We hope you enjoyed our first edition, Volume 1 of Between the Pages. Please respond to let us know your thoughts, feedback, and collaborative opportunities.

By reading and engaging with our newsletter, you're supporting the Friends of the Kingston Library and our mission to enhance the library's offerings and services. 

Looking forward to cooler weather, the vibrant colors of autumn in the Hudson Valley and hearing from YOU, one friend to another.

 Collaborative Opportunity: The volunteers of the Friends of Kingston Library are always looking for event or messaging collaborations. Does your organization or 501c3 looking for collaborative opportunities or connections that benefit the City of Kingston? If so, we'd love the opportunity to collaborate! Please email us DIRECTLY to coordinate collaborations with our FoKL Executive Committe.

=>Personal Kingston Library Stories!

We are still collecting people's experiences with the Kingston Library. It's such a personal relationship, and we want to celebrate it, with your help. Please send us an (up to) 300-word story on why you love your library, or an experience you had at the Kingston Library, and we'll feature as many as we can in our online edition! Libraries are meant to be shared, and so are your stories. Email your stories to fokl@friendsofkingstonlibrary.org Attn: My Story about Kingston Library.

Let’s explore our love for books, the library and our community together.

Heather & Madeline promoting the Kingston Library & FoKL (06/2016), Kingston Library Chalk Walk (05/2016), KL BoD (11/2010 Wild Vikings at the KL BoD)

Personal Kingston Library Stories:

Heather Ohlson, from Library Board to Friends

For years, the Kingston Library has been a cornerstone in my family’s life. After serving on the Kingston Library Board, I truly understood the value of its resources, especially for families. I remember my youngest child, who is now 18, growing up with the library’s vibrant children's programs. Back then, “Super Saturday” services were a lifesaver for us. It provided not only a fun, safe place for my child to engage with peers, but also a treasure trove of learning opportunities.

When my second-born came along, I knew right away that Kingston Library would be an integral part of their life too. As they grew older, the library continued to evolve. My second-born, a curious soul, found endless joy exploring the library’s collection, from picture books to early chapter books. We would spend countless afternoons tucked away in the children's section, exploring worlds through stories.

One summer, we discovered the library’s summer reading program, which became an annual tradition. It helped build a lifelong love for reading in them. They took part in the themed crafts, science experiments, and storytelling sessions that the library hosted. The impact was so profound that even now, at 18, they still talk fondly about those summers.

And let's not forget my oldest, now 30. They were also a frequent attendee of “Super Saturday” events, although the library’s services have grown significantly since then. The Kingston Library has been more than just a place to borrow books—it’s been a pillar of support, education, and community for my family through all these years. I'm now "Oma" to another generation of a library audience. I am forever grateful for the resources and programs it provided, shaping my children’s love for reading and learning in ways I could have never imagined.

From there I served on the Kingston Library Board of Directors, eventually as president and now serve as the FoKL president.

Did you know the Kingston Library has a The Library of Things (LoT)?

Libraries of Things (often called LoTs) are a form of community infrastructure designed for sharing all kinds of stuff. LoTs hold true to the traditional mechanics of a library while pushing borrowing material to a new edge: instruments, gardening tools, camping gear, sporting equipment, and more are up for grabs to be borrowed.

Read more by clicking here!

There are a variety of items to check out, including:

• Gardening tools and supplies
• Seeds
• Wi-Fi hotspots
• Museum passes
• Ukuleles
• Adventure packs
• Portable P.A. system
• Universal Charging cables
• Bike locks
• Pressure Washer

The library also accepts suggestions for items to add to the Library of Things wish list.

Sustainable Libraries

In partnership with the Executive Board of the American Library Association, the Sustainable Libraries Initiative Advisory Board undertook an ambitious project to create a National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries (NCAS) and Implementation Guide. The strategy lists three categories of effort and specific actions to prioritize at your library: Climate Change Mitigation, Climate Change Adaptation & Contributions Community Resilience, and Climate Justice Work.

The NCAS implementation guide is now available and helps unpack each area of the strategy, introduces you to core concepts, provides you with simple steps to get started, and is chock full of resources and examples to help you accelerate your work in this area.

Access the National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries and Implementation Guide at https://www.sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org/national-climate-action-strategy-libraries 

Broadband Expansion An All Hands on Deck Moment

Library Wi-Fi hotspot lending programs — via the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) E-rate program — are a complement to broadband providers and a permanent connection at home, not a replacement for those connections.

Full article here: Broadband Expansion an “All Hands On Deck” Moment, Says National Library Rep - Telecompetitor

How Libraries Can Build Connections to Combat Loneliness

Libraries save lives. Loneliness and social isolation are so rampant in America that the Center for Disease Control calls loneliness an epidemic, exacerbated by COVID. Using programming, community resources, and collection development and display, libraries can address this significant mental (and physical) health condition. This webinar will guide you on how to develop these tools and create a culture of empathy and action by developing micro-communities to combat loneliness.

