Altamont Library Notes for Thursday, May 21, 2020
Altamont Free Library remains closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus epidemic. We look forward to reopening as soon as it is safe to do so.
Memorial Day Car Parade
On Saturday, May 23, the Village of Altamont will host a car parade to honor and thank our military veterans, and to acknowledge the sacrifices made by members of our armed forces over the years.
The parade will also be a way of highlighting the businesses that remain open in our village and which need your support during these trying times. If you do choose to attend, please make sure that you’re practicing smart and respectful social distancing and that you wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
I hope to see you all there, even though it will have to be from a safe distance. On behalf of Altamont Free Library, we want to thank the parade organizers, Nicole McCutcheon, Troy Miller of CM Fox Real Estate, and Jon Phillips of Phillips Hardware. We’d also like to thank all of our veterans for their service to our country.
Census
By now, more than 70 percent of all households in the village of Altamont have responded to the Census, which is great! That’s better than the national average, the state average, and the Albany County average, so well done!
But, you know what? I think we can still do better! And we need to, because for every person that doesn’t get counted, the village loses out on $10,000 in support from the county.
If you haven’t responded yet, you can do it online at www.my2020census.gov, on paper when you receive your form in the mail, or by phone at 1-844-330-2020. Take 15 minutes (or less) and fill out your census today.
Even if you haven’t received a mailing from the Census Department yet (or it got misplaced), you can still go ahead and respond to the census online by going to https://my2020census.gov. Simply click on the button that says “If you do not have a Census ID click here,” and you will be led through a series of questions about your home address, and then get into the census questionnaire.
If you have any questions or need help in filling out your questionnaire, send us an email at or leave a message on the library’s voicemail at 518-861-7239 and we'll get right back to you.
Library materials not due yet
We’ve gotten a few questions about returning library books and movies over the past few days, so here’s the story: We are continuously extending due dates on all library materials for as long as it takes for us to safely reopen, so that there will be no overdue fines owed.
Please hold onto your library items until then. If you’re done with them, put them in a plastic bag and seal or tie it, and set the bag aside until we ask for everything back. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
Video Story Times
There are dozens and dozens of things I miss about the library as I’m working from home for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, but the thing I probably miss more than anything else is getting to see our youngest library patrons every week at story time.
If you and your young ones have been missing weekly story times as much as we have, you’ll be glad to know that the library staff has been working on something to tide you over until we can see each other in person again. Head over YouTube.com and search for “Altamont Free Library.” There you’ll find video story times we’ve been putting together, with new ones appearing every Tuesday and Friday. You can also like us on Facebook and find them there.
Each new edition is chock full of stories, songs, crafts, movement activities, and bubbles presented by staff members Meg Seinberg-Hughes, Erika Peterson, Jo Ann Mulligan, Ann Gainer, and me! Please enjoy!
In addition to video story times, there are tons of other online resources you have access to with your library card. Go to https://www.altamontfreelibrary.org/online-services to find a full and constantly updated list.
Ancestry.com from home
As many library users know, the Altamont Free Library (in addition to all the other libraries in Albany and Rensselaer) has for the past few years been able to provide our users with access to Ancestry.com and all of the historical and genealogical resources it contains, but only on the computers in the library itself.
Now, until the end of May, access to Ancestry.com has been temporarily expanded to library cardholders doing their research from home, courtesy of ProQuest and its partner Ancestry. Remote access will be available until the end of May and will be re-evaluated monthly as needed.
You can log on with your library card here: https://www.uhls.org/ancestry.htm Thanks to the Upper Hudson Library System for working this out for us!
If you’d like to use Ancestry, Hoopla, Overdrive, or any of our other digital services, but can’t find your library card, send me an email at or call the library at 518-861-7239 and leave a message with your name and phone number, and I’ll get you your card number within the hour.