This Sunday is Memorial Day, a day we set aside to remember the brave men and women who have given their lives in defense of their country. It is also a day when we can reflect on the sacrifices made by the soldiers, sailors, and Marines currently serving in the armed forces, as well as our veterans and the families and loved ones of our service members.
From all of us at Altamont Free Library, many thanks to you all! In observance of Memorial Day, Altamont Free Library will be closed this coming Monday, May 29.
Potluck postponed
Because we are closed on Monday for Memorial Day, we will be forgoing our usual last-Monday-of-the-month Around the World Potluck this month. Please join us on June 24th for a trip to Tanzania in east Africa!
Chicken BBQ
Save the date! We’re approaching June, which means that it’s almost time for our famous annual chicken barbecue fundraiser on Friday June 14 from pickup from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Our regular crew of volunteer chefs will not be cooking this year, instead leaving the hard work to Wagon Train BBQ, but we’ll still be breaking out the library’s chicken costume for the occasion.
We’ve already had a ton of people in at the library asking for tickets, which are now available. Every ticket gets you a dinner which includes a half chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, roll, drink, and a cookie. Once you’ve got your dinner, you can either take it home with you or spread out on the lawn in Orsini Park with your friends and neighbors and listen to the always enjoyable Traditional Strings.
If you’d like to help us serve the meals, we can always use an extra set of hands, so give a call to 518-429-8354 or send an email to director@altamontfreelibrary.org.
Juice and Jammies Story Time
On Friday, May 31, at 7 p.m., put on your pj’s and join Ms. Erika for a pre-bedtime story, snack and craft! This low-key storytime will be just the thing to prepare your young folks to count some sheep.
“Behold the Dreamers”
Please join the First Monday Book Club at noon on June 3 for a discussion of the wonderful novel “Behold the Dreamers” by Imbolo Mbue! Set during the 2008 financial crisis, this novel follows two families, one headed by a high-powered financial services executive, the other of recent immigrants to the United States from Cameroon.
This wonderful novel was a pick for Oprah Winfrey’s book club, and if it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for us. There are plenty of copies still available and plenty of time to finish, so grab your copy today.
Please join us for a meeting of our newest book club, which is focused exclusively on mysteries! We’ve got members interested in every subgenre from intense psychological thrillers to low-key cozy mysteries and every type of mystery in between.
If you love a good whodunit, please join us tonight Thursday, May 16, at 7 p.m. for a discussion of the “Winter Sisters” by Robin Olivera. Set in Gilded Age Albany, this chilling mystery will have you reading with a flashlight under your blankets long after bedtime!
Trivia Night!
On Friday, May 17 at 7 p.m., make a team, study up, and BYOB to our mind-twisting trivia contest! Entrance is $5 and the winners take half the door. Contestants must be 21 and up, please.
Juice and Jammies Story Time
On Friday, May 31, at 7 p.m., put on your pj’s and join Ms. Erika for a pre-bedtime story, snack and craft! This low-key storytime will be just the thing to prepare your young folks to count some sheep.
Chicken BBQ
Save the date! We’re approaching June, which means that it’s almost time for our famous annual chicken barbecue fundraiser on Friday June 14 from pickup from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Our regular crew of volunteer chefs will not be cooking this year, instead leaving the hard work to Wagon Train BBQ, but we’ll still be breaking out the library’s chicken costume for the occasion.
We’ve already had a ton of people in at the library asking for tickets, which are now available. Every ticket gets you a dinner which includes a half chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, roll, drink, and a cookie. Once you’ve got your dinner, you can either take it home with you or spread out on the lawn in Orsini Park with your friends and neighbors and listen to the always enjoyable Traditional Strings.
If you’d like to help us serve the meals, we can always use an extra set of hands, so give a call to 518-429-8354 or send an email to director@altamontfreelibrary.org.
Volunteers are needed!
Altamont Free Library’s annual book sale is coming up this Saturday, May 4, and we need you, (yes, you!) to help us make sure that it’s our most successful sale ever! Between Wednesday, May 1, and Friday, May 3, we will be the grateful recipients of thousands and thousands of used books.
