Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, December 30, 2020
At the end of a long, hard year, here's some great news: For the third time in the past four years, Altamont Free Library has been named a Library Journal Star Library!
Library Journal is the most prominent trade publication in the library world. Each year LJ publishes a list of the best-performing libraries for each of nine funding levels.
Performance is determined by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the federal agency that oversees museums and libraries in the United States. Thousands of libraries nationwide were of sufficient size and stature to be eligible for consideration as Star Libraries and over a thousand share our funding tier.
IMLS scores are determined by a number of factors, including per-capita circulation, visits, computer use, Wi-Fi sessions, and other factors based on the statistics reported in our New York State annual report. In each funding tier, the libraries with the 30 highest scores are named as Star Libraries, the top 10 receiving five stars, the next ten receiving four, etc.
The Altamont Free Library was named a three-star library this year, as we were last year. We were, in fact, the 21st best performing library with a budget between $100,000 and $200,000 — in the whole country! Woo-hoo!
This is just about the highest honor that a library can realistically aspire to, and we have only received this acknowledgement because of all the hard work done by our incredible staff and board of trustees. More than anyone else, though, we have earned this acknowledgement because of you.
All of you borrowers and storytimers, Wi-Fi users and movie browsers, and all who love and use our library — you are all stars, every single one of you. Thank you all!
Holiday hours
Please note that the library will be closing at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31 and closed on Friday, Jan. 1. On behalf of the staff and Board, I wish you all a Happy New Year!
Book Club!
With the onset of cooler weather, we’ve had to migrate our book club meetings to the digital realm. If you would like to join us for our next meeting, please us at 518-861-7239 or email us at and we’ll make sure that you get the Zoom meeting connection details for our next meeting on at noon on Monday, Jan. 11.
At that meeting, we’ll be discussing the wonderful novel The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, author of the beloved A Gentleman in Moscow. Call today to reserve your copy and join us!
Grab & Go
Due to the worsening COVID situation, we are halting in-person browsing and temporarily going back to an all-Grab & Go service model. But that’s OK! Grab & Go is still pretty great! Here’s how it works:
— Hours of operation for pick-up and drop-off will be 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday;
— Reserve books and DVD’s at http://www.catalog.uhls.org anytime or by calling us at 518- 861-7239;
— When your items are ready, a library staff member will call you with a time you to make an appointment for you to pick them up so that we can be sure to have everything ready for you when you get here and to control the flow of foot traffic in and out of the vestibule;
— Your order will be waiting on a table in the library’s vestibule in a paper bag with your name on it. Please follow the directions you will see posted about “traffic flow” and social distancing;
— At this time, the library building and its restroom will remain closed to the public. Printing, faxing and photocopying services are available by appointment;
— Returns can be dropped off in the marked boxes in the library’s vestibule during business hours or in out outside dropbox when we’re closed;
— Returned items will be quarantined at the library for at least 72 hours before they are able to be checked in and recirculated; and
— Library users must maintain social distance and wear masks while picking up and dropping off library materials.
If you have any questions, please give us a call at 518-861-7239. See you soon!