Berne Library Notes for Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Introducing a vital community group putting forth great efforts to strengthen the library. Please say hello to Friends of the Berne Library. The Friends’ main mission is to help support the library. Summer reading programs are enhanced through the Friends’ yearly fundraising events. Brainstorming ways to raise money for the library during the current state of affairs is in session. Any ideas?

You could help bolster the library through volunteering at fundraisers or becoming a member of the Friends group. Single membership dues are only $15 per year and a family can join for $25.  

Ask library staff for a sign-up envelope listing all the available options on becoming a Friend of the Berne Library today. Learn more about the Friends on the Berne Library’s web page at www.bernepubliclibrary.org and click on Friends. Thank you for your consideration. 

Enjoy the use of a MiSci Museum pass from the Friends. This pass can be checked out with your library card and gives the holder a 50-percent discount on general admission. Access is for two adults and up to four children under the age of 18.

The 50-percent discount translates into $6 per adult, $4 per child, and $5 per senior using the pass. MiSci museum information can be found at www.misci.org. 

Another golden token from the Friends is the Empire Pass. This allows you entry into facilities run by the state’s parks and environmental conservation departments.

Reading adventures

A library-sponsored hike is planned for Aug. 23 at 11 a.m. as part of the summer reading activities. The site for the hike is White Birch Pond located off of Ravine Road, within the Partridge Run Wildlife Management Area.

Bring your lunch, water bottles and smiles. Come and enjoy one of Berne’s many natural play lands. Hike, have lunch, enjoy the great outdoors. Distancing parameters will be recognized.

Imagine Your Story 2020 continues until Sept. 12. How are your reading adventures going? Encouraging reading and discovery, it’s OK to hop on the reading band wagon at any time. Sign up at READsquared on the library’s website.

Questions? Give the library a call at 518-872-1246 during the new temporary hours of operation. Monday through Friday from 2 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Women’s suffrage

This year marks the 100th year anniversary of the 19th Amendment, giving some women the right to vote. A suffragist movement and campaign demanding equal rights began 70 years before ratification of the amendment.

Books received by the library just last week, for young readers, highlight the stories surrounding this noteworthy historical event. “Women Making History: The 19th Amendment” from the National Park Service also dropped in.

In 1917, Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives. Montana granted women the right to vote on Nov. 3, 1914. 

Thanks go to the American Library Association and the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission for making these books available. An included list of resources provides further exploration into this subject for interested learners from Pre-K through High School.