Altamont Library Notes for Thursday, October 4, 2018
Election Day is fast approaching, and whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent, we can all agree that homemade cookies, pies, and bread make the world a little sweeter. So while you’re voting at Altamont Village Hall on Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 7), be sure to stop by our annual AFL Bake Sale!
We need plenty of bakers to make this fundraiser a success, so if you’d like to donate some baked goods, give me a call at 518-861-7239. The always-phenomenal Mary Heidinger and Pat Spohr could use a few extra pairs of hands running the sale as well, so if you’ve got a spare hour or two on Election Day and you’d like to help, please let us know. All proceeds from the sale go to support the Altamont Free Library.
Mystery Book Club
On Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., we’ll be holding the first meeting of a new book club dedicated to mysteries! Our inaugural book up for discussion will be “In the Woods” by Tana French.
This Edgar Award-winning novel is full of psychological suspense, action, and mystery, and is sure to provoke a great deal of amateur sleuthing! Come pick up a copy today and join us!
Name That Tune
If you’ve ever hung out around Altamont in the summer, you may have noticed the sweet sound of a saxophone drifting out of Orsini Park. That’s the sound of saxophone virtuoso Don Snyder practicing in the gazebo for all the world to hear.
Now that the temperature is going down, Don’s had to bring his sax back inside but you can still hear him here at the library! On Friday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m., test your knowledge of jazz standards and popular favorites in a fun game of Name That Tune. Teams and individuals will compete for prizes and bragging rights in the contest of the ears!
Game Night
Teens, do you need a night of fun playing games with just people your age? If so, join us Saturday Oct. 20 from 7 to 9 p.m. as we spend the night playing games and having lots of laughs and snacks! Ages 13 and up, please!
Library Expedition
Altamont Free Library is incredibly lucky to belong to a community of spectacular libraries throughout Albany and Rensselaer counties. Each library is unique, as are the communities they serve.
Some lend out drones and have high-tech maker spaces. Some have life-sized mastodons, or paintings by Grandma Moses. Some even are former train stations!
If you’d like to learn more about the community of local libraries, try your hand at the 2018 Upper Hudson Library System Library Expedition! Think of it as a kind of Cannonball Run for nerds.
The idea is for folks — as individuals, families, or teams — to visit every single one of the 36 library locations in our two-county library system between the beginning of September and the end of November. Prizes will be awarded for visiting 5, 15, 25, and all 36 libraries.
It’s a fun challenge for folks who love libraries and want to explore parts of the Capital District they may have passed by or passed through but never stopped to smell the books. If you would like to be a 36er — and who wouldn’t? — stop by the library and pick up your official map and get your official Altamont Free Library stamp on your passport! All aboard for adventure!
YA Book Bingo
Even though the kids’ summer reading program has ended, the young-adult book-bingo contest is just getting going. Stop in for a bingo card, read the books on the squares to get bingo, and get entered to win cool prizes.
And these prizes are something else: We’ve gotten swag packages from some of the top YA authors in the country including Julie Murphy and Brendan Reichs and we’re giving them away to our top readers! For further questions and rules, email us at or stop in the library and ask a staff member. Happy reading!