Adults
Craft Supply Swap
Friday, June 5, 2 – 6 p.m. & Saturday, June 6, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Donate up to 2 bags of your unwanted craft supplies and come get something new to you! Donors will receive a voucher to get early access to the swap from 1-2 p.m. on Friday. Each person can fill up to two bags to take home!
Accepting donations May 19 – June 4 at the Adult Services Desk at the Main Library.
Reading Recommendations for All Ages!
Looking for your next great read but not really sure where to start? Let our librarians help you! Fill out this form and we’ll send a personalized list of titles you, your child or teen might enjoy.
Adult Reading Recommendations click here for suggestions.
Children Reading Recommendations click here for suggestions.
Teen Reading Recommendations click here for suggestions.
Check out our Book Club Kits
Are you starting a book club, or already have a book club and need books? We’ve got you covered. The Library checks out Book Club Kits that contain between 8-15 copies of fiction and nonfiction books. The Kits check out for 8 weeks. Find the list of Kits here Book Club Kits.
Book Club
APL Book Club
Join us on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 12:00 p.m. for lively discussions and great reads!
Next Meeting: June 16, 2026
We’ll be discussing Upward Bound, by Woody Brown
Copies of each month’s selection are available at the Adult Services Desk at the Main Library.
Upward Bound is not a place anyone dreams of spending their days. The dreary adult daycare center for Los Angeles’s disabled community is, for many of its clients and staff, a place of last resort. This includes Carlos, a young aide who lost his mother as a boy and now works there alongside his beloved sister, Mariana; Jorge, the gentle nonspeaking giant whom Carlos seeks to befriend (and prevent from escaping); Tom, a beautiful young man with cerebral palsy who pines for Ann, the summer lifeguard at the center’s pool who feels out of her depth. Then there’s Dave, Upward Bound’s director, who came to L.A. to pursue an acting career but now channels his passion into staging an overly ambitious holiday show starring the center’s irrepressible clients. Framing these intertwined narratives—and connecting them in surprising, shattering ways—is the riveting and sometimes ironic testimony of Walter, a recent community college graduate who, after a family tragedy, must return to the company of his disabled peers.
In Upward Bound, Woody Brown has created an indelible, authentic, and profoundly moving group portrait of autism and other disabilities, all illuminated by his empathy, sly sense of humor, and enormous gifts as a novelist. With remarkable sophistication, insight, and creativity, Brown depicts a community too-often invisible in literature and society. Filled with characters you won’t soon forget, Upward Bound will inspire and touch you, teaching you as much about yourself as the tender, miraculous world behind the center’s doors.
July’s Title: There is No Place for Us, by Brian Goldstone
Book Club Bags
Already in a book club? You can checkout sets of books from APL’s previous book club selections. Each bag contains 8-12 copies of the book and check out for 8 weeks.
Questions about APL book clubs? Email us at librarywebteam@cityofalbany.net
New York Times Digital Access
Albany Public Library is excited to offer access to New York Times Digital by remote code activation. See instruction below to get started.
Remote Access:
- Click here to redeem the promotional code, you must create or log-in with a NYTime.com account
- Promotional code is active for 72 hours. After 72 hours, you can redeem a new code by clicking here.
Adult Reading Recommendations
Historic Albany Photos Online
Through a joint project between the Albany Regional Museum and the Albany Public Library, approximately 7,000 photos from the Robert Potts Collection were numbered, sorted, and scanned. This project is supported in part by a grant from the State Historic Preservation Office, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
Click here to access the historical photos: Online Collections | Albany Regional Museum
About Robert Potts
Robert “Bob” Potts was a lifelong Albany resident, serving in the military as a ham radio operator during World War II. He was a co-owner of Duedall & Pott’s Stationery Store in downtown Albany for many years. Potts was very involved in the history of Albany and spent many years collecting photographs. In the 1990s, Potts wrote six books on Albany’s history, which included hundreds of historic photographs.