The Greenbush Bookmark for Adults  
February 2021

In This Issue: Black History Month, Library Lover's Month, Ancestry from Home, Tax Season Resources, Upcoming Programs
 
For a short month, February has many celebrations and observances: Black History Month, Library Lover's Month, Groundhog Day, Super Bowl, Valentine's Day and Presidents Day, along with the lesser known Sweet Potato Month and Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month.
 
After you've returned your stash of shopping carts, visit the library to browse this month's book and movie displays featuring Black Authors & Screenwriters and Libraries & Librarians.
 
In this issue of Greenbush Bookmark for Adults, we offer you a rundown of current library services, lots of reading recommendations, an extensive list of upcoming programs offered by the library and our trusted community partners, updates on tax season resources, news about extended home access to the Ancestry genealogy resource and the new Black Freedom Struggle in the United States primary source collection, and encouragement to participate in the Pen to Pandemic Short Story Contest and Adult Winter Reading Challenge, both of which run through February and into early March. We hope you join us!
 
Warm wishes from your Adult Services Librarians,            
 
~ Elizabeth, Catherine, Jody, Barbara, & Lauren        
 
 
Current Services
See our full schedule of hours and modes of contact at the bottom of this newsletter.
 
Capacity Limits:
  • 5 visitors at a time
  • 15 minutes per visit
  • Please limit in-person visits to 1-2 people per household
  • Masks fully covering mouth and nose required during your visit.
Available Services:
  • Drive-thru window for contact-free holds pickup (available during library hours)
  • 15-minute library visits for browsing and checkout
  • No quantity limit on book, audiobook, DVD, Blu-Ray, and music CD checkouts
  • Laptops, wi-fi hot spots, board/card games, snowshoes, museum passes, video games available for checkout
  • Limited copy, scan, fax, and printing services available
  • Basic federal tax forms in stock (state forms expected soon)
  • Personalized Reading Recommendation Service and pre-assembled Grab-and-Go Book Bundles for adults
  • Personalized Book Bundles for kids & teens
  • Virtual programs for all, including trivia, bingo, book discussions, and take-and-make craft kits
  • Reference services (catalog help, Overdrive/Libby help, book requests, research support, and more), in-person and by phone
  • A library of online resources and collections, available 24/7, including ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines, movies, music, comics, research databases, reference resources, and more.
  • Wi-fi connection inside and outside library building
 
Reading Recommendations
Staff Picks: Black Authors
 
Caste: the Origins of Our Discontents
by Isabel Wilkerson

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns identifies the qualifying characteristics of historical caste systems to reveal how a rigid hierarchy of human rankings, enforced by religious views, heritage and stigma, impact everyday American lives.
 
Recommended by Catherine | Also available on Overdrive
My Life, My Love, My Legacy
by Coretta Scott King

The wife of Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and singular 20th-century American civil rights activist presents her full life story, as told before her death to one of her closest confidants.
 
Recommended by Roseann | Also available on Hoopla
Take a Hint, Dani Brown: a Novel
by Talia Hibbert

A young woman who agrees to fake-date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral.
 
Recommended by Catherine | Also available on Overdrive
The Tradition
by Jericho Brown

Winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Jericho Brown's poetic concerns are both broad and intimate, and at their very core a distillation of the incredibly human: What is safety? Who is this nation? Where does freedom truly lie? The Tradition is a cutting and necessary collection, relentless in its quest for survival while reveling in a celebration of contradiction.
 
Recommended by Diana | Also available on Overdrive & Hoopla
The Water Dancer: a Novel
by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A Virginia slave narrowly escapes a drowning death through the intervention of a mysterious force that compels his escape and personal underground war against slavery. By the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me. 
 
Recommended by Elizabeth | Also available on Overdrive
The Yellow House
by Sarah M. Broom

Describes the author’s upbringing in a New Orleans East shotgun house as the unruly 13th child of a widowed mother, tracing a century of family history and the impact of class, race and Hurricane Katrina on her sense of identity.
 
Recommended by Elizabeth | Also available on Overdrive
Click the image below to open, then click book titles to check availability request a copy.
 Find More Reading Recommendations 
  • East Greenbush Community Library Staff Picks
  • NoveList reading recommendations  (requires valid East Greenbush/Schodack library card)
  • Library Reads: Top 10 books published each month as voted on by librarians 
  • Personalized Recommendation Service for Readers (requires valid East Greenbush/Schodack library card)
 
February Programs
Pen to Pandemic: A Short Story Competition in the Time of COVID-19
 
The East Greenbush Community Library, in partnership with the Town of East Greenbush and the Hart Cluett Museum, is hosting a short story competition.
 
