Learn something new today!

Craft & Hobby is a brand-new service designed specifically for libraries that allows patrons to watch and learn from crafting experts on-demand. Acquiring new skills and talents through step-by-step do-it-yourself classes in 20 creative categories. With more than 4000 hours of high-quality video instruction, Craft & Hobby is the perfect way to inspire creativity in your library.

Learn at your own pace with step-by-step tutorials in 20 different creative interests, "Craftsy" catalog included. Hobbies highlighted are: sewing, knitting, fitness, cake decorating, crochet, painting & drawing, quilting, outdoor photography, and woodworking. There are even craft classes in Spanish!

To find Craft & Hobby, go to the “Reference & Research” tab on our website, scroll down and select “Ulster County InfoPortal”. On the UCLA homepage, select “Learn”, scroll through the offering to find “Craft & Hobby”. You will need your Wallkill Public Library card to access this exciting new offering from The Ulster County Library Association.

Tutor.com!

You (or your student) can access Tutor.com with a Wallkill Public Library card. Tutor.com provides on-demand tutoring, homework help, test preparation, and writing assistance for students in grades K-Adult, in more than 60 subjects. No appointment is needed – tutors are available between 3 and 10 p.m.

Once you’re logged in, you’ll see that one-on-one live tutoring isn’t the only option open to you. Study resources such as worksheets, videos, study guides, and lessons are available 24/7. Test prep is available for the SAT, AP exams, and grad school tests, and there are even career services like resume and cover letter help and job opening lists at your disposal.

If you or your child need a little extra help, Tutor.com may be your answer – and it’s totally free to library card holders! Check it out today.

The new Saturday Morning Book Club will have their very first meeting at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 24! They'll be discussing Nikki Erlick's The Measure. The group will be meeting in the library's reading room.

For those who may be at work or otherwise tied up when the library’s Fiction Club meets during the week, or for those who are voracious readers and want to discuss more than one book a month, this is your chance!

From Goodreads...

Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice. It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out. But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live.

From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?

As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?

The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.

On Tuesday March 5, at 2:30 p.m., the adult fiction book club will meet in our reading room to discuss The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Newcomers are always welcome!

From Goodreads...

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

Now through April 30

Spring into the library for books, movies, museum passes and magazines! Earn chances to win a $25 gas card from Stewart’s! Pick up your new Bingo card today, or download your own!

Register today to reserve your birdhouse to participate in our Spring 2024 Tiny Art Show!

Using your imagination and any supplies at home, decorate your birdhouse and return it to the library on or before Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Be sure to include your name and age on or with your birdhouse to help us determine the Viewer's Choice Awards in 3 categories - Adult (18+), Teen (12-17), and Youth (up to 11). 

The birdhouses will be on display at the library from March 15, 2024 until April 15, 2024. Visitors to the library will be able to submit one vote per visit for their favorite birdhouse.

All you need is love... and a Hannaford Helps Community bag!

This February, head over to the Modena Hannaford store (2066 Route 32, Modena NY) and purchase either reusable Community bag pictured for $2.50. Every bag purchased will give our Friends of Wallkill Library group $1.00. Thanks for the love and for the Hannaford Helps program!

Do you have an interesting collection that you’d like to share with the library for a month? Our display case in the front entry is the ideal place to feature a small collection. Some of our past displays have included Japanese dolls, Mexican pottery, Bohemian beaded handbags, a teddy bear picnic, Beatrix Potter figurines, Batman collectibles, Depression glass, and soft-sculpted skiers and skaters in a winter scene. On display this month is a collection of heart-shaped candy boxes. The case is the perfect height for our littlest patrons to peruse and discover.

Contact Julie Moussot (jmoussot@rcls.org) if you have a collection you would like to display.

Recycling made easy

Wondering what's the best way to get rid of those used batteries rolling around in your junk drawer?

The Library accepts used batteries and cell phones to be recycled! You will find the WeRecycle Battery Box located on our window seat. Please use a plastic baggie (found on the side of the box) to place your batteries or cell phones in before placing them in the battery recycle box. Quick, easy, convenient, and environmentally friendly!

