After two years, we were able to come together in-person and host our 8th Literary Legends gala at the Pine Hills library on Oct. 16, honoring authors Eugene Mirabelli and Lydia Davis.

We also recognized the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Albany County who received the Library’s “Community Partner Award” for supporting the Pine Hills library’s “Monarch Waystation,” for the last 20 years. It is a tremendous gift to the library and the Pine Hills neighborhood.

A special shout-out to our honorary co-chairs Claire Reid (Chief Impact Officer, United Way of the Greater Capital Region) and Hon. Owusu Anane (10th Ward, Albany Common Council) and our honorary committee.

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for another successful gala: Accuprint, PNJ Technology, First Light, Hoopla, KeyBank, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors, Inc., Rakuten Overdrive, Fenimore Asset Management Inc., Midwest Tape, MVP Healthcare, University at Albany Foundation, and Shenker Russo & Clark LLP.

We held our first online silent auction which ran for a week and was an incredible success thanks to the tremendous efforts of Kim Foster who brought in donations from many historic sites. Altogether, the gala raised more than $22,000 this year. These funds support APL programs and services, including the Art at APL program.

Now we will figure out where will we host in 2022 and we are accepting nominations for our next Literary Legend to be decided in January and announced in late winter.