“Explore Your Shore: Discovering Community History @ Your Library” is a grant project using the Hudson 400 Quadricentennial as a springboard to improve family literacy efforts by member libraries. Hudson 400 is Hudson Valley’s 400th anniversary celebration of European discovery by Henry Hudson. This partnership of communities, historic and cultural sites, and art and performance venues will provide a rich amalgamation of resources for libraries to use in building family literacy programs.

Library staff will be trained on family literacy programming techniques and develop programs in four areas: Hudson River/explorers/Dutch or local ethnic group history; Native American culture; family or local history; and ecology. Libraries will also develop model partnerships with community and regional organizations, and purchase materials to support their programming.

The “Explore Your Shore” grant is supported by Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.


Riverway Storytelling Festival
The 2010 Riverway Storytelling Festival, our eighth annual, tales place April 19-25. Twenty-three free storytelling performances, plus workshops and swaps, round out this unique, library-centered storytelling festival. Come enjoy what one participant called "a jewel of New York!"

Fit for Life
Upper Hudson Library System was awarded a $25,000 Fit for Life grant, made possible by the generous support of Metlife Foundation. (see Latest Edition Vol. 18, No. 4.) As part of the preparation for increased consumer health reference in the member libraries, Jo-Ann Benedetti will offer five training sessions over the next few months. All workshops will be held at the Albany Public Library. Please mark your calendars. Click here to see the dates and descriptions of the workshops.


From Farm to Table
From Farm to Table offers valuable cooking ideas and tips on how to stretch food dollars, while introducing viewers to local farmers and regional experts with valuable knowledge to share. It encourages viewers to discover the bounty of New York's Capital Region, from the fields to the dinner table. A collaborative production of WMHT and Cornell Cooperative extension, the series highlights local farms and highlights New York State products.

Upper Hudson Library System used part of their Fit for Life grant to partially underwrite this show. UHLS is one of 17 library systems nationwide awarded funding through a partnership between Metlife Foundation and Libraries for the Future. Fit for Life provides provides training, resources and support to libraries that promote physical, brain health and wellness among people of all ages.