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THE BLAST
THE LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM
WALLKILL PUBLIC LIBRARY
| | | Help us win the Ulster County Food Fight | | | | |
As part of the Great Give Back—an annual New York State Library initiative to support local communities—the Wallkill Public Library is participating in the Ulster County Food Fight and collecting donations for the Wallkill Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry.
We have one week to go and your donations can put us on top! Now through Saturday, October 18, we invite patrons to drop off unopened, unexpired, non-perishable food items at the library. Your generosity will help make a meaningful difference for families in need right here in our community!
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Fall into Books
Dive into the Autumn 2025 Adult Book Bingo challenge at the Wallkill Public Library which runs through November 30 for a chance to win a $25 gift card for Wright's Farm Market!
Check off your bingo squares by reading diverse genres, and you'll be entered into our exciting drawing. Completing bingos and filling your card earn extra tickets! Embrace the fall reading season and you could be our lucky winner!
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Let's help Gunky grow!
Gunky is a "rock snake" that lives outside of the Wallkill Public Library and it needs you to grow! If you're interested in adding a painted rock to help Gunky grow you can paint a stone however you like and add it alongside the others! Let's see how long Gunky will get! Gunky can be found to the left of the front entrance of the library just in front of the hedge.
| | | "I made it at the library..." | |
Halloween Safety Pin Art
Things got delightfully spooky at our Halloween Safety Pin Art program! Patrons conjured up tiny masterpieces using glass seed beads and safety pins—think pumpkins, ghosts, and ghoulish glam. It was a frightfully fun way to get crafty and celebrate the season!
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Workshop Wednesday:
Wood burning part 2, more mushrooms!
Participants learned a simple design transfer technique, then wood burned the outline and painted in colors.
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Basket Weaving with Miss Donna
It was a knot-your-average evening—Miss Donna had everyone hooked on basket weaving!
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Soap Making Saturday Workshop
Participants made bars of soap using mango butter, goat's milk, honey, essential oils and other natural ingredients at our most recent Saturday Workshop.
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The Hawk Watch is back!
Wallkill Public Library is marking the annual autumn hawk migration by encouraging our patrons to report their hawk sightings! Swing by the library during our regular operating hours now through October 31 to log your raptor sightings in our hawk watch book. We're eager to learn about all of the amazing raptors you'll spot.
Library hours can be found here: https://www.wallkillpubliclibrary.org/pages/index/225512/hours-directions
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Final Walk of the Season!
October 11 at 8 AM
Join us for the last Wings Over Wallkill birdwatching walk of the season! We'll be meeting in the parking lot of the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge located at 902 Hoagerburgh Road Wallkill, NY 12589. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes, and to bring your cameras or binoculars. Birdwatchers of all experience levels are welcome, from first-timer to seasoned experts.
Registration is required. You can register here:
https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/14266115
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Mahjongg Lessons with Eileen
Saturdays at 11:30 AM
Library Reading Room
There's still time to sign up for Mahjongg lessons at the Wallkill Public library on Saturdays from 11:30am until 2pm!
Join our local Mahjongg expert, Eileen Masterson, as she leads you through lessons on how to play the ancient and addictive game of Mahjongg! Eileen is an experienced mahjongg teacher and has led our mahjongg groups on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This class is for beginners, and people hoping to re-learn the game after a hiatus. Patrons should be prepared to join her for all sessions to truly learn the game. Feel free to bring simple snacks and covered drinks.
Registration is required: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15424133
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NEW! Monthly Munch: Celebrate PIZZA MONTH!
Monday, October 13 from 1-2 PM
Who wants pizza?!! Come to the library on Monday, October 13 from 1 to 2pm. Miss Christine will help you make your own pizza. Pat the dough, sauce, top and take home to bake! The program is suitable for ages 5 and up.
Registration required: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15150682
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NEW day & time! Pinochle
Thursdays, 1-3 PM in the Library Reading Room
Things aren't all fun and games at the library, but we try to fit in our fair share of games for our patrons. Come and join the new Pinochle gathering in the library Reading Room on Thurdays between 1-3pm starting on October 16th. If you're a novice player, we'll have some more experienced players to teach you the rules and how to play 4-handed pinochle. Please sign up and identify whether you are already a player or want to learn how to play. Registration is required.
