian talks about something we've really known all along—that libraries are integral community problem solvers.
   
• Teen Tech Week just took place from March 9 - 15. See how our own Maker Jawn crew participated over on their blog.
   
• PBS NewsHour draws the not so surprising correlation between seasoned library users and their level of tech savviness.
   
• The Children's Choice Book Awards Finalists were announced this month and voting is currently open. The Children’s Choice Book Awards is the only national book awards program where the winners are selected by kids and teens of all ages.
   
• In other awards news, the 2014 James Beard Foundation Awards nominees were announced, including cook book and journalism categories. Can't wait to read and taste test all the delicious award-winning recipes!
   
• The YA dystopian fiction novel-turned-movie Divergent opened #1 at the box office.
   
• George R.R. Martin posted a chapter excerpt on his website to the newest forthcoming book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter. Be prepared to refresh Mr. Martin's website a few times; the web traffic has been incredibly heavy! There is still no release date for the book, but the newest season of Game of Thrones begins April 6th on HBO to tide us all over.

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