Building Improvements
On April 20, we received the initial disbursement of $417,757 in State construction grant funds toward the installation of the new elevator.
FY2024-2025 Audit
Representatives from MMB+O will attend the June 8, 2026 Board of Trustees meeting to present the results of the FY24-25 audit.
Memorial Gifts
The small reception to unveil the plaque commemorating the memorial gift in honor of Judith Schmelter, originally scheduled for May 9, has been postponed to a date to be determined, in August.
A reception to honor a gift in memory of Shawn Nolan will be held at 10:00AM on Saturday, May 19. A plaque commemorating the gift will be hung in the Children’s Room. More the $40,000 has been donated to the Friends, and will be passed on to the library, in memory of Mr. Nolan.
2026 Budget Vote and Trustee Election:
On April 23, Saratoga Springs City School District residents approved a tax levy of $5,552,327 to operate the Saratoga Springs Public Library in FY 2026-27 by a vote of 257 yes to 10 no. Carol was re-elected to the Library’s Board of Trustees, receiving 241 votes; and Nurcan Atalan-Helicke was elected to a first term with 227 votes.
SALS Annual Meeting
The Southern Adirondack Library System’s Annual Meeting will be held on Monday, May 18, at the Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls, and will feature the Saratoga Springs Poet Laureate, Jay Rogoff.
Complete Streets
Recent notice that Henry Street was scheduled for paving revived interest in a study completed several years ago, as part of the Complete Streets Initiative, of the feasibility of adding a bike lane and turning it into a one-way street in order to connect bike paths through the city. Included in this month’s packet is correspondence regarding the study and the potential desirability of reviving the plan, and requesting a statement of support from the library. Much has changed since the initial study was conducted, including the addition on seasonal on-street dining and changes to library parking lot regulations. While such a plan might fit into the library’s desire for traffic calming and align with our sustainability goals, we might wish to have a clearer idea of the implication of a newer iteration of the plan.
Spring Staff Development Day
Our annual Spring Half Day Development Day is scheduled for 9am-Noon on Friday, May 15. Along with the usual focus on workplace violence prevention and sexual harassment prevention, this year’s event will feature a presentation from Dr. Lauren Lestremau Allen from SUNY Empire CAARES (Center for Autism Advocacy Research Education and Supports).
Pride Stories Collaborative
The Saratoga Room has been invited by the Saratoga Preservation Foundation to participate in the Pride Stories Collaborative a community-driven initiative dedicated to uncovering, preserving, and sharing the LGBTQ+ stories and of Saratoga Springs and surrounding communities. The Collaborative fosters intergenerational dialogue, community storytelling, and public engagement to make visible the lives, spaces, and experiences that have shaped the region’s LGBTQ+ past. The collaborative’s first event will be on Thursday, June 18 at the Spring Street Gallery at 6:30 p.m. The program will be sponsored by Saratoga Pride, Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, Skidmore College, and Empire State University, and will be inviting members of the community to come share their knowledge of the history of the LGBTQ+ community.