Grants and Gratitude – Thank you to the generous organizations and patrons who support our Library!

There is an ongoing way to support your local library at no cost to you – if you bank with TD Bank, please ask them to sign you up for the Affinity Program for Bolton Free Library. TD Bank will make an annual contribution to the Bolton Free Library based on the activity of all participating members’ TD Bank accounts.


COME SEE OUR NEW SIDEWALKS!

We are delighted to announce the completion of our sidewalk project!

Jesse Howard / JMB Enterprises did a great job, from demolishing the old sidewalks to putting in our new, wider, more accessible sidewalks, to include a new section of walkway connecting our front entrance area to the side ramp.

This project was partially funded by a very generous grant from the American Library Association for the Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities initiative

Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) in collaboration with the Association for Rural and Small libraries (ARSL).

2023 GRANTS AND GRATITUDE

American Library Association (ALA) Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural Communities Grant

$10,000 to improve the accessibility of the Library sidewalks to the ramp

Cloudsplitter Foundatio

$937   For a new, improved Library Sound System

$500 for Mission Support

LARAC Arts Education Grant $1,170 for a 3 part Painting Series on Georgia O’Keeffe

Stewart’s Shops $500 in support of the 2023 Meet The Author Series

Stewarts Holiday Match Grant $450 Books and materials for children’s literacy

Price Chopper Golub Foundation $500 Support for Summer 2023 Meet The Author program series

Adirondack Action Pollinator Project  Pollinator Kits to be distributed for Pollinator Week June 19-25  

American Library Association and Carnegie Mellon Foundation We were selected to receive a BookList Reader grant from the American Library Association and Mellon Foundation. This consists of monthly copies of Booklist Reader for our patrons and a Library subscription to Booklist Reader that will allow us to share digitally through our website. This subscription starts in June 2023.

Southern Adirondack Library System  Construction Challenge Grant  for Air Duct clean and Duct Relocation in the amount of $4,820.   

2022 GRANTS AND GRATITUDE

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

The Bolton Free Library would like to extend our gratitude to the generous organizations – as well as individual donors – who have supported the Library in 2022.  Without your contributions, the Library would not be able to offer the many services, programs, and events that we do – and we are steadily adding new programs and events each year!  As a small public Library in continuous operation at this location since 1906,  we are faced with the combined challenges of maintaining our physical location while updating our services to meet the growing and changing needs of our community.  
  
The grants and donations we received in 2022 have enabled us to continue our mission of meeting the informational, educational, cultural and general needs of the community by offering the following in 2022:

1.  The Library supports the Bolton After School Program on Thursdays with storytime, plus other activities and classes.
2.  The Library provided each child at Bolton Central School in grades K-5 with a “Birthday Book”*.
3.  The Library also provided each child in the Bolton After School Program with two beautiful hardcover books* as a holiday gift.
4.  The Library hosted three popular Meet The Author events outdoors on the front lawn.
5.  A beautiful new circulation desk was installed, creating an Americans with Disabilities Act ADA compliant checkout area, improving patron traffic flow, and allowing greater organization of the Library’s daily operations.
6.  The installation of new windows, doors and insulation, in addition to the upkeep and improvements of the 100+ year old Library’s foundation and siding, all which have reduced energy costs and kept the Library a beautiful and welcoming structure.

*All books were purchased from Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, our closest local bookstore.

2022 Grants

Adirondack Foundation  $1,500   Increasing Children’s Literacy Bolton Central School Birthday Books
Charles R. Wood Foundation  $3,000 for the Bolton Free Library Community Outreach
NOROWAL Community Contribution  $4,000 Generator Backup Project
NYSED Library Development  $19,885   New Windows, Doors & Insulation
SALS Challenge Grant  $5,000  New Circulation Desk
Stewart’s Foundation  $500   Holiday Books for Bolton After School Program Children
Warren County Community Conservation  $1,000 to plant a native garden on the north side of the Library

The Annual Book Sale

Read below for information about 2024 donations.

The 2023 Book Sale

THANK YOU to our hard-working volunteers and the many generous book donors who helped make the Bolton Free Library 2023 Annual Book Sale a huge success! In spite of being rained out Saturday afternoon and evening, the Book Sale was a hit!

