The Board of Trustees for the Bancroft Public Library in Salem met on Tuesday, January 7, 2020 for their annual meeting, and their regular monthly meeting for January.  At this meeting, officers were elected for the coming year. Ed Donoghue was elected Board President, Kim Erbe was elected to the Vice President position, and Rebecca Brown was voted in as Secretary and Financial Officer. Library Board Liaisons with the Salem Town Board are Kim Erbe and Rebecca Brown. 

The Bancroft Public Library Board of Trustees should be recognized for their hard work and dedication in the past year. The Library Board secured funding through the Southern Adirondack Library System Construction Challenge Grant to pay for John G. Waite Associates Architectural Services to create a blueprint for changes to our building to bring it up to current ADA accessibility standards. The Library Board also applied for a NY State Aid for Library Construction Grant to attain money to help pay for these changes to the building. (We are still awaiting news on this application.) The Board did successfully secure funding via a separate NY State Aid for Library Construction Grant to help pay for a new roof, an upgraded heating and cooling system, and more energy-efficient windows. These forward-thinking changes to the building will serve the whole community well as we move toward the future.

We’re sure you’ve noticed by now that our website has a fresh new look. You may not have noticed that our web address has changed a bit as well. It has been the case that typing in www.bancroftlibrary.org brings you to our site, but it had been redirecting to our original www.slibrary.org address. Recently, we’ve changed this, and now the site is solely on www.bancroftlibrary.org. Please update your bookmarks accordingly.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of our Library Board is Tuesday, January 7, 2020 at 6:30 PM. Meetings are held in the Reading Room, and are open to the public.

Previous meeting minutes and agendas are available by clicking the Board of Trustees link under the “About Us” category in the menu bar at the top of this page.

Congratulations to our 2019 Gingerbread House Contest winners: Kim Erbe and Simon Hickland!!

All food and cash donated as part of the voting for this event go directly to the Salem Area Food Pantry. Thanks so much to all who participated and voted.

AMENDED TO ADD: There will be NO DMV in Salem today. We just received the call. The roads have gotten too bad, so they cannot make the trip over. See the Washington County DMV calendar to find other mobile DMV sites throughout the month.

Tomorrow (11/19/19) is supposed to be a mobile DMV day here in our building, but we have been informed that the weather may prevent them from getting here. The decision will be made in the morning as to whether or not DMV will be in Salem tomorrow. Please call the main office at 518-746-2163 before heading in.

If you’re a little intimidated by the idea of making a gingerbread house, then this is the program for you!

Join us on Saturday, November 23 at 1 pm.

We’ll pool our ideas, supplies, and support to make the best gingerbread houses yet!

Bring with you:
✴Pre-made gingerbread houses pieces – homemade or store-bought
OR
✴$5 to purchase a kit*
✴A bag of decorating materials to share – candy, cereal, pretzels, etc.
✴A sense of adventure and a sense of humor!

At the end of the day:
All gingerbread houses will remain at the library for the contest held on November 30. (Please see this post about the Gingerbread Contest for more details.)

*The Friends of Bancroft Library have a limited number of gingerbread kits available for purchase – please contact the library to reserve one.

Our next regular Library Board meeting is on Tuesday, December 3rd at 6:30 PM. Meetings are held in the Reading Room and are open to all.

Previous meeting minutes and agendas are available by clicking the Board of Trustees link under the “About Us” category in the menu bar at the top of this page.

Get ready because it’s coming soon! Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 30th. The rules are:

• Everything visible MUST be edible.
• Gingerbread or graham crackers MUST be the majority of the structure. 
• You can use a pre-made kit or it can be made from scratch. 
• Entries cannot exceed a base of 18” X 18”. 
• Only one gingerbread house per person, no multiple entries please. 
• Individuals, families, groups, organizations and businesses are all welcome to participate.
• We’ll be offering a kids-only division for ages 12 and under.  
• Entries will be accepted November 29 (1:00 – 4:00 pm) and November 30 (9:00 – 10:00 am). 
• Voting takes place on November 30, from 10:00 – 2:00.
• Voting will take place via donations of non-perishable food items and spare change – all of which will go to the Salem Food Pantry. 
• Winners will be announced during the Salem Area Christmas Parade.
• The winning entries will remain on display in the library for the month of December.  
• Entries must be picked up by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 2. Unclaimed entries will be discarded.

Won’t you join us for this event? Battenkill Valley Creamery dairy products will be served, and there will be at least three local farmers for the panel discussion.

We are very pleased to welcome you to our redesigned website. If you have feedback to share, please email slm-director@sals.edu.