All those books have to be sorted, organized, and carried outside for the sale. On the day of the sale, we need all the friends we can get to help sell those books, keep our tables tidy, and break down at the end of the day.
If you can be of assistance, you will have our undying gratitude (and an early peak at donations!), so get in touch with us at 518-861-7239, by email at , or comment down below.
This would be a great way for younger friends to rack up some community service hours, so if you have some of them, let them know. May the fourth be with you!
As mentioned above, this Saturday, May 4, the library will hold our annual book sale in conjunction with the PTA’s village-wide garage sale. From noon on Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 3, we will be very grateful to accept book, CD, and DVD donations, which will either be added to the library’s collection or sold to raise money for library programs. (Sorry, but we will not be running a garage sale this year, so household goods will not be accepted. Also, no encyclopedias please and thank you.)
Please don’t forget to visit us during the sale to find your next favorite book!
Springtime Bird Walk
On Monday, May 6, local bird expert Dan Capuano will once again lead a bird watching expedition along Brandle Road. Please join us at 9 a.m. here at the library for a one-hour walk around the village to see what we can see and learn about our bird neighbors.
Our friends at Altamont Community Tradition will be busy this coming Saturday, April 27, running the annual Village-wide Green and Clean and they’d love to see you there too.
Meet at Orsini Park at 9 a.m. for a morning of raking, weeding, and tidying with your friends and neighbors. We have a beautiful village here, and all the more so when we all pitch in to keep it that way!
Icelandic Potluck
It’s almost time again for another of our ever popular Eat Around the World Potluck dinners! Come broaden your culinary horizons and share a meal a bunch of friendly people. This month we’re taking a trip to Iceland.
Please join us at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 29, to join in the festivities and bring a dish to share. If you don’t already have a favorite recipe from that part of the world, come on in and grab a cookbook!
Volunteers needed!
Altamont Free Library's annual book sale is coming up on Saturday, May 4, and we need you, (yes, you!) to help us make sure that it's our most successful sale ever! Between Wednesday, May 1, and Friday, May 3, we will be the grateful recipients of thousands and thousands of used books.
All those books have to be sorted, organized, and carried outside for the sale. On the day of the sale, we need all the friends we can get to help sell those books, keep our tables tidy, and break down at the end of the day.
If you can be of assistance, you will have our undying gratitude (and an early peak at donations!), so get in touch with us at 518-861-7239, by email at . This would be a great way for younger friends to rack up some community service hours, so if you have some of them, let them know. May the fourth be with you!
Book Sale
As mentioned above, on Saturday, May 4, Altamont Free Library will hold our annual book sale in conjunction with the PTA’s village-wide garage sale. From noon on Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 3, we will be very grateful to accept book, CD and DVD donations, which will either be added to the library’s collection or sold to raise money for library programs.
(Sorry, but we will not be running a garage sale this year, so household goods will not be accepted. Also, no encyclopedias please and thank you.) Please don’t forget to visit us during the sale to find your next favorite book!
Springtime Bird Walk
On Monday, May 6, local bird expert Dan Capuano will once again lead a bird-watching expedition along Brandle Road. Please join us at 9 a.m. here at the library for a one-hour walk around the village to see what we can see and learn about our bird neighbors.
We’ll have a few extra sets of binoculars, if you’d like to use them and first-time birdwatchers are encouraged to attend. We haven’t done one of these in a while, so if you haven’t had the opportunity to go on one of these expeditions, they really are a hoot.
Book talk
On Monday, May 6, the First Monday Book Club will meet at noon to discuss “The Age of Innocence” by Edith Wharton. This classic novel, for which Wharton was the first woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize, centers on a love triangle in the 1870s Gilded Age in New York.
This is sure to be a fascinating discussion, so please join us.
“My Father’s Daughter”
We are surrounded here in Altamont by extraordinary individuals, and we are always lucky when some of them share their talent with us. One such is Carol Caloro, who has just published her memoir, “My Father’s Daughter.”
