Over the next few weeks, the Altamont Free Library will be running an online survey to find out how you receive news and information about the library. Please help us out by going to the library’s website (AltamontFreeLibrary.org) and clicking on the link for the Communications Survey on the homepage.

It will only take a few minutes and your answers will help us serve you better. Thanks!

Owl presentation

Hoooo’s there? Owls! Please join us on Thursday, Oct. 13 at from 4 to 5 p.m. to meet some feathered friends. We’ll be joined by great horned owls, barn owls, screech owls, short eared owls and possibly more!

Wildlife rehabilitator Kelly Martin will teach us all about our nocturnal neighbors and about her many years of experience in healing and reintegrating animals into the wild.

Book talk

The Penultimate Monday Book Club will be meeting on Monday March 17th at 7pm to discuss “In the Unlikely Event,” the new novel by acclaimed children’s author Judy Blume. Despite her reputation as an author of books for younger folks, this novel was written for an adult audience and it has gotten phenomenal reviews.

There’s plenty of time to pick up a copy at the library, so please join us for what will no doubt be a fascinating discussion about one of the years’ most popular books. Please note that in October the Penultimate (ie. second to last) Monday Book Club will actually be meeting on the third to last Monday of the month.

Trivia night

On Thursday, Oct. 20 from 7 to 9 p.m. Trivia Night is back by popular demand. Make a team, study up and BYOB to this mind-twisting trivia contest. Entrance is $5 and the winning team takes half of the door. Contestants must be 21 and up, please.

Altamont fall festival

On Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the village of Altamont will host its first Fall Festival in Orsini Park and the library will be right in the thick of it. We’ll be extending our hours that day to stay open the whole time that the festival is going on. We’ll also be telling stories out in the park, selling quilt raffle tickets and other library gifts. Please visit us.

China potluck

On Monday Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. AFL will host another of our ever-popular Eat Around the World potlucks. This month, we’ll be focusing on the food and drinks of China.

Candidates forum

Do you have questions you want your leaders to answer before the elections? Here’s your chance to be heard! On Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Guilderland Public Library, come meet the candidates for the New York State Senate 46th District, George A. Amedore and Sara K. Niccoli and ask them the questions that matter to you. This event is sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Altamont Free Library, and the Guilderland Public Library.

Lights, Camera, Action! We’re doing another of our awesome video editing classes at the library this Saturday, Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to noon for aspiring photographers and filmmakers ages 6 to 14.

This free event will demonstrate the technique of stop motion animation using legos, smartphone cameras (which we’ll supply), and the Lego Movie Maker app. Seats in the workshop are limited please call or email us at to register in advance.

Back to (wizard) school

Now that school’s back, homework is back, too. With all the homework you’ve got, you’ll need to take a study break. What better way than by joining us to go back to school with our favorite wizard, Harry Potter. On Sundays in September, we’ll be showing Harry Potter movies, and this week we’ll have “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” on Sept. 18 at 3 p.m.

Scavenger hunt

In addition to it being the library’s 100th anniversary, it’s also the 125th anniversary of the incorporation of the village of Altamont so please join us in celebrating our history on Friday Sept. 23 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. by taking part in a family friendly scavenger hunt around the village.

There will be prizes for all participants and a grand prize for the first group to find all the locations. We’ll need to know how many teams to expect, so please register in advance by calling us at  861-7239 or emailing .

Museum exhibit

In celebration of the library’s 100th anniversary, we’re working with Marijo Dougherty to put together materials for an exhibit about the library’s history at the Altamont Museum and Archives. Please join us for the opening of the exhibit at the village hall on Sunday, Sept. 25 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Upstate potluck

As you may know, every month we hold a very popular potluck dinner where we focus on a different national or regional cuisine every month. Since the early fall gives us such wonderful food here in the Capital District, we’ll be coming back home this month.

At 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 26, we’ll be sampling the foods (and drinks!) of upstate New York. If you’ve never joined us for a potluck before but have always wanted to, this is the month to do it. Please call the library to register in advance and bring a dish to share. If you need inspiration, check out one of our upstate-focused cookbooks.

