Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, October 2, 2019
One of the questions we get asked most frequently here at the Altamont Free Library is: Are there any good books on the history of Altamont?
We tell them that of course there are! Keith Lee’s recent book in the Images of America series is about as good as you could hope for, and of course the old standby “Old Hellebergh” by the late Guilderland Town Historian Arthur Gregg is still pretty good.
We even have a walking tour that will lead folks through Altamont history, but the best resource for Altamont history is still, as it has always been, the people that live here. We’d like to collect some of that history and preserve it for posterity, and we need your help.
If you or a loved one have a long memories and stories to tell about Altamont, please join us on Friday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m. for an Oral History Roundtable we’re calling Altamont Remembers. The idea is to have lots of friends join us, and to let the stories and memories flow in open conversation, which will be recorded and transcribed so that we always have them.
If you’d like to join us to reminisce about the Altamont Fair in the 1940s or Sand Street in the ’70s or Altamont Elementary School in the ’80s, please sign up at the library, and bring a friend!
Altamont Remembers
It’s almost time for Founders Day! What? You’ve never heard of Altamont Founders Day?
That’s probably because this is the first time it’s being celebrated. This October, we’re commemorating the 1890 founding of the Village of Altamont with a weekend of great events that will celebrate the history of our beautiful and unique community.
As discussed above, we’ll be hosting the Altamont Remembers roundtable discussion on Friday, Oct. 11. The following day, the village will play host to folks from all over the region as we show off our Museum in the Streets with guided tours of the historic core of the Village from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
If you’ve never done the museum walking tour, this would be a perfect opportunity! Later, we will celebrate the opening of a new exhibit on the founders of Altamont put together by the Village Archives and Museum at Village Hall. Please join us as we celebrate the history of our beautiful and unique community!
Exhibits
Speaking of exhibits, we’re so lucky here in Altamont to be surrounded by extraordinary artistic talent and collectors of interesting things, and this week we have some new exhibits that we get to show off.
First of all, in our vestibule we are featuring a small piece of a big collection of rare and vintage baseball cards belonging to friend of the library Bob Kelly. Bob’s got some super interesting cards in his collection, and just in time for the end of the playoffs, he’s letting us show them off.
You don’t have to visit Cooperstown to see Catfish Hunter, Duke Snider, or Hammerin’ Hank Aaron. You can see them all at the library!
We also get to show off a collection of beautiful watercolor paintings by Altamont-based artist Diane Wozniak. Diane is having a bit of a moment with current or upcoming exhibits at three local libraries. We just hope that she’ll remember us when she’s famous.
Many thanks to all of our local artists and enthusiasts for letting us enjoy the fruits of your creativity, talent and hard work.
Teen Book Giveaway
We sometimes get sent books for our collection, and sometimes even get sent extra copies and cool author swag to give away! We have a bunch of great young-adult books that we’d love to get into the hands of teen readers.
All you have to do is come in and fill out a raffle ticket with your contact info and you’ll be in the running to win some fabulous books! Good luck, and happy reading!
Hours change
Beginning Nov. 1, the Altamont Free Library will no longer be open from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. BUT at the same time, we will be extending out Saturday hours from a three-hour 10 a.m.-to-1 p.m. day to a six-hour 9 a.m.-to-3 p.m. day!
We hope that people will find the longer hours on our busiest day of the week to be a positive and helpful change. To our beloved Sunday users, we hope that you will be able to visit us another day, and that you understand that having a small staff keeping a small library open an incredible 58 hours per week (way more than any other library our size in the area) means having to make tough choices about which hours to be open.
If you have any concerns, complaints, or questions, please let me know by calling me at 518-861-7239, or emailing me at director@altamontfreelibrary.org.