Tag: Albany Public Library

Library trustee vote

APL budget passed!

As I noted, the trick with the library trustee vote for Albany Public Library on May 19 was that I found at least six of the candidates to be credible choices.

The vote totals for the nine trustee candidates were:
1. Kathryn Bamberger with 1,263 votes
2. Kayli McTague with 1,251 votes
3. Matthew Reed with 908 votes
4. Sarah Macinski with 865 votes
5. Leslie Dykeman with 751 votes
6. Smriti Sinha with 750 votes
7. Lori Kochanski with 701 votes
8. Jenna Kersten with 515 votes
9. Kenneth Louzier with 443 votes

Kat and Kayli were elected to full five-year terms, while Matthew Reed was elected to a partial one-year term.

I ended up voting for Kat, who I knew had been deeply involved in our public schools for years, in part because she came to my house and got my signature. Retail politics at its finest.

I also voted for Sarah Macinski, whose great job as the current board president cannot be overstated. And the truth is that I’ve known her personally for more than two decades. She and I have kids who are a year apart in age. She is good at trustee administering but only so-so at campaigning; I got a few people to sign her petition.

Also: “Albany voters approved the Albany Public Library 2026-27 budget May 19 with a final tally of 2,412 to 646. The $9,661,856 million budget was approved by 79% of the voters.” YAY!

“‘The approved budget erases our deficit and stabilizes our fund balance for rainy-day capital needs. This vote protects current branches, hours, and services, as well as library jobs,’ said APL Executive Director Andrea Nicolay.”

The City School of Albany’s votes went as I had hoped.

Not incidentally, I went to the city school district building and voted on Monday because I would be out of town on Tuesday. That IS a thing one can do!

FFAPL

The Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library book reviews and author talks on Tuesdays at 2 pm at the Washington Avenue branch, large auditorium.

May 26 | Book Review | The Fear and the Fury: Bernie Goetz, the Reagan ‘80s, and the Rebirth of White Rage by Heather Ann Thompson.  Reviewer: James Collins, PhD, Prof. emeritus, Anthropology Dept, Program in Linguistics & Cognitive Science, U at Albany, SUNY.
June 2  |  Book Review | Citizen Cowboy:  Will Rogers and the American People by Steven Watts.  Reviewer:  Jonathan Skinner, PhD, retired statistician & amateur classicist.  (This is a replacement for the talk scheduled earlier.)
June 9 | Illustrator Talk | Marcus Kwame Anderson, Deputy Director, Underground Railroad Education Center, discusses his most recent graphic novel, written with David Walker, Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined.  (Rescheduled from February.)
June 16 | Book Review | The Gift of Fear: Survival Signs That Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker.  Reviewer:  David Guistina, “Morning Edition” anchor & senior producer, WAMC, and adjunct professor, U at Albany, SUNY.
June 23 | Book Reviews | Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart and The Shadow Gospel: How Anti-liberal Demonology Possessed U. S. Religion, Media, and Politics by Whitney Phillips and Mark Brockway.  Reviewer:  Frank Robinson, JD, philosopher, author, & blogger.
June 30 | Author Talk | Molly Dunn discusses & reads from her psychological thriller, The Circuitry We Share.

Yikes! I’m going to need an absentee ballot!

library and school votes in ALB and statewide

I was going to be away starting on Tuesday, May 19, for the day. But I thought I could vote for the Albany school board, the library board, the school budget, and the library budget first thing in the morning, i.e., 7 a.m. But yikes! Because my travel plans changed, I’m going to need an absentee ballot! What is that process?

I need to go to the City School District of Albany headquarters, 1 Academy Park, Albany, NY, United States, 12207. This is the building northwest of Albany City Hall, south of Elk Street. And I need to go when the building is open, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Not incidentally, New York State voters: you should check to see if there are budget and or board votes on May 19.

My next issue is deciding who to vote for in the library trustees races. Other than Sarah Macinski, I still don’t yet know which three of the nine candidates to select. I was impressed with them as a collective. I’ve asked people whose judgment I trust, and they were in similar straits. This is actually a good problem to have.   I’m voting for both budgets and both school propositions.  There will be a ZOOM candidate debate for the school board on May 18 at 6 pm, but I will have to have voted by then. 

I ALWAYS vote, dammit!

If you are voting at the polls in Albany on May 19, go to page 10 of this document for the location.

