Last week, the first-graders of Altamont Elementary School made the long journey on foot from school to the library for their annual visit. For 41 of those students, not only did they get a tour of the library and an opportunity to meet Shelly the Sea Turtle, our Summer Reading Program mascot, but they also received their first library cards!
First-grade field trip day is always my favorite day of the year here, since I get to see the joy and pride that kids experience when they get a library card of their own. For a lot of kids, a library card is the first thing they own that works just the same for them as it does for their parents and older siblings.
It has both the same power and carries the same responsibilities and isn’t a downsized, kid-ified version of what they see their parents use. The fact that the first-graders get to share the experience of getting their first library card with their friends and classmates at the end of the school year with summer on the horizon makes it all the more special.
So welcome to the library, first-graders. Adventures await you all!
Summer Concerts
The Altamont Free Library Summer Concert Series in Orsini Park is back!
Our concert organizer, Lori McCutcheon, has put together six Tuesdays of great music, kicking off on Tuesday, July 5, and running through Tuesday, Aug. 9. (We’re hoping for fewer almost-rainouts than we had last year.)
All concerts begin at 7 p.m., and are supported in part by the village of Altamont, as well as by donations to the Altamont Free Library. Stay tuned for more information about our lineup of awesome musicians in the coming weeks. We couldn’t be more excited to see you all out in our beautiful park for some great music and great neighbors.
Story Time
in Orsini Park
Speaking of Orsini Park, story time in the park is back! Every Tuesday at 11 a.m. (please note the new time!), gather your young ones and join Miss Ann out for some super-fun stories, songs, and activities.
In order to keep things safe and socially distant, we’re going to be spreading out on the lawn in our summer home, Orsini Park! If you’ve never visited us before, Orsini Park shares a parking lot with the library, so it’s easy to find.
Please bring a blanket and/or a lawn chair for you and your young people to sit on. In the event of rain, story time will have to be canceled for the week unfortunately, so be sure to check our Facebook page for updates. We’ll see you in the park!
Planning
The Altamont Free Library is planning for the future and we need your help! Every three years, the trustees of the Altamont Free Library create a new Long Range Plan of Service, and this year is one of those years.
Over the course of the next few months, we will ask our community to give us feedback in a variety of ways. We might pop in at your seniors’ luncheon, or set up a table at your baseball game, or ask you a few questions while you’re at one of our summer concerts.
The way we get most of our information though is through an online survey. In order to better serve you and our community, please take our short 5- to 7-minute survey to let us know whether you use the library, how you use it, and what we can do better for you in the future. You can find it at https://tinyurl.com/AFL-Survey or through a link on our Facebook page or our website. We are so grateful for your time and your ideas!
Every House Project
We’ve had so much interest in the Every House Project that we launched a few weeks ago! People have been submitting their house histories and it’s been fascinating to learn about the houses all around us.
If you’d like to participate in the Every House Project and help us collect the history of all of the homes in Altamont and the surrounding area, check out the Every House Project Facebook group or learn more on our website at AltamontFreeLibrary.org.
Save the dates! The Altamont Free Library Summer Concert Series in Orsini Park is back!
Our concert organizer, Lori McCutcheon, has put together six Tuesdays of great music, kicking off on Tuesday, July 5, and running through Tuesday, Aug. 9. (We’re hoping for fewer almost-rainouts than we had last year.)
All concerts begin at 7 p.m., and are supported in part by the village of Altamont, as well as by donations to Altamont Free Library. Stay tuned for more information about our lineup of awesome musicians in the coming weeks. We couldn’t be more excited to see you all out in our beautiful park for some great music and great neighbors.
Story time
in Orsini Park
Speaking of Orsini Park, story time in the park is back! Every Tuesday at 11 a.m. (please note the new time!), gather your young ones and join Miss Ann out for some super-fun stories, songs, and activities.
In order to keep things safe and socially distant, we’re going to be spreading out on the lawn in our summer home, Orsini Park! If you’ve never visited us before, Orsini Park shares a parking lot with the library, so it’s easy to find.
Please bring a blanket and/or a lawn chair for you and your young people to sit on. In the event of rain, story time will have to be canceled for the week unfortunately, so be sure to check our Facebook page for updates. We’ll see you in the park!
Planning
for the future
Altamont Free Library is planning for the future and we need your help! Every three years, the trustees of the Altamont Free Library create a new Long Range Plan of Service, and this year is one of those years.
