Tag: Albany Public Library

Music, book review, et al.

October 27 | Book Review | The Spirit of Philadelphia by Chris Gibson.  Reviewer:  Roger Green

Tuesday at 2 pm at the 161 Washington Avenue branch of the Albany (NY) Public Library
October 27 | Book Review | The Spirit of Philadelphia: A Call to Recover Founding Principles by Chris Gibson.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, MLS, business librarian retired from the NY Small Business Development Center. (I JUST finished this book…)
November 3 | Book Review | Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River by Eric Kuhn and John Fleck.  Reviewer: Jonathan Skinner, PhD, retired statistician & amateur classicist.
November 10 |Book Review | The Odyssey by Homer and others, including Christopher Nolan.  Reviewer: Hans-Friedrich O. Mueller, PhD, professor of Classics, Union College.
November 17| Book Review | This Earthly Globe: A Venetian Geographer and the Quest to Map the World by Andrea di Robilant.  Reviewer: Dylan Carey, MS, avid cyclist, hiker, & a railroad history buff.
November 24 | Author Talk | Steve Trimm, peace activist, discusses & reads from his book, Walking Wounded: Men’s Lives during and since the Vietnam War.
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If you like variety, helping people, and working with awesome colleagues, one of these positions with the Albany Public Library could be a good fit!
New location this month 
Stories and Spoken Word Poetry Open Mic Night, sponsored by Upper Madison. Tuesday, October 27. The doors open at 6:30, and the show starts at 7.
Your $5 minimum donation helps cover the venue rental.
Location: Cindy B’s Coffee, a lovely new small business located in the Events and Athletic Center at the former Saint Rose Campus! 420 Western Ave in Albany.
Just $5 to attend.
Bring a 5-minute story or spoken word piece to perform. Storytellers are encouraged to share a story in the style of The Moth – personal stories with no notes. Not in the mood to tell a personal story… how about a folktale?
Poets: read or perform their work without reading.
Don’t feel like performing? Be part of the audience – support the artists & this new small business!
Not up for a late night? Neither are we – you’ll be on your way to your next destination by 8:30!
SPECIAL THIS MONTH: audience members will have the chance to win tickets to Tellabration! 2026 on November 22nd at the GE Theatre at Proctors!
Key details:

We will have prompts available at the door that might inspire an impromptu story!
Expect adult themes and language.
The October Open Mic Night is brought to our community with support from the Story Circle of the Capital District.
SPREAD THE WORD AND BRING A FRIEND, IF YOU CAN.

There’s no E at the end of GREEN

October 27 | Book Review | The Spirit of Philadelphia: A Call to Recover Founding Principles by Chris Gibson.  Reviewer:  Roger Green (no E at the end)

As many of you know, I help put together the calendar for the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library’s author talks and book reviews each Tuesday at 2 pm at the branch at 161 Washington Avenue.

I saw the listing before it went to the Albany Public Library’s calendar compiler on July 20. It wasn’t until August 15, while looking for something else, that I noticed my name was misspelled!  There’s no E at the end of GREEN. 

I didn’t bother to check, figuring that the reviewer description would be a cut-and-paste job from the last time I did a book review. 

So if you see the listing with an E at the end of my surname, I know, I know!

September 22 | Book Review | American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation by Eric Rutkow.  Reviewer:  Alex Ashby, MF, watershed forester, Albany Dept. of Water & Water Supply.

September 29 | Book Review | Copernicus’ Secret:  How the Scientific Revolution Began by Jack Repcheck.  Reviewer:  Tom Ellis, educator & activist.

October 6 | Book Review | Who is Government: The Untold Story of Public Service by Michael Lewis.  Reviewer:  Patrick Wildes, Director of the Albany Law Center.

October 13 | Author Talk | Kenneth A. Posner, aka Barefoot Ken, runner & former Wall Street analyst, discusses & reads from his book, Chasing the Grid: An Ultrarunner’s Physical and Spiritual Journey in Pursuit of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge.

October 20 | Author Talk | Paul Grondahl, Opalka Endowed Director, NYS Writers Institute, discusses & reads from his new book, Andy Rooney: A Lucky Life.

October 27 | Book Review | The Spirit of Philadelphia: A Call to Recover Founding Principles by Chris Gibson.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, MLS, business librarian retired from the NY Small Business Development Center.
Looking forward!
I’m particularly looking forward to hearing about Albany native Andy Rooney (1919 – 2011), a mainstay on the CBS News program 60 Minutes. When he died, I wrote about him. 
As for the book I’m reviewing the following week, well, I haven’t gotten past Chapter 1 yet. But I have time, right? Already, I know that there are a LOT of footnotes.
I’ll mention again: if you live around here and have a book you’ve written, or a book you’d like to review, please let me know.
Banned Books Readout
Event by Albany NY Library, Tuesday, October 6, 2026
161 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12210-2303
Duration: 1 hr 30 min, 6-7:30 pm
Celebrate your right to read! Join community members, authors, actors, musicians, poets, educators, and advocates for an inspiring evening celebrating the freedom to read and the power of ideas. In addition to scheduled readings, the program will also include a brief update on the current state of book challenges nationally, in New York, and in our local community.
No registration required. Recommended for ages 16+. Presented in Partnership with NYCLU (Capital Region Office), League of Women Voters of Albany County, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, and Albany Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc
Stories and Spoken Word Poetry Open Mic Night.
Also, on Tuesday, September 22, come to the temporary location: the 2nd floor of the Madison Pour House (1110 Madison Avenue) for the Stories and Spoken Word Poetry Open Mic Night. Accessible only by steps.  The doors open at 6:30, and the show starts at 7.
Bring a 5-minute story or spoken word piece to perform. Tellers are encouraged to share a story in the style of The Moth – personal stories with no notes.  Not in the mood to tell a personal story… how about a folktale?

Your $5 minimum donation goes to pay the venue for our use of the space.
We will have prompts available at the door that might inspire an impromptu story!

FFAPL book reviews for late June/July 2026

July 7 reviewer is MOI

The Circuitry We ShareHere are the Albany Public Library book reviews for late June/July on Tuesdays at 2 pm in the large auditorium at the 161 Washington Avenue branch, sponsored by the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library.  

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. Frank plugged his review, happening today. 

June 30 | Author Talk | Molly Dunn discusses & reads from her psychological thriller, The Circuitry We Share.

The Circuitry We Share is a disorienting psychological thriller exploring the magnetic pull between people wired to feel deeply and those who only mirror emotion. It will resonate with anyone who has fallen in love, only to realize the person they trusted was a perfect stranger.
The Pattersons

July 7 | Book Review | African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley, 1778-1990, by Emerson I. Moss.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, MLS, business librarian retired from the NY Small Business Development Center. I picked this book because I have an ancestor, and indeed, a whole family to whom I am related, mentioned substantially in this book.   

July 14 | Book Review | The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan.  Reviewer:  Hailey Hamias, FFAPL board member & community development professional..

July 21| Book Review | Shadow Ticket, a detective novel by Thomas Pynchon.  Reviewer:  Dan Wilcox, peace activist & noted local poet.

July 28 | Book Review | The Left Hand of Darkness, a sci-fi classic by Ursula K. Le Guin.  Reviewer:  David Brickman, photographer & FFAPL treasurer.

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: