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THE BLAST
THE LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM
WALLKILL PUBLIC LIBRARY
| | | Summer Reading Program Finale! | | | | |
It's hard to believe that the 2025 Summer Reading program is nearing an end, but the Children's program finale is drawing near! We've made it a colorful summer for sure, and there's still more fun ahead!
The finale is on Thursday, August 14 at 4pm. Join us for our Summer Reading Program finale as Up in Arms performs the "Tortoise & Hare's Race to Health" puppet show! Following the performance, we will celebrate with an ice cream social... no worries, Tortoise and Hare said it's ok! Registration is full, but there's still room on the waitlist in case people drop out: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/14668718
| | Fabulous Foam Cannon FUN! | |
Good, Clean Fun
Of all days to have the Foam Cannon this summer, we ended up with three of the coolest, cloudiest days, and we missed one day due to rain, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm when we finally got to unleash the Foam Cannon on a crowd of squealing kids. Water fun with our sprinklers and water toys is always a crowd-pleaser, but the Foam Cannon definitely upped our game!
We are going to try to schedule another pop-up date for the Foam Cannon before the summer is out. Stay tuned for the date!
| | | Upcoming Library Budget Vote | |
We at the Wallkill Public Library want to encourage you to come by the library and vote on September 16th!
Here’s what’s on the ballot:
- We are proposing a budget with a Tax Levy of $399,387 for the 2025 Library Fiscal Year.
- A vote to fill three open Trustee seats. Incumbents Larissa Burke & Merrie Witkin are running for another term, and Lisa Palmer is running to fulfil the remainder of a vacated Trustee term.
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How does this impact you? What are you getting for that money?
- The Library is more than just a place to grab a few books, though we do still have a great collection of books, ebooks, graphic novels, DVDs, magazines and more for you to borrow.
- Excellent programming for everyone from babies to seniors
- Upgrades to Computers & Digital Resources
- Upkeep & maintenance to keep our historic library beautiful
- Supporting our staff, so they can continue providing great service
- Continued participation in community-wide events and initiatives
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Here are some of the things the library budget supported last year
- Supported & participated in the Annual Duck Derby
- Expanded Summer Reading Program for young children, teens, & adults
- Repainted the exterior of the library facade
- Replaced aging library lawn furniture
- Addition of new collections to better serve our community
- Participated in Digital Navigator Tech Support & Ulster County Cooling Center programs
| | Library Board of Trustee Petition Signatures | | The Wallkill Public Library is presently accepting petition signatures for library board trustees who are up for re-election. The trustees play a vital role in the functioning of the library. So, we encourage residents who live in the Town of Shawangunk within the Wallkill Central School District to consider signing the petitions for these excellent volunteers who seek to give their time in service of the library and the community. Residents are able to sign any and all of the board of trustee petitions, which can be found on the table across from the Wallkill Public Library front desk. Let's support community members supporting their community! Be sure to sign the petitions before September 3! | | | |
Wallkill Public Library was pleased to participate in National Night Out. Thanks for stopping by to spend some time with us. It was great seeing you all at our table and getting to chat while we celebrated a night of community. Thanks to Officer Brooks and the rest of the organizers for putting it all together.
| | Wings Over Wallkill Birdwatching Walks | | We needle felted mushroom tops to glass yogurt jars to make a cute little caddies, diffusers or pincushions! | | | |
Graffiti Chairs - back by popular demand
For those who could not make the first session... we have added another Workshop Wednesday GRAFFITI CHAIRS program for Wednesday, August 20 at 6pm. Be sure to sign up! Register here: https://wallkillpubliclibrary.libcal.com/event/15004751
| | No mundane Mondays here! We sprayed, dripped, dragged and flicked paint, making colorful Jackson Pollock mini canvases! | | We used glue instead of wax for this kid-friendly glue batik banner program. When it is dry, they'll rinse away the glue, leaving a really cool batik-style image on the banner. | | Friday Fun includes crafts! Last week we made Eggs-cellent creatures with colorful plastic eggs, stickers and chenille stems! | |
Kids had a great opportunity to color their world during the Tie-dye Teddy Workshop. All the teddies were truly unique, huggable and SUPER COLORFUL!
| | | Adult Summer Reading Program | |
Summer reading… not just for kids!
