Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Altamont

By Joe Burke

Bundle up for the Children’s Nature Program
. Put on your snow boots, and meet us outside! On Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 11 a.m., please join Thacher Park naturalist Shannon Duerr to read a fun story about what animals eat in the winter.

We’ll read “Stranger in the Woods” by Carl R. Sams & Jean Stoick and then, if there’s enough snow on the ground, we’ll build a snowman for our animal friends to enjoy. We’ll meet at the Orsini Park gazebo, and be outside for about 45 minutes, so bring your mittens!

Automatic renewal

The Altamont Free Library, along with all of the other libraries in Albany and Rensselaer counties, recently decided to change the way that we handle due dates. Starting on Feb. 1, when your library materials are two days away from being due, if they can be renewed, our system will automatically renew your items so that they don’t become overdue.

There are a few reasons that your items might not get automatically renewed: If someone else is waiting for your book or movie, or if it’s something like a museum pass that can never be renewed, it won’t be. Also, if you have excessive overdue fines, the system will prevent your items from being automatically renewed.

Other than that, for 95 percent of people and in something like 85 percent of cases, your items will simply be renewed without you having to do anything to make that happen.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let us know! Just call me at 518-861-7239 or email me at .

Grab & Go:

Still a thing

We understand that many of you are doing all that you can to minimize your exposure to coronavirus and that you may prefer to be able to zip in and out with everything ready for you when you get here rather than coming in for a long and leisurely browse.

If that is your preference, we are happy to accommodate you. Here’s how to do it:

— Reserve books and DVD’s at http://www.catalog.uhls.org anytime or by calling us at 518-861-7239;

— When your items are ready, a library staff member will call you to make an appointment for you to pick them up so that we can be sure to have everything ready for you when you get here;

— Your order will be waiting on a table in the library’s vestibule in a paper bag with your name on it;

— If you have returns, they can be dropped off in the marked boxes in the library’s vestibule during business hours or in out outside dropbox when we’re closed.

If you like, we can even pick out a bunch of books for you. Just give us a call and tell us what authors or types of books you like, and we’ll put together a bag of books for you to pick up at your convenience!

Of course, if you want to have a long and leisurely browse, by all means come on in! We’re here to serve you in any way that we safely can, so just let us know how we can help.

Book group

With the onset of cooler weather, we’ve had to migrate our book club meetings to the digital realm. If you would like to join us for our next meeting, please us at 518-861-7239 or email us at and we’ll make sure that you get the Zoom meeting connection details for our next meeting on at noon on Monday, Feb. 7.

At that meeting, we’ll be discussing the epic novel “Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee. This much-loved novel follows a Korean family over four generations. There will be plenty to discuss, so call today to reserve your copy and join us!