It’s just about time to pack up that lunch box, dust off the old Trapper Keeper (do they still make those?), and steel yourself to go back to school.

Remember that the path to school success runs through the library, so whether you need research help, powerful databases, book-report suggestions, or just a quiet place to do your homework, the Altamont Free Library is the place to come. Good luck, young friends! You’ve got this.

Closed Labor Day

We’ll be taking a well-deserved Labor Day off on Monday, Sept. 5. We hope you do, too.

Back to (wizard) school

Now that school’s back, homework is back too. With all the homework you’ve got, you’ll need to take a study break. What better way than by joining us to go back to school with our favorite wizard, Harry Potter! On Sundays in September, we’ll be showing Harry Potter movies, starting with “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” on Sept. 11 at 3 p.m.

Book discussion

Since we’ll be closed the first Monday of the month, our usual first Monday book club will meet on Monday, Sept. 12 at noon, which is good because we’ve got an epic to get through before we meet. We’ll be discussing “The Thorn Birds” by Colleen McCullough.

This book tells the story of the Cleary family and is set over five decades of the 20th Century in rural Australia. This beloved novel was the basis for an equally beloved television miniseries, and whether you’ve read the book or seen the show, there’s plenty to discuss so please join us.

Video-editing workshop

Lights, Camera, Action!

We’re doing another of our awesome video editing classes at the library on Saturday, Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. until noon for aspiring photographers and filmmakers ages 6 to 14. This free event will demonstrate the technique of stop motion animation using legos, smartphone cameras (which we’ll supply), and the Lego Movie Maker app.

Seats in the workshop are limited please call or email us at to register in advance.

Library centennial

museum exhibit

In celebration of the library’s 100th anniversary, we’re working with our esteemed local historian and archivist Marijo Dougherty to put together materials for an exhibit about the library’s history at the Altamont Museum and Archives.

If anyone has a piece of AFL history they think might be useful for the exhibit and they wouldn’t mind lending it to us, please let me know. It could be old photos of one of our former locations, a library card from the Eisenhower era or a book that’s been overdue since the 1930s.
Drop me a line at 861-7239 or send me an email at and let me know what you’ve got, and please join us for the opening of the exhibit on Sunday, Sept. 25 from 2 to 4 p.m.

On your mark, get set, craft. Every Olympian needs a flag and you can make one of your very own with the Tang Teaching Museum on Wednesday, Aug. 10, at 4 p.m. All ages are welcome.

Find Marathon Monkey!

We’ still need everybody’s help to find Ms. Marathon Monkey, who’s gotten lost in Altamont on her way to the Olympics. She’s been spotted at the Home Front Café, Bella Fleur, and Hungerford Market, but we hear that she’s changing her location every week, so please be on the lookout.

You can find a clue as to her whereabouts in the library or on our Facebook page. If you do find her, let us know and you’ll be entered to win a special prize at the end of the summer reading program.

Summer reading celebration

The annual summer reading program is winding down, I’m sorry to say. There’s still plenty of time to bring in your Bingo sheets to get tickets for awesome prizes before we wrap up the SRP on Friday, Aug. 19.

Please join us at 4 p.m. on Aug. 19 in Orsini Park for our drawing, prize pickup, and to celebrate all of the reading, building, crafting, and learning you’ve done all summer with a Stewart’s ice cream sundae. To qualify for the prize drawing, all Bingo sheets must be in by 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18, so get reading.

Harvest party

Earlier this year, Cornell Cooperative Extension helped us plant a vegetable garden here at the library with carrots, tomatoes, garlic, and more. On Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. we’ll harvest our crops and make a tasty and healthy snack using them. All ages are welcome.

Frontier food potluck

Please join us at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 29 for another in our series of fantastic Eat Around the World Potluck suppers. This month we’re going old school with frontier food. Anything your ancestors might have cooked around a campfire or in a hand-me-down cast iron skillet or on the trails heading west will do.

Bring a dish to share, and if you don’t already have a favorite pioneer recipe, you can always pick up a cookbook here.