Adult Services Department

Service Statistics

• Service Desks (Reference, Computer Clerk and Information): 2,561 interactions
• Notary Appointments: 18
• Interlibrary Loans: 21

Digital Resource Usage

• Electronic Databases:
  • ABC Mouse :222
  • Ancestry: 655
  • Book Browse: 67
  • Consumer Reports: 273
  • EBSCO,: 90
  • Heritage Quest: 54
  • Mango Languages: 96
  • Little Pim: 0
  • Morningstar: 3
  • NOVEL: 52
  • ProQuest NYT: 113
  • Tech-Talk: 60
  • Value Line: TBD
• Electronic Periodicals:
  • NYT All Access
    • Page Views: 68,867
    • Games Played: 37,091
  • NewsBank: 5698 page views
    The Times Union and the Daily Gazette are the most view papers.
  • Wallstreet Journal Digital: 488 page views
  • Heritage Hub: 4 page views
• LibGuides:
  • During the month of May our 150 LibGuides were viewed a total of 4,187 times.
  • The top guides were:
    1. Teen Services guide with 592 views.
    2. Check Out a Champion: Pulitzer Prize Winners in literature guide with 429 views.
    3. Jasmine’s Crafting at Home: Creative Recycling guide with 337 views.

Offered Programs

Interesting Additions

• After Michelle’s presentation at the local history fair about preserving family documents, she had patrons call during the following week to follow up on more detailed questions, and to talk about software and tool options for the care of their family records. She is working on individual media presentations to have hands on mini sessions in the Saratoga Room for patrons to preserve their collections.
• Susan T. has joined the greeting team! She will be with us on Mondays from 2-4 p.m., and she is already hoping to do a second day in the near future. We are so excited to have her as part of the team.
• Mah Jongg has become a national craze. As a result, we now have both a daytime Mah Jongg class series and evening Mah Jongg class series, both starting in May and going into the end of June. These classes fill up quickly, sometimes within an hour of posting the classes on the library’s website. We take 12 people per class series. The waitlist for the May daytime class series is 13 people deep, and the waitlist for the evening class series is 14 people deep. People are constantly calling the library and reaching out via chat to see if we offer Mah Jongg, and they are thrilled when they hear that we consistently offer classes and practice sessions. As Ike said in the 2026 Budget Vote and Trustee Election Questions and Answers, “While our collection continues to expand into less traditional areas … we anticipate that the Library will continue to be a hub of community activity, and program attendance will continue to grow.” Our Mah Jongg classes are an exact example of this. Every class, we see people having fun and making connections. People are finding their communities through this game, and they’re forming their own Mah Jongg groups. Library as Place is one of our four strategic pillars, and these programs prove that we are more than a place to get books. We are a space for the community. Also, a big thank you to Jen F who buys our Mah Jongg card early so that we can get it in time for these classes!
• Farm2Library (F2L) – The food continues to go very quickly! We have had some issues with people leaving expired foods in the fridge. Gina and Rebecca are trying to monitor it, and Gina is working with the F2L folks to create stronger signage about not leaving food.

What We’re Reading

• Katie
  • The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
    A woman shares her life journey in a series of letters that show how she’s shaped others and how others have shaped her. An extremely moving way to present a full narrative.
• Kali
  • The Botanist’s Assistant, by Peggy Townsend
    Protagonist, Margaret Finch, is stuck in a most predictable routine. So predictable is her routine that when she decides to apply the scientific method to solve a murder at the university where she works, she becomes a target.
• Jamie
  • The Entanglement of Rival Wizards, by Sara Raasch
    An enemies-to-lovers fantasy academia romcom where rival grad student wizards are forced to work together without killing—or falling for—each other. This book was cute and made me want to check out more of the author’s stories.
• Caitlin
  • The Wager, by David Grann
    I found it very exciting to read overall, and I would suggest it to anyone who likes nonfiction adventure, or is a fan of books like In the Heart of the Sea, In the Kingdom of Ice, etc.
• Rebecca
  • The Future Saints, by Ashley Winstead
    A new manager pays a visit to a band that is floundering after the loss of their previous manager, only to help them find great success and maybe fall in love with the lead singer. Total Almost Famous vibes.
• Emily
  • The Stars Look Like Home, by TJ Klune
    I recently got my hands on an advance reader copy of The Stars Look Like Home by TJ Klune. It’s told from the perspective of a dog named Burke (10/10 good boy) and potentially the most heartwarming book I’ve ever read.

Respectfully submitted by:
Jamie Chabot, Head of Adult Services