Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, March 11, 2015

On March 31, the Upper Hudson Library System, covering all of the public libraries in Albany and Rensselaer counties including Altamont Free Library, will unveil a new circulation system and a new online catalogue called Encore.

If you use the catalogue from your home computer, the new system will look different, but all of the same functions that you use now will still be available through this new system. You'll still be able to search the catalogue and reserve and renew items from your computer or smart devices.

In addition, the new catalog will give you the option of searching for newspapers, reference books, and scholarly articles from a number of databases that will soon be available to you.

Leading up to the implementation of the new systems, however, there are a few things you should know:

— For 10 days before the new system goes live, you will be able to place requests, but we will not be able to fill them until after the new system is up and running;

— If you have suspended holds — requests for items that you have asked not to be filled until after a certain date — those holds will all be filled as soon as the new system goes live or very soon afterwards. To bypass this, the trick will be to delete your hold before March 30 and place it again as a suspended hold after the new system becomes available; and

— If you use the "My List" feature of the current catalogue to keep track of books you want to read or have read, that list will not be transferred over to the new system. You may email the list to yourself in order to keep that information and start a new list in the new system.

As with any major technological change, there are bound to be unforeseen hiccups.  For this reason, the Altamont library staff will be available by phone at 861-7239 and email at to assist with any problems that may arise with your account. Furthermore, we will be lenient in applying overdue fines for the week after the new system goes into effect.

Please keep an eye on our website, AltamontFreeLibrary.org for news and information about the new catalogue system. We will update this site with news as it becomes available.

Thank you for your support and patience through these changes.

In the meantime, we’ve got some neat events coming up this week.

eReaders 101

Flummoxed by your Nook? Curious about the Kindle? Ready to throw your iPad across a room? Let us help.

Bring whatever eReader you’ve got (or take a gander at one of ours before you buy one yourself) on Monday, March 16, from 6 to 8 p.m., and we’ll help you download books to it and troubleshoot any basic problems you might be having.

Adult trivia

Adult Trivia Night is back. Hosted by our very own Mary Beth Mulligan, bring a team and BYOB to this brain twisting trivia contest on Thursday, March 19, at 7 p.m. Entrance is $5 and the winning team takes half of the door.

Birdfeeder for kids

Celebrate the first day of spring on Saturday, March 21, at 11 a.m., by building your very own birdfeeder. We’ll have supplies for several different types of birdfeeders, so there’ll be something for a kid of any age to do.

Second Grade Book Club

Do you have a second grader in your life who’s crazy about reading? Bring them to our Second Grade Book Club on Sunday, March 22, at 2:30 p.m. Erika Peterson will be leading a discussion of “The Magic Tree House vol. 2: The Knight at Dawn”.

The following Sunday, March 29, at 2:30 p.m., we’ll meet again to discuss the third book in that beloved series, “Mummies in the Morning”.

Book club

Our Penultimate Monday Book Club will be meeting at 7 p.m., on Monday, March 23, to discuss “Flora” by Gail Godwin. This acclaimed novel tells the story of a precocious ten-year-old girl and her struggling caretaker, set against the backdrop of the anxious final months of World War II.