Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, October 16, 2013
— Photo by Ruth Anne Burby
“The Dean of Children’s Nonfiction Books enchanted his audience with narratives. Seymour Simon shared a selection of his almost 300 book titles with Altamont Elementary School’s students and staff,” reports Betty Ahearn, the school’s librarian. Using comparisons with grains of sand, he helped intermediate-grade students understand the magnitude of the universe. With younger children, he described the mammoth size of a blue whale by comparing its tongue to the weight of an elephant. In his autobiography, Simon reports that children ask him if he will ever run out of ideas for his books, and he replies, “I can’t imagine that ever happening.” He shared his insights with teachers at an after-school workshop on Oct. 4. Simon’s website, www.seymoursimon.com, describes his visit to Altamont and lists the winners of his writing contest.
We were pleased to learn that North American author Alice Munro was the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature. The Altamont Free Library has copies of two of Ms. Munro’s books and can get many more from other libraries in the Upper Hudson Library System.
Munro recently noted that “the constant happiness is curiosity.” If that notion appeals to you, please get in touch with us and we’ll happily put you in touch with more thoughts and wisdom revealed in her stories.
Commemoration
A woven basket waits on top of a bookcase near the library entryway. It is our hope that soon it will begin filling with donated daffodil bulbs. The flowers are intended to commemorate the 96 years that a public library has been serving the village of Altamont and its surroundings.
The basket will be in place until the end of October.
Recap
The library will have the following events:
— Kid’s craft on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 4 p.m.;
— French Pot Luck on Monday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m.;
— Tour of Altamont’s haunted side on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m.; and
— Story time every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.