2020 has been a year to remember and to preserve these memories for our children and grandchildren.  You are invited to send photos / paintings / drawings / other art forms to the Library that tell your stories about this year.  The goal of this project is to show how art in any form can lift our spirits and renew our hope.  Works submitted should reflect this goal.   Connect with your community; share your 2020 memories visually.  Send your art to this link until December 21st.  On Saturday, December 26, visit the Library’s Facebook page to see the 2020 experiences of the Valatie Community in art.

We are trying a new type of Library program: a story walk in the Village of Valatie.  Chuck, our program coordinator, has placed pages of a children’s story, I Want to Be in a Scary Story, in several of the stores along Main Street.  The story written by Sean Taylor and illustrated by Jean Jullien is perfect for Halloween.  We invite you to take a walk in the Village during Halloween week and read the pages of this very entertaining children’s story.  Start at the Main Street Diner, go up to Magdalena’s, cross the street at Wildhorse
Wine and Liquor Store and then continue down that side of the street to Beaver Mill Antiques.  Look in the shop windows for the colorful pages;  you can’t miss them.  Thank you to Chuck for all the time and effort he put into this project and to the shopkeepers who so generously allowed us to use their shop windows.

Packing Up Items for the Valatie Food Pantry

Thank you to all who donated non-perishable items or money to the Valatie Free Library’s Food Drive for the Valatie Food Pantry.  Because of your generosity, we were able to provide the Food Pantry with more than a thousand dollars worth of aid.  The project clearly demonstrated the wonderful support of the Valatie Community for the Community.  Library Staff and Board of Trustees were pleased to be part of this 2020 Great Give Back Day.

The Valatie Free Library is searching for a new Board of Trustees member. If you would like to be a trustee and have the interest and energy to help the Library continue to be a vital community center, we need you. Please email the Library – valatiefreelibrary@gmail.com or send a letter to Director / Valatie Free Library / PO Box 336 / Valatie, New York 12184

Have you completed the Census?  The last day to submit your Census form is October 31, 2020.  Visit the Valatie Free Library to do your Census online.  We have a computer dedicated only to the Census and Staff who can help you.  Your information will be immediately erased from the Computer when you finish.  Do the Census online!  Do the Census at the Valatie Free Library!  Call us (518-758-9321) to let us know you will be here and need the computer.

¿Necesitan  Uds. rellenar el censo?  Visiten la librería Valatie (Valatie Free Library) antes el dia 31 de octubre para hacer el censo en linea.   Nosotros tenemos una computadora dedicada solamente al censo y algunos empleados que ayudaránles.  También nosotros borrarán su información cuando Uds. terminan el hacer de censo.  ¡Hagan el censo!  ¡Hagan el censo en la librería Valatie!  Llamennos (518-758-9321) para notificarnos que Uds. estarán aquí y necesitarán la computadora.

On Wednesday, July 5, 2020, Master Magician Doug Bartels  presented his special brand of magic for Valatie Free Library at 6:30 p.m. on Facebook Live.   If you missed the show,  check our Facebook page.  You can watch it there anytime for the rest of the summer.   It was great!

Doug is a master magician who is a member of the world’s most prestigious Magic Society, The Magic Circle. He is one of 147 U.S. magicians to be a member of this premier organization.  He has performed for several years at the Valatie Free Library to enthusiastic and amazed audiences of kids and adults.   Wednesday’s virtual audience was as amazed as our past in-library audiences.  Thank you, Doug Bartels!

Have you filled out your Census form yet?  Visit the Valatie Free Library to do it quickly and securely.  We have one new computer dedicated to the Census only.   Anyone who wishes to complete the Census online may use this computer and also receive help from one of our Staff members.  Answer just 10 questions.  Your responses are not shared with any individual or government agency, but they will help the Kinderhook / Valatie area receive necessary services in education, health and wellness care, and many other areas.

Households have until September 30th to respond to the 2020 Census. However, census takers have begun following up with households that haven’t responded.  Millions of emails will continue to be sent into September.  The messages alert households that time is running out and response to the 2020 Census is important for communities. The email messages will invite people to respond online at 2020census.gov.

People who receive the email and haven’t already responded should click on the link provided and complete the census online. It’s easy, safe and important.  So, visit the Valatie Library and help your community by completing the Census on our dedicated computer.  

Census video links:  Click here to view a Census video  

On Thursday, July 23 and Friday July, 24, Mr. Chuck will present two  fascinating and fun art projects.

Today (Thursday) at 1:30 p.m., join him for a Cartooning Workshop on GotoMeeting.  Even if you have not already registered, you can still join the group if  you email valatiefreelibrary@gmail.com so that he can send you the link.  Do you like comics and/or drawing?  Then this workshop is for you.  Learn the basics of designing characters and drawing comic panels. 

Tomorrow (Friday) at 10:30 a.m. is String Painting.  Check our Facebook Page to see some of Mr. Chuck’s string paintings.  They are cool!  Email or call the Library if you would like to be part of this workshop, also on GotoMeeting.  The link will be sent to you, and art supplies will be available at the Library.  Stop by and pick them up.  Have a smock ready!