Free COVID-19 tests still available

Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order an additional 4 free at-⁠home tests beginning November 20, 2023. If you did not order tests this fall, you may place two orders for a total of 8 tests. Your order of COVID tests is completely free – you won’t even pay for shipping. 

Need help placing an order for your at-⁠home tests? Call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489).

Mahjong meet-ups

Every Wednesday at 1 p.m. and Thursday at 6 p.m. the library hosts our Mahjong Clubs. If you’re a player or just interested in learning, join us! We supply the games and (a limited number of) 2023 mahjong cards. Just drop in, no registration required.

Forgot your card? Check one out at the circulation desk to use during the game!

Adult coloring club

Coloring pages are no longer just for children! Join us for this creative and relaxing hobby. Just drop in, registration not required. Bring your own materials or use ours.

Coloring Club meets on Tuesday evenings at 6:00-8:00 PM. No registration is required.

Adult crafting

Grab a project and come enjoy the craft of your choice, whether it's knitting, crocheting, diamond painting, coloring, embroidery, or cross stitch!

Adult Crafting meets on Thursday afternoons between 2:00-5:00 PM. No registration is required.

XOXOX

Love was in the air at Workshop Wednesday's Valentine card making!

We are so glad that the groundhog is calling for an early spring! As things start heating up, check out our upcoming special programs!

Bilingual Storytime Hora de Cuentos Bilingüe

Our next pop-up program will be tomorrow, Saturday, February 10 at 11:00 a.m. Join Miss Michelle and special guest, Ms. Peg from upstairs at the library, for a special bilingual storytime! We will also sing some classic tunes and make our own mini books, in both English and Spanish! 

Venga a la biblioteca para un programa especial. Ustedes van a oír un cuento bilingüe, leído por la Srta. Peg (del primer piso de le bibliotecta) y la Srta. Michelle.  

También vamos a cantar canciones clásicas y hacer libritos en español e inglés. 

Storytime with Special Guest, Zoe the Therapy Dog!

Join Miss Michelle for Storytime in the Children's Room at the Wallkill Public Library on Tuesday, February 27 at 10:30 a.m... with our special guest, ZOE THE THERAPY DOG!!!

Zoe loves to join in on the fun - she also enjoys being read to and will take some gentle pets along the way… she might even surprise us with some tricks!

Registration is REQUIRED. Please register each child separately.

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, March 30th at 11:00 AM "Jack Frost: Snow Kidding!" with David Engel

Wrap up the March holiday week at this family-fun variety show, hosted by beloved David Engel!

Jack Frost is coming to town and he’s bringing wintertime fun! The world's premiere polar prankster and renown ice artist delights audiences with this heart-warming production.

This program will be in the Town Hall Community Room, ages 4 and up. Register your child here to reserve their spot!

Wallkill Nursery School visit

After a few weeks of finicky weather, Miss Michelle was finally able to visit her friends at the Wallkill Nursery School! We read several stories during our time together, including a fan favorite, Go to Sleep, Groundhog!, and even got in some wiggle-time singing "Bingo was His Name-O."

Crafty Kids

We've been keeping the winter blues at bay with our recent crafting-projects. Register below for Crafting Caboodles to join us in-person or you can register for Miss Michelle's Take-and-Make for a take-home option!

• Our doors are open for library services including browsing for library materials, making copies, sending faxes, and using the public access computers.
• Our bookdrop is open for contact-free and after-hours returns of library materials. Be sure to secure DVD and BCD cases with rubber bands.
• Curbside delivery of pre-ordered items is available by request. Call the circulation desk at 845-895-3707 to make a pick-up appointment.
• Fine-free returns on everything, except museum/park passes.
• Inter-library loans are available between all RCLS libraries.
• Grab & GO projects with materials necessary for crafts available for pickup at the library.
• In-person programming, with appropriate social distancing.
• Museum passes are available to Wallkill Public Library patrons for Boscobel House and Gardens, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum, Empire Pass, Hudson Highlands Nature Museum, Hudson River Maritime Museum, Mohonk Preserve, Museum Village, and Storm King Art Center. Plus, more print-at-home museum passes available through the Ulster County InfoPortal on the library’s website.
• We are not accepting any donations of books or DVDs at this time.