Just read a book (e-books count, too!) or magazine, listen to an audiobook, attend a program at the library. Each time you do, we will give you a chance to win one of our amazing adult summer reading prizes. Entering is fast and easy! And, the more books you read or listen to, and the more programs you attend, the higher your chances are to win a prize.
Adult summer reading is for readers ages 18+. The program kicks off on July 3 and runs through the end of August 29. Winners will be announced Tuesday, September 2nd.
Good luck and keep on reading!
| | | A Message from Our Friends | | | | |
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.
| | At a Library Near You... the 2025 RCLS Road Trip | |
Never too late for a summer road trip!
Fuel your curiosity and hit the road! The #RCLSRoadTrip25 runs June 30–Sept. 30. Explore libraries, complete fun challenges, collect stamps, and earn chances to win great prizes.
In the first five weeks of the program:
- 2,731 people have started the Road Trip by visiting at least one library
- There have been 4,012 additional Road trip visits to RCLS libraries
- 3 people have completed the Road Trip by visiting all 47 RCLS libraries!
- One of the monthly prize winners was from Wallkill Public Library! Wallkill was her first stop on the Road Trip!
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Learn more at https://guides.rcls.org/RoadTrip2025
#RCLSStamped #RCLSRoadTrip25
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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.
Each month register for a new herbal tea kit to grow at home. Pick up is on the third Friday each month between 12p-5p. 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.
| | Get Crafty This Fall – Join the Tiny Art Show! | | |
Wallkill Public Library invites you to celebrate the season with creativity and community spirit! Starting Friday, August 22, registered patrons can pick up a charming 11-inch flat wooden pumpkin to decorate for our Fall Tiny Art Show, launching during the Weekend of Wallkill. Registration is required to receive a pumpkin, so don’t miss out!
Finished masterpieces must be returned by Monday, September 15, and the show will run from Friday, September 19 through Friday, October 31. Visitors can vote for their favorites—one vote per visit, per day. Let’s make this fall festive, fun, and full of tiny art!
Register here: Fall Tiny Art Show Pumpkin Pick-up
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Art Along the Sidewalk
With this year's Summer Reading Program theme of "Color Our World", the Library and Vision of Wallkill are teaming up for this year's Art Along the Sidewalk contest. Art Along the Sidewalk allows children and adults to paint a "Color Our World" design on a plastic 18x24 "lawn" sign. The artwork will be judged at Weekend of Wallkill and prizes awarded. Then the signs will be placed along roadways in the Hamlet for the month of October for everyone to enjoy. Additional contest and entry information will be available at the library starting June 19th. All artwork must be submitted by September 9th. Contest entry fee is $3. We hope you'll help Color Our World.
| | | 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, August 19, 2025 at 3:45 p.m. to discuss Someone Else's Shoes by JoJo Moyes.
A story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances. Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes?
Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope--she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.
That’s because Sam Kemp – in the bleakest point of her life – has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag--she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.
Full of Jojo Moyes’ signature humor, brilliant storytelling, and warmth, Someone Else’s Shoes is a story about how just one little thing can suddenly change everything.
-- from Goodreads.
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September's Adult Fiction selection
The Adult Fiction Book Club will be meeting on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 3:45pm to discuss Don't Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino.
| | | Saturday Morning Book Club | | | | |
The Saturday Morning Book Club will hold their next meeting on Saturday, August 23 at 10:30 a.m. They'll be discussing A Woman's Place by Lynn Austin.
They watched their sons, their brothers, and their husbands enlist to fight a growing menace across the seas. And when their nation asked, they answered the call as well....
Virginia longs to find a purpose beyond others' expectations.
Helen is driven by a loneliness money can't fulfill.
Rosa is desperate to flee her in-laws' rules.
Jean hopes to prove herself in a man's world.
Under the storm clouds of destruction that threaten America during the early 1940s, this unlikely gathering of women will experience life in sometimes startling new ways as their beliefs are challenged and they struggle toward a new understanding of what love and sacrifice truly mean.
-- from Goodreads
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September's Saturday Book Club pick is...
