**NEW**  Thanks to the Friends of the Bancroft Public Library:

The Bancroft Library holds one family pass to the World Awareness Children’s Museum in downtown Glens Falls, NY. This pass is good for free unlimited admission for up to five people, and children under three years of age are always free. See www.worldchildrensmuseum.org for more information about the museum. 

The Bancroft Library holds two family passes to Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, in Manchester, VT.  Each of the two passes is good for the admission of a family of four to enjoy full access to all that Hildene has to offer. See www.hildene.org for more information about Hildene.

These passes are available to check out from the library and use for your next family outings at Hildene and the World Awareness Children's Museum!
FREE Access to Geneology Resources:

The staff and board of the Bancroft Public Library are pleased to announce that there are two new genealogy resources available for patrons through our library system. HeritageQuest Online is "a comprehensive treasury of American genealogical resources--rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, and finding aids". HeritageQuest is available to all library patrons through the link on our website (link in the left-hand sidebar). An active library card is required to access the site, and the site is available from any computer with internet access.  Ancestry.com is another resource which is now available for patrons. Ancestry.com is "the world's largest online resource for family history". To use Ancestry.com, patrons will need to come in to the library and use one of our computers to do their research. These resources will be available, free of charge, throughout 2015.
 

Early Literacy offerings:
Our library continues to partner with Books in Kids' Hands as a pick-up/drop-off spot for the Preschool Book Bag program. This is a FREE book lending program for families with preschoolers who live in the Salem Central School District. How the program works: The elementary school library has 90 bags with 10 books each, and the Bancroft Public Library has 10 bags with 10 books each (these bags will be rotated periodically). Each bag contains a variety of age appropriate books. School district residents and their preschoolers can come to the elementary library or Bancroft Library and check out a bag of books. Parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. can read these books aloud to their preschoolers. After a family has finished a bag, they can return it and check out a new bag of books. When a family has checked out all 100 bags, their preschooler will have had 1,000 books read to them before they start school. This is a fantastic FREE resource for members of our community!


Additionally, our library now offers FREE usage of the website ABCmouse.com. "From Age of Learning, Inc., the award-winning ABCmouse.com curriculum is designed to help young children (ages 2-6+) build a strong foundation for future academic success. ABCmouse.com is 100% educational, with 3,500+ learning activities across all major subject areas--reading, math, science, social studies, art, and music. Best of all, kids love it!" Patrons must use the computers in the library to access the site for free.



Services offered at Bancroft Public Library:

1. Books (including books in large print), DVDs/Blu-ray discs, magazines (including Consumer Reports), and audio books on CD…for all ages…available to borrow for FREE with your library card.
2. Local newspapers available for reading in the library.

3. Friendly staff available to assist you with your questions and to help you to find materials.

4. The ability to order materials from all of the libraries in our wider library system (SALS-MVLS), and even beyond, and have it delivered here to our own library, usually at NO CHARGE.

5. The ability to visit and check out materials from any of the other libraries in our system using your library card from our library.

6. The convenience of being able to return your library materials, borrowed from another library, here at our own library.

7. Access to digital e-books and audio books through our library system, which can be borrowed for free and downloaded to your own device (Kindle, Nook, Apple device, etc.)

8. Internet access: we have seven all-purpose public computers connected to a printer, and a public computer dedicated to the library catalog and short time periods of internet access (for example, checking email if all of the other computers are busy).

9. FREE Wi-Fi access, which is on 24/7.

10. Access to online databases through our library system that can help students with research, aid job searches, and much more.

11. Our library maintains a comprehensive website which includes: local historical information; access to the library catalog; access to the above-mentioned databases and digital e-books/audio books; pages with links to helpful resources for kids and teens; a list of materials recently added to our collection; and upcoming events happening at the library. All of this can be used 24/7 from anywhere you can access the internet.

12. Ability to use our coin-operated photocopy machine.

13. Access to local/village historical information in our historical room. We can also connect you with our Village/Town Historian for further assistance.

14. Programs for all ages, including: a monthly book club, weekly chess and Scrabble, movie nights, various programs of interest to adults (local history series, Zentangle, computer/e-reader help), and a wide variety of children’s programs are offered throughout the year.

15. An array of toys, puppets, and puzzles available for children to use when they are visiting the library.

16. A community gathering space…a place to meet up with friends, hold a tutoring session, or any other sort of small meeting.

17. We’re the only place in town to get tax forms during tax season.

18. The library is air-conditioned in the summer.