For rules and further details, and to register for the competition, please visit the Pen to Pandemic web page.
Submissions due by March 15, 2021.
Adult Winter Reading Challenge Continues!
 
The 2021 Adult Winter Reading Challenge, Fun & Games, or, Just Roll with It! continues through February. Let us keep you entertained this winter with great books, programs, games, and prizes! Register on our website to participate online through Beanstack, which allows you to track your reading, complete challenge activities, and enter raffle drawings, all in one place. Or stop by the library to pick up a print game card. See our website for more winter reading details.
 
Grab-and-Go Craft: Fox in Sox
 
Register to reserve this month's craft kit, "Fox in Sox" felt animal pins. Kits include instructions, patterns to make a fox, a penguin, and an owl, felt, pin backs, and glue. Kits will include enough fabric to make at least one cute little critter. Please be sure to register to claim your kit. 
 
Monday Night Book Chat 
Weekly. Monday evenings, 7:00-9:00 pm
Facebook 
What have you been reading lately? Join our Monday night Facebook book chat to tell us about it and gather recommendations from librarians and other readers. 
 
Hands-On Virtual Cooking Class
Thursday, February 11, 6:30-7:45 pm
Zoom
We're making heart-healthy dishes- join the fun! Felisha Chandler of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County makes learning to cook entertaining as well as educational. Appropriate for all ages! 
 
Join us on Zoom from your own kitchen. Register with your email to receive the list of ingredients, directions, and a Zoom link. 
Monday Virtual Book Discussion Groups
Monday, February 15
  • Morning Session 10:00-11:00 am / Discussing: Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf 
    Register
  • Evening Session 7:00-8:00 pm / Discussing: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid 
    Register
Please register by February 12, using the links provided above, to ensure that you receive an emailed link participate in this Zoom discussion. 
 
Trivia Night: TV Shows
Wednesday, February 17, 7:00-8:30 pm
Zoom
Join us for a Virtual Trivia Night on Zoom. Our theme this month is TV Shows.Teams are encouraged! Chose a captain and a fun and unique team name and register your team to receive Zoom login information before the event. (Only one person should register for each team.)
 
Adult Bingo
Wednesday, February 24, 7:00-8:00 pm
Zoom
Join us for Virtual TV Show Bingo for Adults. You must register for this program to reserve your bingo card, which can be picked up at the drive-thru window starting February 13th. One card per person.
 
 
From Our Partner Organizations
Let's Get to Work Workshop Series
Multiple dates, Winter and Spring 2021
Online
The Upper Hudson Library System has teamed up with librarian and technology trainer Nate Heyer to offer a series of free career and technology class. Visit our Education & Employment page to see the full class list with descriptions, and register here.
 
February's classes:
  • 02/04/2021 / 7 pm / Power Your Job Search with Google Tools
  • 02/06/2021 / 1 pm / Sharing and Saving Files with the Cloud
  • 02/13/2021 / 1 pm / Grow Your Business with YouTube
  • 02/18/2021 / 7 pm / Polling, Quizzing, Signups: Google Forms
  • 02/25/2021 / 7 pm / Introduction to Microsoft Excel
  • 02/27/2021 / 1 pm / Decluttering Your Email Inbox
Albany Guardian Society February Class Calendar

View the Albany Guardian Society's February Class Calendar and register for free virtual programs on topics such as Chair Yoga, Memoir Writing, Aging-in-Place, using your Kindle Fire, iPad or Android Smartphone, and many more. 
 
Mental Health and Wellness with MHANYS
 
The Mental Health Association in New York State is offering two free training opportunities.
  • Mental Health and Wellness 101 in the Workplace 
    February 10th, 2021, 11:00 am-12:00 pm 
  • Mental Health and Wellness 101 
    March 25th, 2021, 12:00pm-1:00pm  
Register here.
Small Business Legal Network Clinic
Thursday, February 18, 6:00-8:30 pm
 
The Legal Project announces the 2021 kick-off for their Small Business Legal Network Clinic offerings in partnership with Albany Law School and the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region. The clinic will offer free legal advice to small businesses via Zoom. By appointment only. To schedule an appointment or to receive additional information contact The Legal Project, 518-435-1770 x345 or email lallen@legalproject.org.
 
AARP Driver Safety
 
AARP Smart Driver Course is available online. No in-person courses are currently scheduled.
Get a 25% discount by using discount code: DRIVINGSKILLS
 
AARP TaxAide

We are sorry to announce that TaxAide services will not be offered in our area this year. See the section below for alternate services and helpful online resources.
 