Over the course of the next few months, we will ask our community to give us feedback in a variety of ways. We might pop in at your seniors’ luncheon, or set up a table at your baseball game, or ask you a few questions while you’re at one of our summer concerts.
The way we get most of our information though is through an online survey. In order to better serve you and our community, please take our short 5- to 7-minute survey to let us know whether you use the library, how you use it, and what we can do better for you in the future.
You can find it at https://tinyurl.com/AFL-Survey or through a link on our Facebook page or our website. We are so grateful for your time and your ideas!
Every House Project
We’ve had so much interest in the Every House Project that we launched a few weeks ago! People have been submitting their house histories and it’s been fascinating to learn about the houses all around us.
If you’d like to participate in the Every House Project and help us collect the history of all of the homes in Altamont and the surrounding area, check out the Every House Project Facebook group or learn more on our website at AltamontFreeLibrary.org.
The Altamont Free Library is planning for the future and we need your help!
Every three years, the trustees of the Altamont Free Library create a new Long Range Plan of Service, and this year is one of those years. Over the course of the next few months, we will ask our community to give us feedback in a variety of ways.
We might pop in at your seniors’ luncheon, or set up a table at your baseball game, or ask you a few questions while you’re at one of our summer concerts. The way we get most of our information though is through an online survey.
In order to better serve you and our community, please take our short 5 to 7-minute survey to let us know whether you use the library, how you use it, and what we can do better for you in the future. You can find it at https://tinyurl.com/AFL-Survey or through a link on our Facebook page or our website.\We are so grateful for your time and your ideas!
Story time
in Orsini Park
We’re heading back to the park! Starting on Tuesday, June 7 at 11 a.m. (please note the new time!), gather your young ones and join Miss Ann out for some super fun stories, songs, and activities. In order to keep things safe and socially distant, we’re going to be spreading out on the lawn in our summer home, Orsini Park!
If you’ve never visited us before, Orsini Park shares a parking lot with the library, so it’s easy to find. Please bring a blanket and/or a lawn chair for you and your young people to sit on. In the event of rain, storytime will have to be canceled for the week unfortunately, so be sure to check our Facebook page for updates. We’ll see you in the park!
Get Outside
Story Time
Did you ever see a hummingbird and wonder what makes it hum? Please join us on Wednesday, June 15, at 11:30 a.m. for another wonderful outdoor nature story time with Thacher Park Nature Center educator Shannon Duerr. In our last program, we learned all about pollinators and how they move from flower to flower helping make sure that plants grow.
This time, we’ll be learning about some other friends who also fly from flower to flower: hummingbirds! We’ll read a story all about hummingbirds, have some buzzy fun, and play some hummingbird games! We’ll meet in the Orsini Park gazebo and be outdoors for about 45-minutes. In case of muddiness, you might want to wear your galoshes.
Every House Project
If you’ve ever wondered about the people who lived in your house before you came along, please join us on Tuesday, June 14, at 7 p.m. for a workshop on how you can learn all about your house and its previous occupants.
Led by county legislator and local historian Jeff Perlee, this workshop will fill you in on all of the free resources that you can use to learn more about the place you call home. To register in advance call us at 518-861-7239 or email me at Director@AltamontFreeLibrary.org.
Thank you to everyone who attended our Researching Your House’s History program last week! We really didn’t know what to expect, and we were blown away by the amount of interest in our program.
We’re sorry we didn’t have room for everyone who was interested, but if you weren’t able to attend, fear not! We’ll be giving the presentation again. (And hopefully we’ll have learned from mistakes we made the first time.)
So, if you’ve ever wondered about the people who lived in your house before you came along, please join us on Tuesday, June 14, at 7 p.m. for a workshop on how you can learn all about your house and its previous occupants.
Led by county legislator and local historian Jeff Perlee, this workshop will fill you in on all of the free resources that you can use to learn more about the place you call home. To register in advance, call us at 518-861-7239 or email me at
How to live
with black bears
As has been widely noted on the Altamont Community Facebook page, there have been a ton of black-bear sightings around the village recently, and it seems like people have a lot of questions about them!