On Monday, May 6, at 7 p.m., Carol will be reading from her book and discussing her troubled childhood with an abusive motherHeading 3 and loving father and the surprising revelation she recently learned about her parents that has changed how she thinks of both of them.
Join us to celebrate her achievement, buy a copy, and have it signed. Light refreshments will be served.
Christine Capuano Exhibit
What a talented bunch of folks we have in this village! Over the past few months, we’ve been happy to display collections of paintings by Altamont-based artists Nancy Murphy and Joan Johnson, and now we have another homegrown artist to highlight.
Please visit a new exhibit of pastels by Christine Capuano in our community room, which will be hanging for the next several weeks. Christine is one of our favorite local artists. She even designed the library’s logo, so she has a special place in our heart. Come take a look! Thanks for brightening up the library, Christine!
We need your help! With the annual Altamont Free Library Book Sale coming up May 4, we’re busy preparing and we need all the help we can get
Between Wednesday, May 1, and Friday, May 3, we will be the grateful recipients of thousands and thousands of used books on nearly every topic under the sun. All those books have to be sorted, organized, and — gulp — carried outside for the sale.
Then, on the day of the sale, we need all the friends we can get to help sell those books, keep our tables tidy, and break down at the end of the day. If you can be of assistance, you will have our undying gratitude (and an early peak at donations!), so get in touch with us at 518-861-7239 or by email at director@altamontfreelibrary.org.
This would be a great way for younger friends to rack up some community-service hours, so if you have some of them, let them know. We could also use a few extra tables, tarps, and hand trucks if you have some of those lying around in addition to the spare back muscles. Thank you for your help!
Earth Day craft
Celebrate Earth Day and the spring season with us at the library on Friday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. We’ll be making cool rock art to decorate your garden, your doorstep, or your village! Please register in advance by calling the library at 518-861-7239.
Juice and Jammies Story Time
On Friday, April 19, at 7 p.m., put on your pj’s and join Ms. Erika for a pre-bedtime story, snack and craft! This low-key storytime will be just the thing to prepare your young folks to count some sheep.
Garden plotting
Spring is in the air, and how better to celebrate than by getting down into the dirt and planting some seeds? But maybe your thumb is more a mint green than a forest green.
If you have questions about gardening, please join us on Monday, April 22 at 6 p.m. for a presentation by a group of local gardening experts called Awakening the Garden in Spring followed by a Q&A with certified Master Gardeners.
Book Sale
As mentioned above, on Saturday, May 4, Altamont Free Library will hold our annual book sale in conjunction with the PTA’s village-wide garage sale. From noon on Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 3, we will be very grateful to accept book, CD and DVD donations, which will either be added to the library’s collection or sold to raise money for library programs.
(Sorry, but we will not be running a garage sale this year, so household goods will not be accepted. Also, no encyclopedias please and thank you.) Please don’t forget to visit us during the sale to find your next favorite book!
Springtime bird walk
On Monday, May 6, local bird expert Dan Capuano will once again lead a bird watching expedition along Brandle Road. Please join us at 9 a.m. here at the library for a one hour walk around the village to see what we can see and learn about our bird neighbors.
We’ll have a few extra sets of binoculars, if you’d like to use them and first-time birdwatchers are encouraged to attend. We haven’t done one of these in a while, so if you haven’t had the opportunity to go on one of these expeditions, they really are a hoot.
“My Father’s Daughter”
We are surrounded here in Altamont by extraordinary individuals, and we are always lucky when some of them share their talent with us. One such is Carol Caloro, who has just published her memoir, “My Father’s Daughter.”
On Monday, May 6. at 7 p.m., Carol will be reading from her book and discussing her troubled childhood with an abusive mother and loving father and the surprising revelation she recently learned about her parents that has changed how she thinks of both of them.
Join us to celebrate her achievement, buy a copy, and have it signed. Light refreshments will be served.
Here’s a library pro tip for you: Did you know that if you belong to any Upper Hudson Library System library, you can receive notifications from the library by text message on your smartphone?