Click the button below or use this link to register: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15334618
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Grow Your Own Herbal Tea
Sign up today for our take and make herbal tea growing kit!
Each month register for a new herbal tea kit to grow at home. Kits will include basic instructions and information, a starter pot, starter soil and seeds.
Registration is required. Any take and make kits not picked up within one week of the pick-up date will be offered to the public.
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NEW! Return of the Fig-Guy!
Saturday, October 25 from 10 AM - 12 PM
Evan Panagiotopoulos is coming back to the Wallkill Public Library on October 25 due to popular demand! We'll be meeting in the Town Hall Community Room from 10am until 12pm. During the program Evan will be discussing techniques for winterizing and caring for your fig tree. Each attendee will receive a rooted fig cutting as part of the program.
Come prepared with your questions for an open and interactive discussion! A friendly word of caution: cultivating fig trees is not just a hobby—it’s a passion that can become highly addictive. You’ve been warned!
Registration is required, and there is a $5 registration fee for all attendees. You can register at: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15078000
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NEW! Outsmart the Scammers
Tuesday, October 28 at 6 PM
You have the power to outsmart the scammers! Incidents of financial fraud are on the rise — and are becoming increasingly harder to detect. While no one is immune, there are steps you can take to outsmart the scammers. Join us for this presentation and learn about the following strategies:
- How to spot certain red flags that may indicate a fraudulent encounter
- Resources you can use if you become a victim of fraud
- Steps you can take now to help protect yourself and your loved ones
Bonnie J. Rule, a financial advisor from Edward Jones, will be presenting. This program will be held in the Library Reading Room on Tuesday, October 28 at 6pm.
Registration is required: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15368999
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Pumpkin carving on the library lawn
Friday, October 31 from 2-3:30 pm
Haunted Lawn PUMPKIN CARVING! Join us for pumpkin carving on the library lawn!
We will have pumpkins, carving tools, tealights, music and light refreshments. After carving, the pumpkins will be lit and displayed along our sidewalks for the library's haunted lawn display. Sign up today, reserve your spot! Ages 5+ Registration required.
Click the button or use this link to register:
https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15281871
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NEW dates! Resin Mold Making
Part 1 - Saturday, November 1, 10:30 AM
Part 2 - Saturday November 8, 10:30 AM
Join Nick Trimby on Saturday, November 1 at 10:30am in the first program of a two-part program where he teaches people how to make custom molds. Nick has almost 20 years of experience in toy making, designing medical prosthetics, and in the film industry. He will teach patrons the basics of how to prepare and make a simple box / cup mold that can be used to make toys, candy, candles and more! Each patron will leave the program with their own personal mold.
This two-part of the program will cover the mold making process. Patrons will design their molds under Nick's supervision and learn how to use them.
Part 2 of the program will be on Saturday, November 8 from 10:30am until 11:30am. At that program patrons will work with Nick to finish their molds so that they can take them home and begin using them following the tips and techniques that he's has shared with them.
This program is for patrons ages 10 to adults. Please register each attendee separately. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Registration is required: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15209699
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NEW! Medicare 101
Saturday, November 1 at 11am
Medicare 101 is a program suited to people preparing to enroll in Medicare for the first time but is helpful for anyone who wants to learn more about it. Join Karen Harding, a licensed insurance specialist as she takes us through the basics of applying for Medicare and getting the most out of it. The program will be held in the Town Hall Community Room on Saturday, November 1 at 11am.
Registration is required: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15347853
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Beyond the Book (Club)
Friday, November 7 at 4:15 PM
Beyond the Book is a monthly book club for tweens, where stories spark real-world adventures! This month, we’re diving into the thrilling I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980 by Lauren Tarshis. Join us for lively discussions and—of course—pizza! Come for the books, stay for the fun, and leave with skills that go beyond the page.
Registration is required. Click the button below or use this link to register:
https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15507001
| | | Friends of the Wallkill Public Library Fundraiser | | |
The Friends of the WPL are selling beautiful, sturdy canvas bags printed with our logo to continue our fundraising efforts.