If you’ve got questions about local black bear activity, please join us in the Community Room at Altamont Reformed Church at 129 Lincoln Ave. in Altamont on Wednesday, June 1, at 7 p.m. for a presentation by Katrina Talbot, wildlife biologist with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. Ms. Talbot will discuss how to distinguish normal black-bear behavior from troublesome black-bear behavior, and how we can live safely alongside our bear neighbors.
Please note that this presentation will be geared towards adults, but we will be doing a kid-oriented bear-education program over the summer. To register in advance, please call us at 518-861-7239 or email me at .
Story time
in Orsini Park
We’re heading back to the park! Starting on Tuesday, June 7, at 11 a.m. (please note the new time!), gather your young ones and join Miss Ann out for some super fun stories, songs, and activities.
In order to keep things safe and socially distant, we’re going to be spreading out on the lawn in our summer home, Orsini Park! If you’ve never visited us before, Orsini Park shares a parking lot with the library, so it’s easy to find.
Please bring a blanket and/or a lawn chair for you and your young people to sit on. In the event of rain, story time will have to be canceled for the week unfortunately, so be sure to check our Facebook page for updates. We’ll see you in the park!
Uke Group
Do you uke? If you do, even if you’re not very good yet, please join our monthly outdoor ukulele meetup. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 7, at 6 p.m. in Orsini Park, and we’d love for you to join us.
Bring a song or two to share with the group if you like. This is a fun, inviting way of growing as a player, picking up hints and tips, learning new tunes, and meeting fellow ukesters. We hope to see you in the park!
— Photo from Catherine Sun/Cornell
This photograph from a trail camera shows three sibling cubs investigating bait-and-scent lures at a research site near Almond, New York. The Altamont Free Library is hosting a June 1 session with Katrina Talbot, wildlife biologist with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, on how to distinguish normal black bear behavior from troublesome black bear behavior.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there have been a ton of black bear sightings around the village recently. Are there more bears all of a sudden? Are there the same number of bears, but just in more populated places? Or is it just that there are more cameras pointed at bird feeders filled with delicious bird seed? We have so many questions!
If you’ve got questions about local black bear activity, please join us in the Community Room at Altamont Reformed Church at 129 Lincoln Avenue in Altamont on Wednesday, June 1, at 7 p.m. for a presentation by Katrina Talbot, wildlife biologist with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
Ms. Talbot will discuss how to distinguish normal black bear behavior from troublesome black bear behavior, and how we can live safely alongside our bear neighbors. Please note that this presentation will be geared towards adults, but we will be doing a kid-oriented bear education program over the summer. To register in advance, please call us at 518-861-7239 or email me at .
First Monday
Book Club
Do you love reading? Do you love talking about reading? If so, join us for the next meeting of the First Monday Book Club on, would you believe, Monday June 6th at noon. If you would like to join us for our next meeting, please call us at 518-861-7239 or email us at and we’ll make sure that you get all the details.
At that meeting, we’ll be discussing Transcendent Kingdom by Ghanian-American author Yaa Gyasi. This is Gyasi’s second novel, after the widely beloved Homegoing. There will be plenty to discuss, so call today to reserve your copy and join us!
Ukulele Group
Do you uke? If you do, even if you’re not very good yet, please join our monthly outdoor ukulele meetup. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 7, at 6 p.m. in Orsini Park, and we’d love for you to join us. Bring a song or two to share with the group if you like.
This is a fun, inviting way of growing as a player, picking up hits and tips, learning new tunes, and meeting fellow ukesters. We hope to see you in the park!
Train Station
History Exhibit
The Altamont Train Station has witnessed a lot of history since it opened its doors in 1897. Next Monday, we will unveil an exhibit all about that history. The exhibit was curated by Dan Barker of the Village Archive and Museum and features photos, documents, and artifacts from our building’s 125-year history. Among the artifacts on display will be the original stationmaster’s wooden ticket cabinet, which has never been displayed before.
The exhibit, which is presented with the financial assistance of the library’s Marijo Dougherty Fund for Local History Research, also features text by Keith C. Lee documenting the station’s history. It will be on display for the next few months, so please come on in and take a look! Many thanks to Dan and Keith for putting this all together.
Birding Bag
You know that it’s spring because the birds have returned! If you and your young friends are interested in learning more about the birds living all around us, we’ve got the perfect kit for you! Put together by the Thacher Park Nature Center, our birding kit has binoculars for both adults and kiddos, guides to local birds, bird activity sheets and much more!