If you’re tired of missing holds that have come in for you or of having overdue items, this might be just the thing for you. It’s easy to sign up: Just go to catalog.uhls.org, and log in to your account with your library barcode and pin number (usually the last four digits of your phone number).
Once you’re logged in, click on your name in the upper righthand corner of the screen, then click “edit account.” You’ll be able to enter your smartphone number and opt in to the text message service. There’s no charge for this service, though message and data rates may apply depending on your cellular service plan.
You can also opt out at any time by texting STOP to 82453 or by speaking with a librarian. One more way to stay in touch with your friendly local library.
Mystery Book Club
Please join us at the Altamont Free Library for a meeting of our newest book club, which is focused exclusively on mysteries! We’ve got members interested in every subgenre from intense psychological thrillers to low-key cozy mysteries and every type of mystery in between.
If you love a good whodunit, please join us on Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m. as we veer into the realm of true crime for a discussion of the “The Feather Thief” by Kirk Wallace Johnson. Next month will be Winter Sisters by Robin Oliveira, a mystery set in 1870’s Albany.
Trivia Night!
On Friday, April 12, at 7 p.m., make a team, study up, and BYOB to our mind-twisting trivia contest! Entrance is $5 and the winners take half the door. Contestants must be 21 and up, please.
Earth Day craft
Celebrate Earth Day and the spring season with us at the library on Friday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to noon. We’ll be making cool rock art to decorate your garden, your doorstep, or your village! Please register in advance by calling the library at 518-861-7239.
Juice and Jammies Story Time
On Friday, April 19, at 7 p.m., put on your pj’s and join Ms. Erika for a pre-bedtime story, snack and craft! This low-key storytime will be just the thing to prepare your young folks to count some sheep.
Garden plotting
Spring is in the air, and how better to celebrate than by getting down into the dirt and planting some seeds? But maybe your thumb is more a mint green than a forest green.
If you have questions about gardening, please join us on Monday, April 22 at 6 p.m. for a presentation by a group of local gardening experts called Awakening the Garden in Spring followed by a Q&A with certified Master Gardeners.
Book Sale
On Saturday, May 4, Altamont Free Library will hold our annual book sale in conjunction with the PTA’s village-wide garage sale. From noon on Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 3, we will be very grateful to accept book, CD and DVD donations, which will either be added to the library’s collection or sold to raise money for library programs.
Sorry, but we will not be running a garage sale this year, so household goods will not be accepted. Also, no encyclopedias please and thank you. Please don’t forget to visit us during the sale to find your next favorite book!
Please join us at the Altamont Free Library for a meeting of our newest book club, which is focused exclusively on mysteries! We’ve got members interested in every subgenre from intense psychological thrillers to low-key cozy mysteries and every type of mystery in between.
If you love a good whodunit, please join us on Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m. as we veer into the realm of true crime for a discussion of the “The Feather Thief” by Kirk Wallace Johnson.
Trivia Night!
On Friday, April 12, at 7 p.m., make a team, study up, and BYOB to our mind-twisting trivia contest! Entrance is $5 and the winners take half the door. Contestants must be 21 and up, please.
Earth Day craft
Celebrate Earth Day and the spring season with us at the library on Friday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to noon. We’ll be making cool rock art to decorate your garden, your doorstep, or your village! Please register in advance by calling the library at 518-861-7239.
Juice and Jammies Story Time
On Friday, April 19, at 7 p.m., put on your pj’s and join Ms. Erika for a pre-bedtime story, snack, and craft! This low-key story time will be just the thing to prepare your young folks to count some sheep.
Garden plotting
Spring is in the air, and how better to celebrate than by getting down into the dirt and planting some seeds? But maybe your thumb is more a mint green than a forest green.
If you have questions about gardening, please join us on Monday, April 22, at 6 p.m. for a presentation by a group of local gardening experts called Awakening the Garden in Spring followed by a Q&A with certified Master Gardeners.
Book Sale
On Saturday, May 4, Altamont Free Library will hold our annual book sale in conjunction with the PTA’s village-wide garage sale. From noon on Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 3, we will be very grateful to accept book, CD and DVD donations, which will either be added to the library’s collection or sold to raise money for library programs.
