Make a Splash…READ!

Log sheet 2 for families and kids up to grade 5

(TEENS – Scroll down to the second sheet for the Make Waves at Your Library Log Sheet 2)

Please join us on Wednesday, July 28th as we discuss Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

Make a Splash…READ!

Log sheet for families and kids up to grade 5:

Make Waves at Your Library!

Log sheet for teens (grade 6 through 12):

Click to download this year’s race application -

2010 Run for the Roses

Summer Reading dates:

Begin reading June 27th

WEEK ONE  July 4

WEEK TWO  July 11

WEEK THREE July 18

WEEK FOUR  July 25

WEEK FIVE  July 31st

WEEK SIX  Aug. 7

Last day of reading is August 13

The Grafton Town Wide

Garage Sale

June 5th, 2010

The 2010 Grafton Town Wide Garage Sale map and sellers list is now available. Limited printed copies will also be available at the Grafton Community Library and at the Grafton Town Store. Happy shopping.

Grafton Garage Sale Sellers List

Grafton Garage Sale Map

Job Opening – Library Assistant

The Grafton Community Library will be hiring a part-time Library Assistant, to work 7 hours per week on Fridays 3:00 – 7:00 pm and Saturdays 10:00 am-1:00 pm.

The position requires a capable multi-tasker who can handle the fast pace of the circulation desk during weekend hours. Responsibilities include checking in books and media items, assisting patrons with requests, and registration of new borrowers.  The position requires computer and keyboarding skills, the ability to assist patrons who are using library computers, and use of the Internet to find information.

Additional capabilities include the ability to work well with people, show sensitivity to the needs of children, and demonstrate a commitment to excellent customer service.

Interested individuals should contact Library Director Carolyn Durnin at 279-0580 during library hours (M,Tu,Th 3-8 pm, W 10-2 pm, Sa 10-1 pm), or

Kevin Sweet at work mowing the lawn on a hot day in May.  The library continues to rely on volunteers like Kevin to maintain the library grounds.

On June 27th, you can Make a Splash: Read!  by building your own penguin cupcake using a cupcake, doughnut, doughnut hole, icing and candy pieces.  This program will take place at the Everett Wagar Senior Center at 4 pm., so mark your calendars!  If you would like to get involved and assist with the program (which will require many extra hands), please let us know!

Stop in at the library and see the tank of newly hatched tadpoles, on loan to us courtesy of the Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center.  These little creatures will slowly grow legs and lose their tail, on the way to becoming Wood Frogs.  Once they are mature, they will be returned to the wild at Dyken Pond.

This tie-in with nature is an opportunity to promote the theme of our upcoming Summer Reading Program, Make a Splash…Read!

Board member Leanna Sweet drew the winning ticket for the Spring Basket Raffle, with Board member Sandy von Schilgen looking on.

Elsie Risedorf  is all smiles after winning the Spring Raffle Basket!

Library Director Carolyn Durnin looks on.

The complete form with cover letter to print out and fill in by hand:

Grafton Town Wide Garage Sale Registration Form

A pdf form that you can type into and then print without saving. Entered information is not saved when the pdf is closed:

Type & Print Garage Sale Registration Form

Computer and internet policy, including wireless internet access.

Grafton Community Library Computer & Internet Policy

The 2010

Run for the Roses 5K Race

will take place on

Sunday, August 8th.

Printable pdf of 2010 meetings and list of Trustees.

2010 Meetings and Trustees

In May, the Book Discussion Group will be reading

Liberating Paris by Linda Bloodworth Thompson.

That would be Paris, Arkansas!  

Monday night the Riverway Storytelling Festival kicks off their upcoming week of performances and workshops with an event here in Grafton!

Monday, April 19th at 6:30 pm

The Grafton Community Library is partnering with the Grafton Elementary School to present a program entitled:

“Hold the Mayo!  Songs and Stories about the Stuff We Eat”

For more information, visit the Riverway Storytelling Festival website:  www.riverwaystorytellingfestival.org

Join us for Storytime,

where we will

open the puppet basket

and  have some fun!

Mark your calendars and get ready to attend the Riverway Storytelling Festival, April 19-25!

The Grafton Community Library will be sponsoring a free performance at Grafton Elementary School on Monday, April 19th at 6:30 PM.

Hold the Mayo! Songs & Stories About the Stuff We Eat features storyteller Mary Murphy and the musical duo “Tales & Tunes”.

*Click here* to see the complete list of upcoming events.

The Ethel Simmons Memorial Award is presented annually by the Grafton Community Library and the Grafton Historical Society in memory of Ethel N. Simmons, a native of Grafton and, for many years a Grafton teacher, librarian and town historian.

High school seniors attending public or private school (including home school), who are residents of Grafton and will be graduating in June are invited to apply for the $500 award.

Traditionally, the award goes to the applicant who submits the best essay on some aspect of Grafton history.

The deadline for 2010 is May 1st.

Grafton History – The Fire Tower

by Kaitlyn Hensler, 2009 essay winner

.

“Do not look down, just keep walking and do not look down, stair by stair, do not look down.”  I reach for my father’s outstretched hand as the cold December air blows through my hair.  It is a clear day and I am climbing the Dickinson Hill Fire Tower for the first time.  The stairs creak beneath us as we slowly climb the sixty foot tower.  When we finally reach the top, the view is breath-taking.  You can see for miles in every direction.  Evergreen trees surround the small desolate tower; the Dickinson Hill Fire Tower remains an unknown secret within the Grafton Lakes State Park.

The view from the Dickinson Hill Fire Tower stretches from the Catskills to the south, the Helderbergs to the west Adirondacks to the northwest, Vermont to the northeast, and the Taconic Range to the east.  Built in 1924 by the Conservation Commission as a fire detection tower at an elevation of 1724 feet, it remained in use until 1980 when the fire tower was decommissioned.  The tower was replaced by the Beebe Hill tower which is south of Grafton, in the town of Austerlitz.  The Dickinson Hill Fire Tower is currently owned by the New York State police and was used as a repeater tower for radio communication.  Today the Dickinson Hill Fire Tower is the only remaining fire tower in Rensselaer County.

The Dickinson Hill Fire tower is most famous for the fact that this tower staffed New York’s first woman observer, Helen Ellett.  Mrs. Ellett, a current and long-time resident of Grafton, remembers coming to visit her grandfather’s house in Grafton when she was just four years old.  Helen first took the job as a fire observer in the 1940s because of the ongoing war and [click here to continue...]

With 12 inches of snow on the ground and more on the way, Storytime has been postponed to Wed., March 3rd at 11:00 AM.

The February Book Discussion Group has been cancelled, and the discussion of the book entitled “The Girls” will take place on Wed., March 31st at 1:00 PM.

The Monthly Book Discussion Group meets on Wed., Feb. 24th at 1:00 PM.

Stop by the library to pick up a copy of The Girls by Lori Lansens.

Take advantage of a reading incentive program offered by the Albany River Rats! Kids (age 12 and under) can win a free ticket to a River Rats hockey game.

Read 300 minutes between Feb. 15th and April 1st. Fill out the logsheet and mail it in to the River Rats. Attend the River Rats hockey game on Library Night:  April 2, at 7:00 PM. Enjoy the thrill of a live hockey game, and have fun watching Rowdy on the ice entertaining the fans!