This kit can be checked out for up to one week, and you can use it up at Thacher, in your backyard, or anywhere else that birds hang out. Thank you Thacher Park Nature Center!
— Photo by Joe Burke
Betty Spadaro last October told her life story to Joe Burke, Altamont’s library director, as part of the library’s oral history project. She died on May 2 at the age of 103.
As you will have read in last week’s edition of The Enterprise, our friend Betty Spadaro passed away last week at the age of 103. Betty was a joyful inspiration to us here at Altamont Free Library.
She was born two months before the Armistice that ended World War I. Her teaching career lasted 40 years and took her from a rural one-room schoolhouse in Knox (which currently resides at the Altamont Fair) to the Altamont Elementary School we know and love today.
She taught generations of Altamont, Guilderland, and Knox children, and mentored generations of Altamont, Guilderland, and Knox teachers. She loved her community and her library.
I was lucky enough to get to spend a few hours with her at her home in Glen Lake back in October, and I interviewed her for our ongoing oral history project, which records and preserves the life stories of important community members.
You can find a transcript of our interview here at the library and the audio version of the interview on our YouTube channel. Her memory was astonishing in its clarity even at 103.
In one of her last gifts to the Altamont Community, Betty wrote the check that allowed the Altamont Free Library to eliminate overdue fines, so that all people could have access to books, no matter their economic circumstances.
She will be missed, but she will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace, Betty. May her memory be a comfort.
Historic homes
As we were reminded with the installation of our new exhibit on the history of the Altamont Train Station, every building has a story. Have you ever wondered about the people who lived in your house before you came along?
If so, please join us on Wednesday, May 25, (please note the changed date) at 7 p.m. for a workshop on how you can learn all about your house and its previous occupants. Led by county legislator and local historian Jeff Perlee, this workshop will fill you in on all of the free resources that you can use to learn more about the place you call home.
To register in advance call us at 518-861-7239 or email me at
Train Station
History Exhibit
The Altamont Train Station has witnessed a lot of history since it opened its doors in 1897. Next Monday, we will unveil an exhibit all about that history.
The exhibit was curated by Dan Barker of the Village Archive and Museum and features photos, documents, and artifacts from our building’s 125-year history. Among the artifacts on display will be the original stationmaster’s wooden ticket cabinet, which has never been displayed before.
The exhibit, which is presented with the financial assistance of the library’s Marijo Dougherty Fund for Local History Research, also features text by Keith C. Lee documenting the station’s history. It will be on display for the next few months, so please come on in and take a look! Many thanks to Dan and Keith for putting this all together.
— Photo by Alix d’Entremont/Macaulay Library - Cornell Ornithology
The bluebird of happiness may be yours if you check out a bird bag from the Altamont Free Library. The kit, assembled by the Thacher Park Nature Center, has binoculars for both adults and kids, guides to local birds, bird activity sheets, and more.
Last weekend we held our annual book sale, and it was a huge success! Many grateful thanks are due to all of the many, many of you who donated books to the library for the sale.
Rest assured that we’ve skimmed a number of them off the top to be put into our collection, so that their donors can visit them any time and even bring them back home if they like.
Even more grateful thanks are due to our wonderful volunteers who helped us sort, organize, carry, and sell all those books! It takes a village to run a library, and we’ve got a great one.
Historic homes
As we were reminded with the installation of our new exhibit on the history of the Altamont Train Station, every building has a story. Have you ever wondered about the people who lived in your house before you came along? If so, please join us on Wednesday, May 25 at 7 p.m. for a workshop on how you can learn all about your house and its previous occupants. Led by County Legislator and local historian Jeff Perlee, this workshop will fill you in on all of the free resources that you can use to learn more about the place you call home. To register in advance call us at 518- 861-7239 or email me at .
Birding Bag
You know that it’s spring because the birds have returned! If you and your young friends are interested in learning more about the birds living all around us, we’ve got the perfect kit for you! Put together by the Thacher Park Nature Center, our birding kit has binoculars for both adults and kiddos, guides to local birds, bird activity sheets and much more! This kit can be checked out for up to one week, and you can use it up at Thacher, in your backyard, or anywhere else that birds hang out. Thank you Thacher Park Nature Center!
Train Station
History Exhibit
The Altamont Train Station has witnessed a lot of history since it opened its doors in 1897. Next Monday, we will unveil an exhibit all about that history. The exhibit was curated by Dan Barker of the Village Archive and Museum and features photos, documents, and artifacts from our building’s 125-year history. Among the artifacts on display will be the original stationmaster’s wooden ticket cabinet, which has never been displayed before.
The exhibit, which is presented with the financial assistance of the library’s Marijo Dougherty Fund for Local History Research, also features text by Keith C. Lee documenting the station’s history. It will be on display for the next few months, so please come on in and take a look! Many thanks to Dan and Keith for putting this all together.
Enterprise file photo — Melissa Hale-Spencer
Bees will be the subject of the Altamont Free Library’s outdoor story time on May 10.
Altamont Free Library's annual book sale is coming up this Saturday, May 7, and we need you, (yes, you!) to help us make sure that it’s our most successful sale ever! Between Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6, we will be the grateful recipients of lots 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 or 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. Thanks in advance for your help!
Book sale
As mentioned above, this Saturday, May 7, Altamont Free Library will hold our annual book sale in conjunction with the PTA’s village-wide garage sale. On Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6, 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 no encyclopedias, textbooks, VHS tapes or books that are falling apart. Please and thank you.)
Please don’t forget to visit us during the sale to find your next favorite book!
Historic homes
As we were reminded with the installation of our new exhibit on the history of the Altamont Train Station, every building has a story. Have you ever wondered about the people who lived in your house before you came along?
If so, please join us on Wednesday, May 18, at 7 p.m. for a workshop on how you can learn all about your house and its previous occupants. Led by county legislator and local historian Jeff Perlee, this workshop will fill you in on all of the free resources that you can use to learn more about the place you call home.
To register in advance, call us at 518-861-7239 or email me at Director@AltamontFreeLibrary.org
Nature Story Time
Please join us on Tuesday, May 10, at 11:30 a.m. for another wonderful outdoor nature story time with Thacher Park Nature Center educator Shannon Duerr. In our last program, we learned all about seeds and how they grow.
This time, it’s going to be all about the animals who help that process along, pollinators! We’ll read a story all about bees, have some buzzy fun, talk about how we can help our bee friends thrive, and send you home with some seeds for flowers that bees really like! We’ll meet in the Orsini Park gazebo and be outdoors for about 45 minutes. In case of muddiness, you might want to wear your galoshes.
Birding Bag
You know that it’s spring because the birds have returned! If you and your young friends are interested in learning more about the birds living all around us, we’ve got the perfect kit for you.
Put together by the Thacher Park Nature Center, our birding kit has binoculars for both adults and kiddos, guides to local birds, bird activity sheets, and much more. This kit can be checked out for up to one week, and you can use it up at Thacher, in your backyard, or anywhere else that birds hang out. Thank you, Thacher Park Nature Center!
Slow Reads
Book Club
We’ve just finished up our first “season” of the Slow Reads Book Club, where participants met for eight weeks to discuss one or two chapters at a time of Katherine May’s “Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times.” It was a fun and illuminating approach to processing an important book.
We had so much fun with it that we’ve renewed the program for a second season. Starting on Thursday, May 26, and continuing each Thursday until July 7, we will meet virtually at noon to discuss “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times” by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall. Spots are limited, so if you would like to join us, please email me at Director@altamontfreelibrary.org.
As we were reminded with the installation of our new exhibit on the history of the Altamont Train Station, every building has a story. Have you ever wondered about the people who lived in your house before you came along?
If so, please join us on Wednesday, May 18, at 7 p.m. for a workshop on how you can learn all about your house and its previous occupants. Led by county legislator and local historian Jeff Perlee, this workshop will fill you in on all of the free resources that you can use to learn more about the place you call home.
To register in advance call us at 518-861-7239 or email me at
Village-wide
Garage Sale
The Altamont Elementary School’s annual Village-wide Garage Sale is back this year on Saturday, May 7. I’m pleased to say that, for the first time since 2019, AFL will be holding its always eagerly anticipated book sale and we need you, (yes, you!) to help us make sure that it's our most successful sale ever!
On the day of the sale, we need all the friends we can get to carry books outside, 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 ,
Birding bag
You know that it’s spring because the birds have returned! If you and your young friends are interested in learning more about the birds living all around us, we’ve got the perfect kit for you!
Put together by the Thacher Park Nature Center, our birding kit has binoculars for both adults and kiddos, guides to local birds, bird activity sheets and much more! This kit can be checked out for up to one week, and you can use it up at Thacher, in your backyard, or anywhere else that birds hang out. Thank you, Thacher Park Nature Center!