(Sorry, but we will not be running a garage sale this year, so household goods will not be accepted. Also, no encyclopedias please and thank you.) Please don’t forget to visit us during the sale to find your next favorite book!
Christine Capuano Exhibit
What a talented bunch of folks we have in this village! Over the past few months, we’ve been happy to display collections of paintings by Altamont-based artists Nancy Murphy and Joan Johnson, and now we have another homegrown artist to highlight.
Please visit a new exhibit of pastels by Christine Capuano in our community room, which will be hanging for the next several weeks. Christine is one of our favorite local artists. She even designed the library’s logo, so she has a special place in our heart. Come take a look! Thanks for brightening up the library, Christine!
Story Time!
One of the best ways of getting our youngest friends to become strong readers is by exposing them to a wide variety of readers and reading environments? For that reason, and also just because it’s just fun, we have two story times each week on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday Story times with Miss Ann are targeted at preschoolers, while our Wednesday Story Times with Miss Erika are for toddlers (but we don’t mind older or younger friends on either day). Please join us for mornings of stories, songs, and bubbles.
Throughout the year, we at the Altamont Free Library are frequently asked if we accept book donations, and, normally, we have to say that we don’t have enough room for donations. But there is one time of the year when we can accept donations, and it’s coming up fast!
On Saturday, May 4, we will hold our annual book sale in conjunction with the Altamont Elementary School PTA’s village-wide garage sale. From noon on Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 3, we will be very grateful to accept book, CD, and DVD donations, which will either be added to the library’s collection or sold to raise money for library programs.
We will be happy to make up a receipt for you for tax purposes if you like. (Sorry, but we will not be running a garage sale this year, so household goods will not be accepted.) Please don’t forget to visit us during the sale to find your next favorite book!
Christine Capuano Exhibit
What a talented bunch of folks we have in this village! Over the past few months, we’ve been happy to display collections of paintings by Altamont-based artists Nancy Murphy and Joan Johnson, and now we have another homegrown artist to highlight.
Please visit a new exhibit of pastels by Christine Capuano in our community room, which will be hanging for the next several weeks. Christine is one of our favorite local artists. She even designed the library’s logo, so she has a special place in our heart.
Come take a look! Thanks for brightening up the library, Christine!
Story time
One of the best ways of getting our youngest friends to become strong readers is by exposing them to a wide variety of readers and reading environments? For that reason, and also just because it’s just fun, we have two story times each week on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday Story Times with Miss Ann are targeted at preschoolers, while our Wednesday Story Times with Miss Erika are for toddlers (but we don’t mind older or younger friends on either day). Please join us for mornings of stories, songs, and bubbles.
Juice & Jammies
Speaking of story time, we also have a special evening story time that we call Juice & Jammies coming up on Friday, March 29. Put on your pj’s and join Miss Erika for a low-key pre-bedtime story, and snack.
This will be the perfect thing to get your kiddos ready to drift off to dreamland.
Eleanor Oliphant discussion
On Monday, April 1, the First Monday Bookclub will meet at noon to discuss “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine,” the best-selling first novel by Scottish author Gail Honeyman. This beloved novel deals with themes of social isolation and the power of human relationships.
It’s a quick enough read, and we still have a few copies on hold, so please join us for what will certainly be a fascinating conversation.
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Nice as pie: Nancy Place, left, and April McLean try samples of pies at the Altamont Free Library on Pi Day, March 21. The library had half-a-dozen homemade pies of different varieties set out on a table, with bits of pie in cups for sampling, and taste-testers could vote for their favorites.
What a talented bunch of folks we have in this village! Over the past few months, we’ve been happy to display collections of paintings by Altamont-based artists Nancy Murphy and Joan Johnson, and now we have another homegrown artist to highlight.
Please visit our community room to see a new exhibit of pastels by Christine Capuano, which will be hanging for the next several weeks. Christine is one of our favorite local artists.
She even designed the library’s logo, so she has a special place in our heart. Come take a look! Thanks for brightening up the library, Christine!
