Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, May 4, 2022

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.