Friday April 26, 2024 
East Greenbush Community Library Programs
EAST GREENBUSH – Hours (limited capacity/15-minute browsing): Mon, 11-2pm for Returns only; Tue/Thu/Fri 11-6pm; Wed 11-7 pm; Sat 10-2pm; Building closed Sundays; Virtual library is always open! To minimize wait time, please limit the number of visitors to 1-2 family members per household. Information is subject to change, for updates call 518-477-7476 or visit eglibrary.org. Visitors are required to wear a mask, covering both mouth and nose, at all times when in the library or using our drive thru.
To learn more about programs or to register: https://events.eglibrary.org. Happening Now (registration is required unless noted): Winter Reading Challenge for all ages (ends 3/5); Pen to Pandemic Short Story Contest for local authors in Rensselaer County (submission deadline 3/15).
Upcoming Programs (registration is required unless noted):
February Teen Takeout Craft! Register, while supplies last.
2/11: Virtual Hands-On Cooking with Felisha from CCE, 6:30 pm
2/13: Virtual Bingo for kids, 11 am
2/15: Monday Night Book Chat, 7 pm on our Facebook channel (No registration required); Monday Book Discussions, 10 am or 7 pm
2/17: Virtual Pokemon Program (ages 6-10), 4 pm; Trivia Night (TV Shows theme), 7 pm
2/18: Magic Workshop (ages 6-10), 11 am
2/19: Che-Mystery (ages 7-10), 11 am; Teen/Tween Virtual Pokemon Trivia (gr 6-12), 4 pm
2/22: Crafts & Conversation, 11 am
2/24: Adult Bingo, 7 pm
Visit kids blog “Check It Out with Charlie” at https://eglibrarykids.wordpress.com/. Readers Advisory Services https://eglibrary.org/adults/recommendations/ and Kids Book Bundles https://eglibrary.org/children/book-bundles/. Fill out the online form with your preferences, we’ll select books to match and put them on hold for you! Call us for help at 518-477-7476. Borrow Laptops and hotspots! Kids tablets, movies-on-the-go, & audiobooks from Playaway. No car stereo or DVD player required. For tech webinars, workshops & resources https://eglibrary.org/popular-subjects.
Services & Events at Castleton Public Library
CASTLETON – CPL is located at 85 S. Main St., Castleton, NY. All events are free. Questions? Call 518-732-0879.
Castleton Public Library is open with limited capacity & services. Check www.castletonpubliclibrary.org or call for current info. We also offer curbside pick-up!
Events:
Castleton/Schodack Community Window Art Project: Snowflakes! – Kits available through 2/27 – Join this fun winter community-wide project! Pick up our kit, or what you have at home.
Winter Break Week Fun Pack! – Kits available through 2/20 – Includes a Cool Science experiment, coloring & puzzle sheets, craft, and toy!
Cool Science at Home: Lava Lamps – Kits available through 2/27 – Make your own lava lamp in a cup and learn about density and polarity.
Take & Make Crafts: Valentine Crafts – Kits available through 2/27 – Celebrate love & friendship with a variety of Valentine’s Day Crafts
Teen Time Origami Kit – Kits available through 2/27 – For teens in 6th-12th grades. Kit contains origami paper & instructions for projects.
Favorite Book Photo Challenge – Submit photo by 2/22 – Take a photo with your favorite book & email it to youthservices@nullcastletonpubliclibrary.org & you’ll be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card (3 winners drawn randomly). All ages. The deadline to send photos is 2/22. We’ll post a video of all entries on YouTube on 2/26.
CPL Board of Trustees Meeting – Tue., 2/16, 7:00pm – Monthly meeting of the library’s Board of Trustees. Email director@nullcastletonpubliclibrary.org for Zoom connection info.
Virtual Book Club – Tue., 2/16, 8:00pm – Join us to discuss America For Beginners: A Novel by Leah Franqui. Borrow the eBook or digital audiobook using hoopladigital.com! For adults. Email director@nullcastletonpubliclibrary.org for Zoom connection info.
Storytime with Miss Joelle – New episode posted Wed., 2/17 – Join Miss Joelle for a story & rhymes/songs you can enjoy at home! New video every Wednesday. Full storytime playlist: tinyurl.com/CPL-storytime
North Greenbush Public Library Update
NORTH GREENBUSH – The library will be closed in observation of Presidents’ Day, Monday, Feb. 15. Take this opportunity to learn about this holiday and the history of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln by requesting the DVD “Presidents Day.”
Reopening on Tuesday, Feb. 16, we have scheduled a discussion of “The Gown”, by Jennifer Robson, at our monthly Virtual Book Club meeting, at 6:30 PM. Coinciding with our fashion fascination at January’s presidential inauguration, “The Gown” will not disappoint, as it unveils in this post-WW II novel the creation of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown, through the friendship of two women. Call the library to reserve a copy and request the Zoom link.
While you indulge in Valentine’s Day chocolates, why not extend your celebration with a library craft kit. Younger children can complete a Valentine penguin and a love-bug crafts kit; teens and adults felt roses with the help of a tutorial on the library’s YouTube page. Kits are available using our Grab ’N’ Go while supplies last.
Our Winter Reading Challenge continues to February 27; winners in each of three categories will be announced on March 1. Complete your bingo sheets and submit them before the deadline to ensure your chance to win!
