Altamont Library Notes for Friday, August 19, 2016

It’s fair time! Over this week, we will welcome thousands of visitors to our village from all over the Capital District.

If you’re in from out of town, please visit us here at the Altamont Free Library. If you happen to live in Albany or Rensselaer counties, you’re welcome to borrow from our great collections of books, movies and music. If you’re from further afield, we’d love for you to check out our unique library building housed in the historic Altamont train station right in the center of the village.

We’ve got free wifi and computers to use as well as toys and games for children. Also, air-conditioning. In addition, we’ve got wonderful fruits and veggies on sale every day of the week, except Wednesday, at the farmer’s market right outside the library.

Prize pickup

It’s hard to believe that the summer reading program is nearly at an end, but it is, I’m sorry to say. There’s still plenty of time to bring in your Bingo sheets to get raffle tickets for awesome prizes before we wrap up the SRP on Friday, Aug. 19.

Please join us at 4 p.m. on Aug. 19 in Orsini Park for our  drawing, prize pickup, and to celebrate all of the reading, building, crafting, and learning you’ve done all summer (so far) with a Stewart’s ice cream sundae. To qualify for the prize drawing, all BINGO sheets must be in by 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18, so get reading.

Harvest party

Earlier this year, Cornell Cooperative Extension helped us plant a vegetable garden here at the library with carrots, tomatoes, garlic, and more. On Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. we’ll harvest our crops and make a tasty and healthy snack using them. All ages are welcome.

Frontier food potluck

Please join us at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 29 for another in our series of fantastic Eat Around the World Potluck suppers. This month we’re going old school with frontier food.

Anything your ancestors might have cooked around a campfire or in a hand-me-down cast iron skillet or on the trails heading west will do. Bring a dish to share, and if you don’t already have a favorite pioneer recipe, you can always pick up a cookbook here.

Museum exhibit

In celebration of the library’s 100th anniversary, we’re working with our esteemed local historian and archivist, Marijo Dougherty, to put together materials for an exhibit about the library’s history at the Altamont Museum and Archives.

If anyone has a piece of AFL history they think might be useful for the exhibit and they wouldn’t mind lending it to us, please let me know. It could be old photos of one of our former locations, a library card from the Eisenhower era or a book that’s been overdue since the 1930s.
Call me at 861-7239 or send me an email at and let me know what you’ve got. Thanks!