Some Highlights from 2022

by | Dec 16, 2022 | Impact

Funding Innovation at APL

  • Your gifts to the Annual Appeal paid for the exhibition component of “The Brothers” at Arbor Hill Branch this year. This screening and discussion was presented in partnership with M.E. Grenander Special Collections at University at Albany Libraries. The exhibition remained on view from May through June.
  • Thanks to support from the Carl E. Touhey Foundation, we offered a 2nd year of the Touhey Library Equity Fellowship. This year’s fellows, Yara Bonifacio and Robert Mornan, worked at Central Branches as paid interns while pursuing their studies in Information Science.

Supporting Albany-made Creativity

  • Your gifts to the Annual Appeal supported a trio of in-person craft programs at Washington Ave from April through July – Beginner Quilling, Paint & Sip, Make Your Own Greeting Cards. These were hugely popular and brought people back into the door. 
  • The Cricut Maker, a 2020 Annual Appeal purchase at Pine Hills, was put to work a variety of craft programs for youth and adults this year as in-person programming resumed.
  • Annual Appeal Funds were awarded to a “Transformational Writing Workshop” for formerly incarcerated individuals. This program is on hold until 2023. 
  • Art At APL presented two exhibits at Pine Hills, supported by your gifts to FFAPL’s Literary Legends gala.

Books & Authors

  • Your gifts to the Annual Appeal supported “The Civically Engaged Reader” book discussions with Serena Joyce White-Lake, as well as the purchase of books for the “North Albany Opening Collection”. 
  • The North Albany Opening Collection was our first cash support for books in the Library collection in many years! 
  • We continued to support APL’s Early Literacy Programs, including Live Zoom Storytime and giveaway bags for new Growing Readers participants.
  • We held our 3rd Annual “Earth Day” reading, this time in person. (If you were there, you may recall that it was very, very windy!)
  • Book talks resumed in-person: Every Tuesday since April.
  • Book sales at Delaware are a permanent feature of the Farmer’s Market.  And we finally held the Poetry Book Sale, which had been cancelled back in 2020! (Save the Date – April 1st – for our 2023 sale!)
  • Annual Appeal funds brought four authors virtually to APL for craft talks as part of National Novel Writing Month. Local authors Jennifer Fawcett and Neil Smith discussed craft. Farley Jones led a multi-week course in autobiographical writing.
  • Your gifts to the Annual Appeal brought renowned artist, and Albany native, Stacy Robinson, to Pine Hills for an illustration workshop and talk about graphic novels. 
  • We threw a terrific celebration for children’s book author Sylvie Kantorovitz and novelist Ed Schwarzschild at the Delaware branch.

Keep Albany Connected

  • #KeepAlbanyConnected is the name for all of our efforts to expand free APL WiFi to serve more people and places in Albany.
  • Working with our partners, Lifepath, Boys & Girls Club, and Excelsior College, we distributed the first 25 of 70 laptops to be distributed to eligible Albany Housing residents.
  • We were out and about, tabling for Keep Albany Connected and the Capital Region Digital Equity Coalition.

Renewing Our Core

  • We said farewell to four board members this year, including our founder, Holly McKenna.
  • We welcomed five new board members this year! Sky Baestlin, Chrissie Binney, Kirsten Brochinsky, Lidia DeJesus, Tabora Marcus.
  • The Library has selected their new Executive Director, Andrea Nicolay. We welcomed her to our board, as well.
  • We hired new staff this year for accounting, newsletter writing, and booksale management.