One bag costs $15, with two bags for $25. You can purchase one (or two!) at the library circulation desk. Thank you for helping us do more for our library.
| | | Click the titles to link to our online catalog to read descriptions, reviews, and place holds. | | If you would like to attend virtually, contact Kim O'Sullivan at kosullivan@rcls.org. | | |
The Adult Fiction Book Club will be meeting on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 3:45pm to discuss Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
Sixty years after its original publication, Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today its message has grown more relevant than ever before.
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.
-- from Goodreads.
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November's Adult Fiction selection
The Adult Fiction Book Club will be meeting on Wednesday, November 12 at 3:45pm to discuss When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole.
Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning...
-- Goodreads
| | | Saturday Morning Book Club | | | | |
The Saturday Morning Book Club will hold their next meeting on Saturday, September 27 at 10:30 a.m. They'll be discussing The Wedding People by Alison Espach.
A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.
In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.
-- from Goodreads
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October's Saturday Book Club pick is...
"The Unmaking of June Farrow" by Adrienne Young. We'll be discussing it on Saturday, October 18 at 10:30 AM.
In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line...
With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.
-- from Goodreads
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2025 Reading Challenge
Join the year-long 2025 Reading Challenge at the Wallkill Public Library! Ask for your challenge card at the Circulation Desk. Read a book for each month as outlined on our challenge card and earn one raffle ticket for every completed month. Complete three challenges, and you’ll receive a special incentive prize plus an extra ticket for the final prize drawing.
The grand prize will be announced later, and the drawing will be held on Friday, January 2, 2026. Don’t miss out on the fun and the chance to win fantastic prizes while expanding your reading horizons!
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Expanded Tech Support
10:00-4:00 PM weekdays
Technology doesn't just give you headaches on Thursdays. So, the Wallkill Public Library will be offering Tech Support from 10-4 on weekdays from now on, rather than just on Thursdays from 2pm until 4pm. So, if you're having issues with your cellphone, tablet, or other technology please stop by the front desk of the library. We'll be happy to lend a hand if we can.
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Textile Tuesdays
The Wallkill Quilter's Circle is sponsored by the Wallkill Public Library. The Circle meets for Textile Tuesdays in the Community Room at the Shawangunk Town Hall on Tuesdays from 10 AM to 2 PM.
Bring your present project and your lunch and join us! No registration necessary.
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Mahjong Meet-ups
Every Wednesday at 1 PM and Thursday at 6 PM the library hosts our Mahjong Clubs in the Reading Room. If you’re a player or just interested in learning, join us! We supply the games and (a limited number of) mahjong cards. Just drop in, no registration required
Forgot your card? Check one out at the circulation desk to use during the game!
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Lend-A-Pole Program
Thanks to the Federated Sportsmen’s Clubs of Ulster County (FSCUC), patrons are able to borrow fishing poles from the library!
The FSCUC donated a Lend-A-Pole cabinet filled with poles, tackle boxes, and informational pamphlets to the library. Patrons can check fishing poles out just as they would a museum pass or book. Borrowers also get to take out – and keep! - a tackle box, as the FSCUC will replenish the supply when it gets low.
Ask at the circulation desk for assistance.
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Battery 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!
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Clynk Bottle & Can Collection
Stop by the circulation desk to grab a Clynk bag and tag, then simply:
- Fill the bag with aluminum cans and plastic bottles eligible for the NY bottle deposit.
- Donate your filled Clynk bag by dropping it off at the Clynk collection area located at the entrance of your local Hannaford grocery store. Follow the instructions on or next to the Clynk door.
Together, we can all make a positive impact on the environment and help the library at the same time!
| | Children's Program Highlights | |
STEM Spotlight:
Oxidation, Mystery Liquids, & pH Exploration
This week in our STEM program, young scientists dove into the world of chemistry with a hands-on experiment involving eight mystery liquids. After learning about oxidation, children observed each liquid’s appearance, tested the pH levels using strips, and used critical thinking to make thoughtful guesses about the mystery liquids' identities. Through this engaging activity, they learned about acids and bases, along with how pH levels are measured.