My wife said that she’s impressed by my commitment to voting. I probably said something like, “The franchise has not been available to everyone, and I’m certainly not throwing away my opportunity.” It’s also true that I believe local races are often more significant than larger races, yet participation rates are generally pathetic.  It’s simple math: other people’s apathy gives my vote more impact.

ICE discussion Thursday, May 14

Off topic, except for the venue:

Come join the NYCLU Capital Region community for an annual meeting on Thursday, May 14, at 5:30 pm in the Large Auditorium at the Albany Public Library Main Branch, 161 Washington Avenue, Albany.

The Topic is Constitutional Rights & Immigration

Led by Lauren DesRosiers, Assistant Professor and Director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the Edward P. Swyer Justice Center at Albany Law School, alongside Diego H. Alcalá Laboy, Assistant Professor at Albany Law School, this session is designed to help participants understand their rights in encounters with law enforcement or immigration officials. Topics include stops and seizures, customs and border protection, protesting and filming, as well as practical tips for being prepared in a range of scenarios.

Refreshments will be provided.  Free and open to the public.
RSVP here:

National Library Week 2026: Find Your Joy

APL survey

Since it’s National Library Week 2026, I am required by my vows as a Master of Library Science to celebrate. Find your joy!

ITEM: Albany city residents go to the polls on Tuesday, May 19, to vote on the library’s 2026-2027 operating budget tax levy. Voters will also elect three new library trustees. Note that the poll locations may vary from the primary and general election locations. 

ITEM: Albany Public Library is currently developing a Strategic Plan with the help of Library Strategies to guide its priorities over the next three years. In order to craft this long-range roadmap, the Library must determine what residents need, want, and expect from their libraries – now and into the future. For that reason, this survey was developed to collect your valuable input.

On average, it takes just 8-10 minutes to complete the survey. The information you provide will help the Library and its consultants scope and prioritize areas of focus that maximize the Library’s return on investment. You will remain anonymous unless you actively choose to self-identify.

ALA

ITEM: From the American Library Association-

This month, ALA prevailed in our lawsuit against the government to protect the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The settlement, alongside our co-plaintiff AFSCME and represented by Democracy Forward, ensures that the only federal agency dedicated to library services will continue to carry out its critical work.

ALA has been showing up for libraries on fronts beyond the IMLS lawsuit and Fund Libraries campaign:

NYSWI

ITEM: Join New York State Writers Institute on Wednesday, April 22, at 4:30 p.m. at Page Hall, UAlbany for a conversation with Heidi Boghosian, lawyer, podcast host, writer, and surveillance and privacy expert, and the author of Cyber Citizens: Saving Democracy with Digital Literacy (2025), which argues that our best chance of thriving in the digital era lies in taking care of our “smart” selves as diligently as we maintain our “smart” devices.

​She will also discuss the looming challenges to democracy posed by AI and other emerging technologies.

Boghosian is executive director of the A.J. Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice, a charitable organization providing support to activist organizations, and the former executive director of the National Lawyers Guild.

FFAPL

ITEM: The Friends of Albany Public Library and, later, the Friends and Foundation of Albany Public Library, have sponsored free Tuesday Book Talks almost every week of the year at the Washington Avenue branch at 2 pm. 

April 21 | Book Review | The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics by Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, & Mark Olshaker.  Reviewer:  Bryon Backenson, Director, Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, NYS Dept. of Health.

​April 28 | Author Talk | David Ricci, from the Berkshires, discusses & reads from his book of photographs, Hunter Gatherer: Salvaged Stories of American Culture, with text by Cheryl Finley.

​May 5 | Author Talk | Jessica Treadway, Albany native & child patron of the Pine Hills Branch, discusses & reads from her short story collection, I Felt My Life with Both My Hands.

May 12 | Book Review | The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Book Lover’s Adventures by Josh Hanagarne.  Reviewer:  John Edvalson, APL librarian.

May 19| Book Review | The Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller.  Reviewer:  Charles Hailer, Empire State Fellow with the NYS Urban Development Corporation.

May 26 | Book Review | The Fear and the Fury: Bernie Goetz, the Reagan ‘80s, and the Rebirth of White Rage by Heather Ann Thompson.  Reviewer: James Collins, PhD, Prof. emeritus, Anthropology Dept, Program in Linguistics & Cognitive Science, U at Albany, SUNY.

Photos

ITEM: Locally, the show of FFAPL treasurer David Brickman, Neighborhood Abstracts, has been extended through mid-May at McGreevy ProLab and ProPress in Albany (link here for hours and address). 