Mystery Book Club
Please join us for a meeting of our newest book club, which is focused exclusively on mysteries! We’ve got members interested in every subgenre from intense psychological thrillers to low-key cozy mysteries and every type of mystery in between.
If you love a good whodunit, please join us on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. for a discussion of the “The Beautiful Mystery” by Louise Penny. I know we have a ton of Louise Penny fans here, so this would be a great time to join the club!
Moroccan potluck
It’s almost time again for another of our ever popular Eat Around the World Potluck dinners! Come broaden your culinary horizons and share a meal a bunch of friendly people.
This month, we’re taking a trip to the northwest African nation of Morocco! Please join us at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 25 to join in the festivities and bring a dish to share. If you don’t already have a favorite recipe from that part of the world, come on in and grab a cookbook!
Story Time!
One of the best ways of getting our youngest friends to become strong readers is by exposing them to a wide variety of readers and reading environments? For that reason, and also just because it’s just fun, we have two Story Times each week on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday Story Times with Miss Ann are targeted at preschoolers, while our Wednesday Story Times with Miss Erika are for toddlers (but we don’t mind older or younger friends on either day). Please join us for mornings of stories, songs, and bubbles.
Juice & Jammies
Speaking of Story Time, we also have a special evening Story Time that we call Juice & Jammies coming up on Friday, March 29. Put on your pj’s and join Miss Erika for a low-key pre-bedtime story, and snack. This will be the perfect thing to get your kiddos ready to drift off to dreamland.
Eleanor Oliphant
On Monday, April 1, the First Monday Book Club will meet at noon to discuss “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine,” the best-selling first novel by Scottish author Gail Honeyman. This beloved novel deals with themes of social isolation and the power of human relationships.
It’s a quick enough read, and we still have a few copies on hold, so please join us for what will certainly be a fascinating conversation.
One of the most delicious days of the year is coming up, and we need your help to celebrate. Thursday, March 14 is Pi Day (Get it? 3.14!) and we’ll be celebrating all of our favorite pies with a pie taste test!
If you’d like to enter a pie to the taste test, please give us a call at 518-861-7239. You can make any kind of pie you like! We’re not fussy.
There will be a prize for the pie-maker who gets the most votes. If you’re not a pie-maker yourself, you’ve got a role to play too: We’ll need lots of pie-tasters to eat and vote!
Trivia Night
This Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m. make a team, study up, and BYOB to our mind-twisting trivia contest! Entrance is $5 and the winners take half the door. Contestants must be 21 and up, please.
Mystery Book Club
Please join us for a meeting of our newest book club, which is focused exclusively on mysteries! We’ve got members interested in every subgenre from intense psychological thrillers to low-key cozy mysteries and every type of mystery in between.
If you love a good whodunit, please join us on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. for a discussion of the “The Beautiful Mystery” by Louise Penny. I know we have a ton of Louise Penny fans here, so this would be a great time to join the club!
Moroccan Potluck
It’s almost time again for another of our ever popular Eat Around the World Potluck dinners! Come broaden your culinary horizons and share a meal a bunch of friendly people.
This month we’re taking a trip to the northwest African nation of Morocco! Please join us at 6pm on Monday, March 25 to join in the festivities and bring a dish to share. If you don’t already have a favorite recipe from that part of the world, come on in and grab a cookbook.
Story Time
One of the best ways of getting our youngest friends to become strong readers is by exposing them to a wide variety of readers and reading environments. For that reason, and also just because it’s just fun, we have two Story Times each week on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday Story Times with Miss Ann are targeted at preschoolers, while our Wednesday Story Times with Miss Erika are for toddlers (but we don’t mind older or younger friends on either day). Please join us for mornings of stories, songs, and bubbles.
Juice & Jammies
Speaking of Story Time, we also have a special evening Story Time that we call Juice & Jammies coming up on Friday, March 29.
Put on your pj’s and join Miss Erika for a low-key pre-bedtime story, and snack. This will be the perfect thing to get your kiddos ready to drift off to dreamland.