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Shout out to the
Sedmak Family
Thank you to the Jacob Sedmak Family who donated a Bluetooth speaker to the library. Children's Storytime was "rocking" this week during the music portion when children (and some parents) were playing instruments to the music.
The speaker has a karaoke feature so let us know if anyone is interested in participating in Karaoke at the Wallkill Public Library.
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Way to go, Bryce S!
Congratulations to Bryce S. for earning his 100th book tag! Bryce and his mom are excited to continue participating in the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program by attempting to read 100 books each month! Keep up the reading!
| | | 1000 Books Before Kindergarten | | |
Wallkill Public Library is proud to participate in the 1000 Books before Kindergarten program.
This program is a national initiative which promotes bonding through reading between infants and young children and their caregivers/parents using a simple and fun approach to establish strong early brain development and literacy skills. There are also incentive prizes along the way! Any child from birth to kindergarten-age can participate.
This is a multi-step program that takes approximately 1 to 3 years for each participant to complete. Caregivers and parents who are interested in participating in this with their infants and young children should speak with Miss Sarah, or any of the library staff members at the desk if you're interested in participating or registering a reading milestone!
| | Ongoing Children's Programming | |
TUESDAYS
10:30 AM Family Storytime
Children of all ages are welcome. The books and activities will be centered around children ages 4-10 years of age. Registration is required.
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11:00 AM Crafting Caboodles
Join Miss Sarah for crafts in the Children's Room. We will celebrate a different theme every week by making fun creations! Ages 3+ (younger children may attend, but this may require more assistance from the parent). Registration is required.
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11:30 AM Take & Make Craft Sign-up deadline
If you aren't able to attend Crafting Caboodles, register for a Take and Make Craft. The craft will be ready on Thursday morning through the following week. Registration is required.
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WEDNESDAYS
11:00 AM STEM Explorers
Ages 4+. A wide variety of topics and activities pertaining to science, technology, and math will be covered. (Younger children may attend, but this activity may require more assistance from the parent.) Registration is required.
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THURSDAYS
10:30 AM Infant and Toddler Storytime
The books and activities will be centered around children ages 0 to 2-3 years of age. Music, finger play, and sensory activities for infants/toddlers may also be included. Registration is required.
Take & Make Craft Pick-up available anytime after 10AM for the next week.
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10:30 AM Crafting Caboodles NEW!
Join Ms. Sarah for Saturday crafts from 10:30 to 11am on September 13 in the library Children's Room (for children age 3 & up). This will be a "repeat" of the previous Tuesday's craft.
Our next meeting is:
Saturday, October 11 from 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Learn more and register here: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15405221
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10:45 AM Lego Club NEW!
This program is for children ages 3-11 who enjoy building with Lego bricks. During sessions, participants will be able to test the creativity and ability by engaging in Lego building challenges, along with building just for enjoyment.
Our next meeting is:
Saturday, October 25 from 10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Learn more and register here:
https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15405263
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Zoe the Therapy Dog
Join Miss Sarah for Storytime in the Children's Room at the Wallkill Public Library... with our special guest, ZOE THE THERAPY DOG on Tuesday, October 14! 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!
Click the link to register: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15010425
| | | Spanish language books for children | | Click the titles to link to our online catalog to read descriptions, reviews, and place holds. | | Local Vaccination Clinics | | Business services available at the library | |
Copy & Print
Copying and self-service printing is available from our public access computers.
- Letter size B&W $.10
- Legal size B&W $.20
- Letter size Color $.30
- Legal size Color $.40
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Fax
Faxes can be sent and received at a charge of $1.00 per page.
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Scan
Scan documents to your portable USB drive. There is no charge for this service!
| | Library services at a glance | |
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Our doors are open for library services including browsing for library materials, making copies, sending faxes, and using the public access computers.
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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.
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Fine-free returns on everything, except museum/park passes.
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Inter-library loans are available between all RCLS libraries.
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In-person programming for all ages!
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Museum passes are available to Wallkill Public Library patrons for the Empire Pass, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum, Historic Huguenot Street Tour Pass, 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.
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We are not accepting any donations of books or DVDs at this time.
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