And David and McGreevy are producing a 30-page book of the show, with all the pictures and a little bit of text. The book will be available in two sizes: 8″x8″ signed, limited-edition softcover ($35, tax included, shipping extra if needed; limited to 40 numbered copies plus 10 artist proofs); and deluxe 12″x12″ hardcover ($100 plus tax and shipping if needed). Write to David: dbgetvisual[at]gmail[dot]com 

Three Trustees for the APL Board to be chosen May 19

I will be reviewing Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser April 14

ITEM, from here: Albany voters will select three trustees for the APL Board of Trustees in the Tuesday, May 19, election. Two positions carry full five-year terms, while the third (partial) term is for one year.

Albany residents interested in running for a seat on the board need to complete and submit nominating petitions. The petitions, eligibility information, and instructions are posted on the Library Budget page, and paper copies are available at all seven APL branches.

Trustee nominating petitions, with at least 65 signatures of qualified voters, are due to the Clerk of the City School District of Albany (1 Academy Park) by 5 pm on Wednesday, April 29. Trustee candidate names are announced after the school district validates the submitted nominating petitions.

The library’s trustee election and budget vote share a ballot with the city school district vote, which also takes place on May 19. Note that the locations may differ from the primary and general election sites.

The library is hosting a second Trustee Candidate Information Session (the first was on March 12):

At the information session, current trustees will be on hand to answer questions about how to get on the ballot, tips for a successful campaign, and what it’s like to serve as a library trustee.

You can also view an informational presentation online.

APL Budget Vote

“Albany city residents will also vote on the library’s 2026-2027 operating budget tax levy… The budget plan was approved by the library’s Board of Trustees at its March 10 meeting.

“The proposed 2026-2027 operating tax levy of $9,661,856 would result in an increase of $42.58 for the owner of a home assessed at $250,000. The spending plan represents a 17% increase in the annual total operating budget tax levy.

“’Our main goal is securing adequate funding for the library and everything that it provides to our community,’ said Board President Sarah Macinski. ‘This increase addresses the impact of some expenses that have spiked in recent years, like health benefits and utilities, while ensuring we have enough reserve funds to maintain branch facilities and be grant-eligible for future renovations.'”

Honestly, I believe part of the cause of the larger-than-usual request this year was that, during more than one year in the 2010s, the trustees chose not to ask for an increase. This meant the previous year’s budget was automatically passed even as expenses went up. 

Diverse viewpoints

ITEM: From the Times Union (likely behind a paywall)

NY Regents to vote on library rules, including support for ‘diverse viewpoints.’

“All public libraries need to set specific policies on how new materials are selected and how people can object, the state librarian told the Board of Regents Monday [3/9]…

“State librarian Lauren Moore emphasized that each library Board of Trustees can write its own policies. But they must support the concept of selecting ‘diverse viewpoints,’ she said.

“Library directors should take care to buy materials on viewpoints they themselves disagree with, rather than only choosing materials with ideas they support, she added.

“They must also set rules for public use of meeting rooms, which must also be available to groups from a diverse set of viewpoints, she said.”

The Regents did indeed pass the new rules. (Thanks to TU reporter Kathleen Moore for helping me find this.) Most larger libraries likely have such policies in place, but it may be an issue at smaller ones.

Indeed, Albany Public Library does have both a ​Materials Selection Policy​ and a​ Material Reconsideration Request Form​. The reconsideration request form includes an option to object to a library program.

Book reviews and author talks (including me!)

Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, Tuesdays at 2 pm in the large auditorium

April 7 | Author Interview | David Sylvestor, local writer & instructor, will be asked about his 2024 Erie Canal crime novel, Hung Be the Heavens with Scarlet, by poet Therese L. Broderick, MFA.
April 14 | Book Review | Mona’s Eyes, a novel by the French art historian Thomas Schlesser.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, MLS, business librarian retired from the NY Small Business Development Center.
April 21 | Book Review | The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics by Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, & Mark Olshaker.  Reviewer:  Bryon Backenson, Director, Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, NYS Dept. of Health.
April 28 | Author Talk | David Ricci, from the Berkshires, discusses & reads from his book of photographs, Hunter Gatherer: Salvaged Stories of American Culture, with text by Cheryl Finley.

Calendar post: November 2025, et al.

Underground Railroad Education Center

I love my little calendar post. I’ll probably do one of these monthly, if only so I can keep it straight in my own mind. My choir has been rehearsing quite a bit for the December 14 concert. I suppose I should read the tome before my book review. 