 
Resources for Tax Season
Free/Low-Cost Services
  • VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) programs will be available in the Capital District area this year.  This program provides free tax preparation service to those with lower incomes (contact VITA for income limits). Services will be provided on a drop-off/pick-up basis (drop off your information, return to sign your completed return). To find a VITA location and make an appointment, contact United Way’s 2-1-1 call center beginning January 29, 2021. Simply pick up your phone and dial the numbers 2-1-1.
     
  • Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, located in the Rensselaer Country Plaza Walmart, is offering a discounted, flat-fee service to those who have used TaxAide or VITA in previous years but are unable to get an appointment this year. Appointments recommended, call (518) 810-3136 or book online. (To receive discount rate, must provide proof of eligibility for VITA/TaxAide, ex: prior year tax return. Contact Jackson Hewitt for details.)
 
Forms and Online Resources
 
The library now has Federal forms 1040, 1040SR, and instructions in stock. We expect to receive NYS tax forms this year as well. Check our Tax Information page for updates on available forms.
  • IRS: Search forms, instructions and publications
  • Tax forms by mail
  • New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Forms and instructions
  • AARP Foundation TaxAide Online Tax Assistance (See frequently asked tax questions or submit your own question and receive a response)
  • MyFreeTaxes.com, an online tax preparation service from United Way
  • IRS Free File: free DIY online tax preparation
 
Library Lover's Month
February is Library Lover's Month!
 
Here are three simple but powerful ways to show your library some love.
  • Join the Friends of the Library
  • Advocate for libraries! February 26 is The New York Library Association (NYLA) Annual Library Advocacy Day. NYLA's Online Advocacy Center makes it easy to learn about the issues affecting libraries and contact your elected officials to voice your support, now and throughout the year. NYLA is also asking library patrons to fill out this form to tell them "What Makes Your Library Special." Please consider responding! 
  • Contact us to share your thoughts about what you love about your library or what you feel we need to improve on. Your suggestions and feedback are essential to us.
Thank you, and remember, we're pretty sweet on you, too!
 

 
 E-Resource Roundup
NoveList Plus
Book database and reading recommendations
*Requires an East Greenbush/Schodack card 
 Overdrive & Libby
Ebooks, audiobooks,  magazines*
 Hoopla
Ebooks, audiobooks, movies, music, comics
*Requires an East Greenbush/Schodack card
Tech-Talk
Learn technology skills!
User & PW: eglibrary
 
 
Webucator
Self-paced tech classes. Call the library for access code.
 
Research Databases
Search for journal, magazine, encyclopedia, and newspaper articles
*Please note: Flipster digital magazine service is no longer available and has been replaced by the increased number of digital magazines that are now available through Overdrive.
 
New Resource: ProQuest Black Freedom Struggle in the US
Newly available from ProQuest, Black Freedom Struggle in the United States features select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history. The collection supports a wide range of students (see examples for use in teaching and learning), as well independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the foundation of ongoing racial injustice in the U.S. – and the fights against it. (Click the image above to use this resource; no log-in required.)
 
Ancestry from Home
 
Good news! Remote access to Ancestry has been extended for East Greenbush/Schodack residents. Not a resident? Devices connected to the library's Wi-Fi network can also access content at https://ancestrylibrary.com. And for all New York State residents, portions of Ancestry content are available from home with a free Ancestry.com New York account.
 
 
Library Contact / Hours of Operation
 Call
(518) 477-7476
 
Our phones are answered: 
Tu, Th, Fri 11 am - 6 pm
Wed 11 am - 7 pm
Sat 10 am - 2 pm
 
Other times, leave a message and we'll return your call.
 Email
eglibraryinfo@eglibrary.org
 
Email us anytime.
We will reply on weekdays within 24 hours.
Online
https://eglibrary.org
 
Visit our website,
or find us on social media:
 
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
 
Grab-and-Go
15-Minute Library Browsing
Tu, Th, Fri 11 am - 6 pm
Wed 11 am - 7 pm
Sat 10 am - 2 pm
 
Item Returns
 
Items may be returned to
the bin in the library entryway during the following hours. (Drive-thru returns unavailable)
 
Mon-Fri, 11 am - 6 pm
Wed 11 am - 7 pm
Sat 10 am - 2 pm
 
 
Drive-Thru
Holds Pick-Up
 
Tu, Th, Fri, 11 am - 6 pm
Wed 11am - 7 pm
Sat 10 am - 2 pm
See details

East Greenbush Community Library
10 Community Way
East Greenbush, New York 12061
518-477-7476
eglibrary.org