On Flag Day, June 14, Guilderland participated in a nationwide event, organized by the Smithsonian in honor of the 200th anniversary of Francis Scott Key composing the words to the song that became the national anthem in 1931. Key was inspired watching the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812 when he saw the flag still flying at Fort McHenry; the Smithsonian has preserved that flag. The day before the library's sing-along the Guilderland Elks held their traditional ceremony on the history of the flag.
