Altamont Library Notes for Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Lisa Wingate’s recent novel “Before We Were Yours,” inspired by true events, tells the story of a young girl, abducted along with her siblings in 1939, and the generational reverberations of that crime. The Altamont Free Library’s First Monday Book Club will discuss the book on Monday, Jan. 6, at noon.
Now that the holidays are behind us, many of us are left trying to figure out how the heck to use the new techno-goodies we’ve received. For everyone who takes to new technologies like a fish to water, there are five of us who are utterly befuddled by new devices.
But fear not, that’s what the library is here for. Whether it’s a new phone, laptop, tablet or eReader that won’t do what it’s supposed to do, we can (probably) help! Call the library at 518-861-7239 to book an appointment to sit down with a librarian for up to a half-hour and sort out your gizmo issues. And hey, if we can’t help you, it just means that you’re not alone in your confusion.
Happy New Year!
The library will be closing at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31 and will be closed on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2019. We wish you all a happy, safe and healthy new year!
Ukulele Meetup
Do you play ukulele? Are you interested in learning more or meeting other ukesters and learning a few new tunes? Join us for our monthly ukulele meet up on Tuesday, Jan. 7 from 6 to 8 p.m.! The first hour will be for new players to learn hints and tips from more seasoned players, and the second hour will be an old-fashioned song swap! Don’t worry if you don’t have a uke yet. There are always extras to pass around.
Book club
Did you resolve to read more books in 2020? To meet new people? To spend more time at the library? Boy, have we got the group for you! Join our First Monday Book Club for our first meeting of the new year on Monday, Jan. 6, at noon.
We’ll be discussing Lisa Wingate’s recent novel “Before We Were Yours.” This affecting novel tells the story of a young girl, abducted along with her siblings in 1939, and the generational reverberations of that crime.
Cell Phones for Soldiers
Over the next few weeks, Altamont Free Library is partnering with Senator George Amedore and numerous collection points throughout the Capital District (including Guilderland Public Library) to collect old cell phones and redistribute them to members of the military and recently returned veterans through a charity called Cell Phones for Soldier Inc.
Its mission is to provide cost-free communication services to active-duty military members and veterans. Cell Phones for Soldiers reports that they have provided more than 204 million "Minutes That Matter" to deployed troops.
Since 2012, its “Helping Heroes Home” initiative has provided emergency funds for more than 400 returning veterans to alleviate communication challenges as well as physical, emotional and assimilation hardships. If you have an old cell phone that’s collecting dust, please consider dropping it off in our collection box between now and the end of December.
From all of us at Altamont Free Library, we extend our gratitude to all of our military veterans for their selfless service to our county. Thank you all!
Dan Frinta Exhibit
We have a very talented community, and we love getting to put those talents on display. For the next few weeks, it will be our pleasure to host an exhibit of photographs by our friend, Altamont-based photographer Dan Frinta! Dan’s work has been featured frequently in the Times Union and the Altamont Enterprise among other publications. Thanks, Dan, for letting us show a small bit of your incredible body of work.