P.S. We will start accepting book donation for the next sale after September 1st.


Bolton Free Library In The Community

Bolton Landing Tree Lighting Ceremony

The weather was so bad the event was moved inside, but we still had a wonderful time! The Bolton Free Library gave away over 30 books to children of the community.

Up Yonda Farm’s Trunk or Treat 2023

October 2023 – We had so much fun last weekend at this wonderful annual event! We gave away over 300 children’s books, and a lot of candy as well.

Thank you so much to our generous volunteers and candy donors who make this fabulous community event so special

Birthday Book Cart at BCS

October 2023 – The Bolton Free Library recently gave out free birthday books to all the Pre-K through 6th grade students at Bolton Central School. The children were able to select their own books and Megan Baker, the Library Director, had a great time!

Story Laurie Summer Fun

July 2023 The Bolton Free Library and the Town of Bolton recently co-hosted the amazing Story Laurie for a mid-summer adventure Around the World in an Afternoon. Kids of all ages were delighted by Laurie’s musical, interactive storytelling.


Birthday Book Giveaway!

June 2023 The Bolton Free Library recently handed out Birthday Books to all the students at Bolton Central School, thanks to very generous grants from Charles R. Wood Foundation and Stewart’s Shops!

One of our missions is to put books in the hands of children to encourage a love of reading.


Holiday Fun

December 2022 The Bolton Free Library participated in the town festivities to celebrate the lighting of the town Christmas tree. We gave away holiday books and bears to over 60 children at this event, and had a wonderful time!


Halloween Fun at UpYonda Farm’s Trunk-or-Treat

October 2022 The Bolton Free Library had the BEST time at Upyonda Farms 2022 Annual Trunk-or-Treat! We gave out over 350 children’s books (and candy!!) to the children who attended this fantastic event.

A huge thank you to the many supporters who provided books and candy for this wonderful children’s event!

Fundraising at the Bolton Free Library

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP THE LIBRARY?  IT’S EASY!
Please consider buying raffle tickets for this beautiful basket created and donated by Anne Marie Senese.


If you bank with TD Bank, there’s a very simple, free way to support the Bolton Free Library!

The Bolton Free Library Display Case

Come see our latest display! Mary C. and Megan created a warm and cozy display just in time for the cold weather. Come by the Library and Warm Up With A Good Book – and while you’re here check out the awesome mittens made by the Bolton After School Program kiddos!

Programs, Events & Clubs



For a limited time, we have a ball pit and tunnel at the Bolton Free Library! Bring your little ones for an adventurous day at the Library!


CLUBS at the Bolton Free Library

Are you interested in joining our Fiber Arts Club? Give us a call at 518-644-2233 or just pop in!


Bolton Free Library Book Club

We meet the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm here at the Library.

Below is schedule for the 2023-2024 Book Club. Everyone is welcome – and don’t worry if you haven’t read the book!


Digital Content Access

Download eBooks, Audiobooks, Magazines and more to your favorite device with the Libby app

Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more from your local library system for FREE! All you need is your library card.

Libby is the library reading app by OverDrive, loved by millions of readers worldwide.

Visit libbyapp.com to get started, or go to your App Store and search for the Libby app. The Libby App thumbnail looks like this:

Simply download the app to your phone or laptop, link your Library card (you can link multiple Library cards if you are a member of multiple Library systems), and start enjoying amazing digital content!

Questions? Call Megan or Sarah at 518-644-2233, or bring your device to the Library and we’ll help you get started!

Libby offers many unique features, as seen below.


And now library card holders have even more digital content to choose from!

OverDrive reciprocal lending with Mohawk Valley, Mid-Hudson and Upper Hudson Library Systems will go live on March 27th, 2023.  This program allows patrons to borrow select available content from any partner system’s OverDrive collection.  To access the available titles, patrons just need to add the other library systems to their accounts in the Libby app and log in with their library card.  Instructions for how to add a library can be found here for Libby, and are listed below.

Patrons can also access the partner systems’ collections via SALON by clicking on the Partner Libraries link when logged into their account.  The link is not currently visible in SALON, but should be on Monday, March 27th.