Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, September 7, 2022
— Photo by Joe Burke
And the winner is … Sean McGuire won the Altamont Free Library’s annual stuffed-animal scavenger hunt, taking home Shelly the Sea Turtle who has been hiding in various locations around the village all summer long.
This past Monday, we celebrated Labor Day, a holiday dedicated to the working people of this country.
A few years ago, at the height of the ongoing pandemic, I remember being so moved by the daily expressions of appreciation for the people who really make the world go ’round, those “essential workers” that deliver our packages, protect our communities, teach our children, mend our injuries, cook and serve our food, and so much more.
I remember snacks being left on doorsteps for mail carriers, and hand-painted signs thanking doctors and nurses. It was one of the signs that maybe we would emerge from the pandemic as a better, more compassionate society.
It seems like we’ve quickly moved away from that in our pandemic fatigue, but I don’t think we should. I think we should thank the people that help keep our community going as often as we can.
In that spirit, and in honor of Labor Day, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our staff members for the incredible work they’ve done since last Labor Day in keeping our library running and thriving. They are: Erika Peterson, Ann Gainer, Meg Seinberg-Hughes, Claudia LeClair, and Jason Cooper.
I would also like to thank the staff members who have left us over the past year: Ann Cartmell, Jo Ann Mulligan, and Albert Rusch are all much missed, but did amazing work in their time here.
They are each incredible public servants in their own way, and they each contribute tremendously to our success. Next time you see them, please consider thanking them for all they do for our community.
First Monday
Book Club
Please join us for the next meeting of the First Monday Book Club on Monday Sept. 12, at noon. If you would like to join us for our next meeting, please call us at 518-861-7239 or email us at and we’ll make sure that you get all the details.
At that meeting, we’ll be discussing “Bewilderment” by Richard Powers. There will be plenty to discuss, so call today to reserve your copy and join us!
Survey
For the past several months, the Altamont Free Library Board of Trustees has been seeking feedback from our community about what we’re doing well, what we could be doing better, and how we can serve our community better in the future.
We’ve done dedicated surveys for homeschooling families and local educators, focus groups with fifth-graders, senior citizens, and parents of young children, and left drop boxes for paper surveys in several locations around Knox and Berne, including Knox Town Hall, Dollar General in East Berne, Hilltown Healthcare in Berne, and the Berne Public Library.
Most of all, we’ve had an online survey going for the past few months, and we’ve had over 100 responses to it so far. In short, we’ve been very busy, and we’ve collected loads of useful ideas that we’ll use to craft our 2023-25 Long Range Plan of Service. To everyone who’s shared your thoughts with us so far, thank you so much!
We’re beginning to wrap up the feedback collection of our process, but if you’d like to share your thoughts about the Altamont Free Library, we’ll keep our online survey open for a few more weeks. You can find it at https://tinyurl.com/AFL-Survey or through a link on our Facebook page or our website.
It’ll only take about five minutes and, even if you don’t use our library, we’d still love to hear your feedback. (In fact, we’d especially love to hear your feedback if you don’t use the library!) We are so grateful for your time and your ideas. We can’t wait to share our new Long Range Plan with you when it’s ready early next year.
Story time
Now that school is back in session, it might be a great time to introduce your younger-than-school-age friends to story time! Story time is a super fun weekly program where young people can dance, sing, play, and listen to a few stories read by the incredible Miss Ann!
Join us in the Orsini Park Gazebo every Tuesday at 11 a.m. (In case of rain, story time will be canceled, so keep an eye on the library’s Facebook page if it could go either way.) We’d love to make some new friends this fall, and we’d love for your kids to make some new friends too, so please join us!