LIBRARY LUNCHEON SERIES VOLUNTEERS — From left are Joy Harvey (chair), Anne Boutilier, Shirley Morgan and Siobhan Crary, who make up the Saranac Lake Free Library Hospitality Committee, shown with Library Luncheon Series Coordinator Rosalie Fontana, right. The noon programs are offered free of charge every other Thursday, with desserts and beverages provided by this committee and other bakers. (Photo provided — Pat Wiley)

We couldn’t do it without you! The library board and staff thank everyone in the community for making 2016 a wonderful year at the Saranac Lake Free Library.

We deeply appreciate help provided by our upstairs, Adirondack Research Room and yard/garden volunteers, and those who give time to special events such as the Winter Book Sale, summer Come to the Fair event, exhibits, the Library Luncheon Series, children’s programs and many other endeavors.

The media have been very helpful in getting the word out about all library events.

Thank you to those who have provided financial assistance through our Membership Campaign, memorial donations, November Reading Challenge and Adopt-a-Book Program.

A 2016 highlight was the donation of the Natalie Bombard Leduc Collection of ski books and periodicals to the Adirondack Research Room. With help from the Rotary Foundation, a group created the Ski Book Preservation Project, which financed the construction of new cabinets in the Adirondack Room to house the books. A dedication ceremony was held on June 22.

We wish everyone a joyous holiday season, and we look forward to seeing you in 2017.

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Library Lunch programs

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Joe Dockery, singer and musician, will present “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men,” a program of seasonal music, at noon on Dec. 15 in the Thomas B. Cantwell Community Room.

Filmmaker Jim Griebsch will show “Hotel Hope: The Story of Will Rogers Hospital” on Jan. 5. This new version includes recently uncovered history.

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Science Book Group

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On Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m., the Science Book Group will discuss “Anthill” by E.O. Wilson.

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Race: the Power of Illusion

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The study group for those interested in exploring racism in America will meet Monday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. to discuss “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander.

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Story Time programs

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Thank you to Pat McGuane and Jackie Beattie for recent programs, and also to Merle Smith for the Holiday Party on Dec. 8. Story Time will resume on Jan. 5 at 10:30 a.m.

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Adirondack Research Room news

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Ceramic jewelry and buttons made by Anne Rice Jacobsen were recently donated to the Adirondack Research Room. She was born in 1903, the daughter of Fred W. Rice, who took care of TB sufferer and well-known author Martha Reben. Anne operated a ceramics studio in Saranac Lake, creating handmade ceramics that were sold in New York City. She was the first ceramics teacher at the Study and Crafts Guild, and also taught ceramics at Will Rogers Hospital. She died in 1997.

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Have you seen?

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Stop by the Children’s Room to enjoy the “Holiday Village” display, courtesy of Margaret Worden, in the Esther T. Mirick Memorial Case.

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Holidays

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The library will close at 3 p.m. on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, and will be closed all day Dec. 26. On Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, the library will close at 3 p.m. and will be closed all day Jan. 2.

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Acquisition highlights

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Fiction: “Night School” (Child), “The Boat Rocker” (Jin), “No Man’s Land” (Baldacci)

Nonfiction: “A Wretched and Precarious Situation: In Search of the Last Arctic Frontier” (Welky), “Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary” (Jackson), “The Tragedy of U. S. Foreign Policy” (McDougall)

Large print: “Cakewalk” (Brown), “Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon” (Carlin)

Picture books: “Little Night Cat” (Danowski), “Mr. Putter and Tabby Hit the Slope” (Rylant), “5 Little Ducks” (Fleming)

Juvenile fiction: “The Secret of Goldenrod” (O’Reilly), “Like Magic” (Vickers), “The Poet’s Dog” (MacLachlan)

CDs: “All the Stars in the Heavens” (Trigiani), “Night School” (Child), “I Let You Go” (Mackintosh)