ITEM: Marathon public reading of Legs by William Kennedy. Noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5. Albany Distilling Co. Bar, 75 Livingston Avenue, Albany, NY 12207 518-949-2472

Want to join the reading? Readers are asked to sign up and select a time slot by Friday, Oct. 31. Just want to listen? No registration is needed to attend. The event is free and open to the public. Drop in anytime from noon to 8 p.m. 

Support a good cause: Donations will be collected at the door to benefit the food pantry and free meal outreach at Sacred Heart Church in Albany, Kennedy’s childhood parish.

The event is the third in a series of public readings of Kennedy’s novels. We read Ironweed in 2023 and Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game in 2024. (I participated in both, and will again this year.)

ITEM: Roselee Blooston, who will be speaking at APL in December, provided this info about her new book, Including the Periphery: 

Main Street Magazine’s author profile, which you can read HERE. She was also included in  Chronogram’s “5 Hudson Valley Books to Read in September.” She will be at:

The Ballad of the Brown King

ITEM:  There will be a concert on Sunday, December 14, at 3 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 362 State Street (corner of Willett) in Albany. The FPC choir will perform in partnership with the Festival Celebration Choir. It will feature a chamber string orchestra (plus harp). Half of the concert will feature carol settings by Alice Parker, including her Seven Carols for Christmas. The second half will feature the cantata The Ballad of the Brown King by Margaret Bonds, one of the most significant black woman composers of the 20th century, with lyrics by Langston Hughes.

ITEM: Connections That Feed Hope – FOCUS Churches Breakfast Club. Donate if you can.

ITEM: Stand with the Underground Railroad Education Center as a sponsor or attendee of the upcoming Arias in the Afternoon: Lifting Every Voice on December 14, 2025, from 1 to 3 pm, at the New York State Museum. Arias in the Afternoon brings Handel’s Messiah together with the Smithsonian’s Voices and Votes exhibit for a powerful experience combining music, history, and inspiration.

ITEM: The current Art at APL exhibit — “Sight Specific” — is on view at the Pine Hills Branch until Nov. 8.

The exhibit is curated by Opalka Gallery and funded by the Friends & Foundation of APL, with additional support in 2025 from the Arts Thrive and Grow grant through The Arts Center of the Capital Region.

Stay tuned for information about the next Art at APL exhibit — “Countenance: The Contemporary Portrait” — which will debut on Dec. 5.

Another book review (moi)

ITEM: Events at the Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, on Tuesdays at 2 pm in the large auditorium.

October 28 | Special Program: Andrea Nicolay, Executive Director of APL, will discuss APL and Current Events.

November 4 | Author Talk | Peter Balint, retired international businessman and former US Army officer, discusses and reads from his memoir, The Shoe in the Danube: The Immigrant Experience of a Holocaust Survivor.

November 11 | Author Talk: Ryane McAuliffe Straus, formerly professor of political science at St. Rose College and now an Empire State Fellow, discusses and reads from her book Divided by Choice: How Charter Schools Diminish Democracy.

November 18 |Book Review | On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder.  Reviewer:  Mark Lowery, retired from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

November 25| Book Review | Everything is Tuberculosis:  The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, business librarian retired from the NY Small Business Development Center.  (Not related to John.)
ITEM: Remember to make a plan to vote and take advantage of Early Voting if you can! 
In New York State:
Saturday, October 25 – Sunday, November 2, 2025
Saturday & Sunday: 9:00AM – 5:00PM
Monday & Wednesday: Noon – 8:00PM
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 9:00AM – 5:00PM

 

Early Voting Locations for 2025 in Albany County 
You may vote at ANY of the following sites during Early Voting only:

Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Parish Hall) 
85 Elm Ave., Delmar, NY 12054 

Albany County Board of Elections
St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church
Boght Community Fire District
Pine Grove United Methodist Church
East Berne Volunteer Fire Company
Guilderland Public Library
Scams

ITEM: 🚨REPOST PSA🚨

The Albany Police Department’s Center and South stations have received numerous calls regarding scams. Please remember:

The scammers may:
🚨Claim you owe money.
🚨May identify themselves as an officer of APD demanding arrest if you do not pay the amount owed.
🚨Demand payments through gift cards.

Just a reminder:
🚨APD will not call you and demand payment over the phone.
🚨APD will not ask for personal financial information over the phone.
🚨Do not provide any personal information over the phone

If you receive a suspicious call, hang up and report it to the police.

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