Altamont Library Notes for Thursday, December 20, 2018

We’ve been sitting on this announcement for a while, but now it can be told. For all of 2019, we’ll be trying something new: No overdue fines on any children’s books!

No matter whether you’re a kid, a parent, a teacher, or anyone else, children’s books checked out here (even if we have to get them from another library) will not accrue overdue fines. In addition, if you have existing overdue fines on an Altamont Free Library youth card, we’ll clear them.

Patrons with overdue children’s books will still be notified through their normal channels and, after 28 days, the book will be considered lost and the borrower responsible for the cost of the item. But if it comes back after that, the fine will be cleared.

We believe that our job is to erase any barriers that exist between the members of our community and the educational and cultural resources they need, and this change is a reflection of that philosophy. We hope that many of our friends take advantage of this experiment, so spread the word!

Nancy Murphy Exhibit

One of the wonderful things we get to do here from time to time is to show off the homegrown talent we have here in Altamont. For the next few weeks, we’ll have the pleasure of hosting a special exhibit of one of our many talented friends, Altamont-based artist Nancy Murphy.

Whimsical: Watercolors by Nancy Murphy, a collection of nine paintings by Nancy, will be on display in our community room through the end of the year.  Come take a look! Thanks for brightening up the library, Nancy!

Amazon Smile

Here’s a great, easy, cost-free way to support the library: If you do some of your holiday shopping on Amazon, please consider going to Smile.Amazon.com (instead of just regular old Amazon.com).

Everything on the website will be exactly the same as usual, but you’ll have the opportunity to choose Altamont Free Library as your charity of choice and a portion of your purchase will go to support the Altamont Free Library, even though your gifts won’t cost you a penny more than they normally would! (You can do that all year round, if you like, but we just thought we’d mention it now.)

Expedition extended

Maybe you’ve heard about the Upper Hudson Library System Library Expedition. Maybe you’ve even started it yourself. Maybe you’ve visited a few libraries but then run out of time or run out of steam. Or maybe you’ve meant to get started but never quite got off the ground. I’ve got great news for you!

Due to the continued interest we’ve seen in the expedition, and the great feedback we’ve gotten about it, we’ve decided to extend the challenge until the end of the year. Now you’ll have a whole extra month to get to all 36 libraries in 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! Don’t pass up this opportunity to visit them all. Stop into your local library for more information and to grab a passport!

Holiday closures

Please note that Altamont Free Library will be closing at 3 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 24, and closed on Tuesday, Dec. 25. Looking further ahead, we’ll also be closing at 3 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 31, and closed on Tuesday, Jan. 1. Happy Holidays to all!