Library hours are 10 AM to 2 PM, Mon/Wed/Fri and Sat; 3-7 PM Tues/Thurs. Requests for 20-minute appointments and Grab ’N’ Go may be made by calling the library at 518-283-0303. Patrons are required to wear masks when entering the building.
Russell Sage: The Money King – Local History Lecture
TROY – On Tuesday, February 16th at 6:30PM, Michael Barrett, Executive Director of the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway will discuss Russell Sage, The Money King for the Troy Public Library.
Born into poverty, Russell Sage was a self-made man, although the man he made himself into was the quintessential Robber Baron of the Gilded Age. After leaving his home in Troy for the richer pickings of NYC, his financial manipulations of the Wall Street stock market, the banking industry, railroads and other major corporations became the stuff of financial legend. Along with his primary partner Jay Gould, Sage pillaged and plundered the American economic marketplace for almost forty years. He was probably the wealthiest American at the time of his death in 1906, and his wife’s reaction to his passing is one of the greatest stories of philanthropic retaliation in American history.
This program will be conducted via zoom. Please register using your email address so that we can send you a link to the presentation. This program is free and open to the public. Registration is necessary. For more information and to register call the library at 274-7071 or online at www.thetroylibrary.org. The Troy Public Library is located at 100 2nd Street, Troy, NY
Life After Deaf – A Memoir – Come Zoom with the Author
ALBANY – Come Zoom with the author, Noel Holston, of “Life After Deaf”, a memoir about loss and recovery. Noel Holston is a journalist, musician and poet, who got up one day and discovered that he was completely deaf. This is the story of what happened next. Let him tell you about it! Sponsored by the Hearing Loss Association of America Albany Chapter and the Albany Public Library, it will be held at 6:30 on Wednesday Feb 17, 2021. Preregister to get the link at https://albanypubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/7443072
Understanding Shakespeare – Hamlet
TROY – Join us at the Troy Public Library on Thursdays, February 18th – March 18th from 6:30PM – 7:30PM for our Understanding Shakespeare workshop.
This will be a five-session program on how to understand Shakespeare’s plays. We will start our discussion with Act 1 of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet.” Then in the following four weeks we will discuss the play one act at a time. This program will allow the participants to put the play in a variety of contexts, such as its relationship to his other works and to the modern existential world. Tom Bulger, Shakespeare Scholar and retired professor from Siena College will lead this workshop.
Please have Act One read for the February 18th discussion.
This program is free and open to the public. This program will be conducted using Zoom. Registration is necessary. For more information and to register, call the library at 274-7071 or online at www.thetroylibrary.org. The Troy Public Library is located at 100 Second Street, Troy, NY.
Short Story Cafe at The Troy Public Library
TROY – On Wednesdays, February 24th – April 7th at 6PM (no meeting March 31st), Short Story writer David Sylvester will lead a reading and discussion group at the Troy Public Library.
Local short-story writer Dave Sylvester hosts The Short Story Café, an informal discussion of the short story form that examines how writers handle structural elements such as plot, character and theme in their writing. Each week we will read and discuss two stories by well-known (and some lesser-known!) masters of the form.
Copies of the stories will be available in advance and should be read before the discussions. This program will be presented using Zoom. Joining the presentation will require the installation of the Zoom client on your computer (microphone and speakers required for audio, camera for video) or the Zoom app on your mobile device.
The first set of stories will be emailed to you one week prior to the first class and will be available at the information desk of the main library.
For more information and to register call the library at 518-274-7071 or online at www.thetroylibrary.org. The Troy Public Library is located at 100 Second Street, Troy, NY.
Adult Evening Book Group Meeting at The Troy Public Librar
TROY – The Troy Public Library’s Evening Book Group will be discussing Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City on Monday, March 1st at 6:30 PM.
Our monthly book group meets to discuss a wide range of book selections. New members are always welcomed. Monthly participation is not necessary, come for the books that interest you! This meeting will be conducted via Zoom.
This discussion is free and open to the public. Registration is required. To register call the library at 518-274-7071 or online at www.thetroylibrary.org Troy Public Library is located at 100 Second Street, Troy, NY.
Attention Local Authors! Enter Our Short Story Competition “Pen to Pandemic”
East Greenbush – At the East Greenbush Community Library, we love our local authors! In support of our home-grown talent, the Library, in partnership with the Town of East Greenbush and the Hart Cluett Museum, is hosting a short story competition. The theme is “Pen to Pandemic.” This work of fiction will be set in Rensselaer County during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Any genre is welcome. The word count must be between 1500 to 2000 words. The contest is open to adults 18+ who reside in Rensselaer County. Participants must provide a name for their story when registering for the contest. All stories must be previously unpublished, original stories. Registration begins online January 15th at https://eglibrary.org/pen-to-pandemic/. Submissions must be received by March 15, 2021 (.doc or .pdf format). See eglibrary.org for more information. For questions, contact Jody Squadere, Adult Services Librarian at 518-477-7476 ext, 107.
Stories will be judged anonymously by a joint committee. The judges are Roberta (Bobbie) Reno, East Greenbush Town Historian, Kathy T. Sheehan, County & City Historian at the Hart Cluett Museum, and Frankie Y. Bailey, Professor at the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Albany (SUNY) and published author. Fifty (50) entries will be accepted. One entry per person. Two winners will be chosen (one from each age group; 18-49 and 50+). Winners will be notified by May 1, 2021. The Library will host a public reading for the winners to read their stories and publish their work.