Train Station
History Exhibit
The Altamont Train Station has witnessed a lot of history since it opened its doors in 1897. Next Monday, we will unveil an exhibit all about that history. The exhibit was curated by Dan Barker of the Village Archive and Museum and features photos, documents, and artifacts from our building’s 125-year history.
Among the artifacts on display will be an original stationmaster’s wooden ticket cabinet, which has never been displayed before. The exhibit, which is presented with the financial assistance of the library’s Marijo Dougherty Fund for Local History Research, also features text by Keith C. Lee documenting the station’s history.
It will be on display for the next few months, so please come on in and take a look! Many thanks to Dan and Keith for putting this all together.
Story time
Story time is back at ARC! Please join us to gather together once more for our weekly Tuesday morning story times for children. Since spreading out is still important, and since it’s too cold to do it out in the park, we’ll be back at Altamont Reformed Church!
Please join us in the community room at Altamont Reformed Church at 129 Lincoln Ave. in Altamont on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for a super fun morning of songs, stories, and activities! Since this is an indoor program, all participants over the age of 2 must wear masks for the duration of the program. Many thanks to ARC for hosting us. We hope to see you there!
One of the many wonderful things about being located where we are is that right outside our front door, we have Orsini Park. We have concerts, book clubs, summer reading programs, and so much more there when the weather is nice, and our annual Library Lights gazebo-lighting ceremony in the winter.
Orsini Park is our second home, and just like any home, it deserves a spring cleaning.
Please join Altamont Community Tradition in the park this coming Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to noon for the annual Green & Clean, where we’ll pick up sticks and trash, prepare the garden beds, and generally give Orsini, Schilling, and Angel parks a nice spiffing up.
It’s a great way to give back to the community and to show your gratitude for the wonderful place that we call home. If you happen to have some garden tools or a wheelbarrow that you can bring, it would be greatly appreciated.
At the same time, trustees and volunteers will be coming together to spruce up the library. We’ll be washing windows, weeding, planting, and setting up the delightful Spohr Family Centennial Patio for the season. Once you’ve greened and cleaned in the park, if you still have some energy left, please join us here at the library!
Many hands make light work, so we’d love to see you. Happy Spring!
Village-Wide
Garage Sale
Speaking of wonderful annual events, the Altamont Elementary School’s annual Village-wide Garage Sale is back this year on Saturday, May 7. I’m pleased to say that for the first time since 2019, the Altamont Free Library will be holding its always eagerly anticipated book sale and we need you, (yes, you!) to help us make sure that it’s our most successful sale ever!
On the day of the sale, we need all the friends we can get to carry books outside, 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 ,
Birding Bag
You know that it’s spring because the birds have returned! If you and your young friends are interested in learning more about the birds living all around us, we’ve got the perfect kit for you!
Put together by the Thacher Park Nature Center, our birding kit has binoculars for both adults and kiddos, guides to local birds, bird activity sheets, and much more! This kit can be checked out for up to one week, and you can use it up at Thacher, in your backyard, or anywhere else that birds hang out. Thank you, Thacher Park Nature Center!
Train Station
History Exhibit
The Altamont Train Station has witnessed a lot of history since it opened its doors in 1897. Next Monday, we will unveil an exhibit all about that history. The exhibit was curated by Dan Barker of the Village Archive and Museum and features photos, documents, and artifacts from our building’s 125-year history.
Among the artifacts on display will be an original stationmaster’s wooden ticket cabinet, which has never been displayed before. The exhibit, which is presented with the financial assistance of the library’s Marijo Dougherty Fund for Local History Research, also features text by Keith C. Lee documenting the station’s history.
It will be on display for the next few months, so please come on in and take a look! Many thanks to Dan and Keith for putting this all together.
Story time
Story time is back at ARC! Please join us to gather together once more for our weekly Tuesday morning story times for children. Since spreading out is still important, and since it’s too cold to do it out in the park, we’ll be back at Altamont Reformed Church!
Please join us in the community room at Altamont Reformed Church at 129 Lincoln Ave. in Altamont on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for a super fun morning of songs, stories, and activities! Since this is an indoor program, all participants over the age of 2 must wear masks for the duration of the program. Many thanks to ARC for hosting us. We hope to see you there!