Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Libraries love sharing, and our friends at the Guilderland Public Library are better at it than most.

You probably already know that you can use your Altamont Free Library card at Guilderland or any of the other libraries in Albany or Rensselaer Counties, and that, if there’s something you’re looking for that we don’t own, we can almost always find a copy of it at one of the other libraries in the Upper Hudson Library System.

What you maybe didn’t know is that the Guilderland Public Library is always very considerate about sharing its considerable online resources with AFL users! (And why not? We’re in the same town and serve different parts of the same wonderful community!)

For instance, GPL has recently started subscribing to Value Line, a very powerful tool for researching financial information, and analyzing stocks and other investments. Normally online databases like that are shared only with a library’s own users, but GPL has been kind and conscientious enough to allow AFL cardholders access too!

You can find links to Value Line and all kinds of other online tools and databases (Creativebug arts-and-craft video classes are a favorite of mine!) on GPL’s website at guilderlandlibrary.org/learning-tools and log on using your AFL or GPL library card.

If you’d like to learn more about using Value Line, why not register for one of the classes the GPL will be holding on Feb. 28 and March 28?

Many, many thanks to our GPL buddies for being so kind and considerate. We couldn’t ask for a better neighbor!

Gala help needed

Many of you may remember that for years, we used to hold an annual I Love My Library Gala to raise money for the library every February. For many of us who attended the last one in February 2020, it was the last big indoor gathering we attended before the onset of the pandemic made that kind of a gathering almost unimaginable.

Well, I’m happy to say that it’s time to bring the gala back! It will be happening in the late spring instead of in February this year, but only if we have your help!

We need a few people who love the library and who are great at event planning (or at least are willing to give it a shot) to lend us a hand and join our Gala Committee. Could that be you? If so, please get in touch with me at . With your help, we can make it happen!

Story time is back

Speaking of things we haven’t done in a while, a few weeks ago, we held our first story time at the Altamont Free Library since March 2020 and it was so wonderful to have it back. Story time is our weekly children’s program where we read stories, sing songs, engage in fun activities, and make crafts.

Storytime is important for so many reasons: encouraging early literacy and social skills, giving parents and caregivers of young folks a social circle to catch up with, introducing the library to young kids, and lots more reasons beyond that.

Please join Miss Ann for our super-fun weekly set of stories, activities, songs, and crafts in the library’s Community Room every Tuesday at 11 a.m. After story time, feel free to hang out and play and browse the stacks for your new favorite book. It’s a win-win-win!