"The Wedding People" by Alison Espach. We'll be discussing it on Saturday, September 27 at 10:30 AM.
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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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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Board Game Afternoons
Mondays, 3:00-5:00 PM
in the Reading Room
We meet in the Reading Room on Mondays from 3-5:00 PM to play classic games and learn contemporary board games like Dungeons & Dragons, Settlers of Catan, Risk, Mysterium, Sherriff of Nottingham, and others. For teens and adults.
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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!
| | Click the titles to link to our online catalog to read descriptions, reviews, and place holds. | | |
With the Summer Reading Program Finale on August 14th, some of the programs for children that have been offered in the past will continue with some changes as well.
Here's what to expect this month:
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In addition to Barnes and Noble gift cards and Kartrite gift cards, kids' prize baskets have been added! With August 14th being the last day of the Summer Reading Program Challenge, there is still time to earn spaces on your Bingo card! Each Bingo (earned by reading and logging 5 books) will allow a child the chance to win a raffle prize. Stop by the library soon to check out more books and take a look at the kids' prize packs.
Bingo cards and reading logs may be turned in August 14th-August 30th, 2025.
| | | 1000 Books Before Kindergarten | | | | The 1000 Books before Kindergarten Challenge will continue at Wallkill Public Library. This program promotes early literacy through reading to infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children. If you have previously enrolled in the program, bring your reading logs to us to receive your badges. If you haven't started the program, it is never too late to begin! | | Ongoing Children's Programming | |
TUESDAYS
10:30AM 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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11:00AM 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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11:30AM Take & Make Craft
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
11:00AM STEM Exploration
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.
NOTE: There will be no STEM session offered on Aug. 20.
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THURSDAYS
10:30AM 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 Available
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Some SATURDAYS
(Check Wallkill Public Library events calendar for dates)
10:30AM Family Storytime
Children of all ages are welcome. The books and activities will be centered around children ages 4-10. This will be a "repeat" of the previous Tuesday's story time. Registration is required.
NOTE: The first Saturday Family Storytime is scheduled for Aug. 23.
| | | This Week’s STEM Adventure: | | | |
Measurement & Building
Our Summer STEM session was all about measurement and building freestanding structures with LEGO bricks.
| | Colorful Reptiles from around the World! | | Wallkill Public Library patrons had the opportunity to see lizards, snakes, and other reptiles from REPCO Wildlife/Prehistoric World Zoo. | | | |
Zoe the Therapy Dog
Zoe will be taking a vacation during the month of August but she will be back with us in September!
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, September 16! 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/15010421
| | | Congressman Pat Ryan’s Reading Challenge | | |
Congressman Pat Ryan announced an all-new Summer Reading Challenge for Hudson Valley students, grades K-8. Participating students will track their reading, and those who complete five or more books before August 31st will receive a Congressional Certificate of Achievement.
“Summer reading keeps kids curious, confident, and connected — it’s how we make sure every child comes back to school ready to learn, grow, and thrive.” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “That’s why I’m very excited to announce the launch of my new Summer Reading Challenge. I am consistently so impressed with Hudson Valley students, and I think this is a great way to recognize them and their commitment to education. So, whether you’re enjoying the nice weather in one of our beautiful parks or making a splash at a Hudson Valley pool this summer vacation, make sure you bring a book!”
Students who want to participate in Congressman Ryan’s Summer Reading Challenge should fill out the form linked below. Participating K-8 students who read five or more books between July 1st and August 31st will receive a Congressional Certificate of Achievement.
Sign up for Congressman Ryan’s Summer Reading Challenge: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1f-fnIPi9GybJHatitd7DMeIegOGho7oSasFsifiNMhE/viewform?edit_requested=true
| | Teen Summer Reading Program | | Join the fun with our Teen Summer Reading Program (ages 12-17) and take on the Teen Book Genre Bingo Challenge! Complete squares or score a bingo to earn raffle tickets for a chance to win our grand prize "Taste the Rainbow" bundle—packed with colorful cooking utensils, mixing bowls, cookbooks, and cutting boards. Turn in your bingo sheet by August 29, and don’t miss the raffle drawing on September 2. Let the summer reading (and winning) begin! | | | 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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