Full article here: How Libraries Can Build Connections to Combat Loneliness | Public Library Association (ala.org)

Tell Governor Hochul to Sign A.9076-A / S.7093-A today!

A.9076-A (Santabarbara) / S.7093-A (Chu), critical legislation that would update New York's State Aid for Library Construction program and strengthen library infrastructure in communities statewide, has been delivered to the desk of Governor Kathy Hochul!

Governor Hochul now has through August 31, 2024 to render a decision on this important bill.

Click below to send a message to the Governor urging her to sign A.9076-A / S.7093-A today!

Take action here!

EveryLibrary Announces Banned Books Week Online Literary Festival

EveryLibrary has announced EveryLibrary Live! Banned Books Week 2024, a free, online literary festival from September 22-27.

Twenty-five panels will cover topics including the joy of writing, the culture of reading, and the challenges of censorship. Participating authors include Laurie Halse Anderson, Jason Reynolds, Stephen Chobsky, Maia Kobabe, and Malinda Lo.

Source: EveryLibrary Announces Banned Books Week Online Literary Festival | School Library Journal

The Postcard- Anne Berest

-FoKL volunteer, Denise Harney

Winner of the French Choix Goncourt Prix, The Postcard is a riveting autobiographical novel about a Jewish family who are ripped apart by WWII. The parents, Ephraim and Emma as well as two of their children Noemie and Jacques die in Auschwitz. The surviving daughter, Lelia, granddaughter, Anne and great granddaughter are at the center of the story. A mysterious postcard with no address and no signature arrives in Leila’s mailbox with the names of those who died. As we learn about the family’s wartime experiences in France, the powerful and poignant story unfolds as a mystery thriller that draws the reader into the secrets of a family devastated by the Holocaust. 

Beautifully written, The Postcard is meticulously researched and thought-provoking. Written from the perspective of Anne’s grandmother, Myriam through the war as well as Anne as she searches for the answers about her family and the postcard fifty years later, the author peels away many layers of a dramatic tale. 

Anne has little knowledge of her Jewish roots and traditions growing up but as she delves deeper into her family history, she realizes the importance of accepting the family’s past story and teaching it to her young daughter. 

The Postcard will rank as one of the best books I have read in a long time.

Why Not Be A Friend? 



Please take a moment to check out this quick You Tube video. This Public Service Announcement was created by Paula Poundstone in partnership with Friends of Libraries U.S.A. on the importance of Friend groups! Click the image below and the click here to BECOME A FRIEND at any level today!

Hey!

Did you see the FoKL volunteers (Susan R. and Heather A.) at the Kingston Farmer's Market this August?

While we are in the process of renovating the Kingston Library at Franklim Street, volunteers are coordinating pop-up Little Free Libraries to provide free books for youth, adults, and families during our renovation of the library.

Did you acquire a free book at the Farmer's Market? Are you a supporting Friend while we wait for our FoKL space to be completed? Are you friendly to volunteer or become an underwriter of FoKL efforts?

Are you facilitating a community event that the Friends volunteers can host a Littel Free Library pop-up table?

Please let us know!

THANKS!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The monthly Friends of Kingston Library is schedule for Tuesday September 16th, 6-7pm.

(Note the date change)

Due to the library election, this will be a fully remote meeting.

Monthly Topic:

Friends of Kingston Library

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85020236289 

Meeting ID: 850 2023 6289

Passcode: 515727

FoKL volunteers are happy to present to community groups and businesses our message and mission in an effort to explore collaborative opportunities and underwriting opportunities for Kingston Library and FoKL events and efforts!

THANK YOU to the volunteers who compiled the information in this newsletter: Susan R., Erica F., Heather A., Denise H., and Heather O.

FoKL: Friends of Kingston Library

Temporary Address: 61 Crown St Kingston, NY 12401

FOLLOW US:

Your membership at any level ensures the mission of the Friends of the Kingston Library (FoKL) to “generate support for Library programs, to increase community awareness of the library, to encourage greater use of the library and its resources and to join with other Library advocacy groups for Library support in this region.”

As a member of the Kingston Library Friends Group, you directly impact our efforts and the positive benefits to our community. Your additional support by becoming involved with the Used Book Sale, fundraising projects, special events, helping with administrative efforts will aid in making sure we run smoothly. Our mission is possible only with the support of our community and dedicated contributors like you.

You make all the difference in making sure Kingston Library is so much more than books!

Make sure you complete the Membership Form application!

Perhaps your organization wants to underwrite or collaborate? Respond to this email!

CURRENT OFFICERS:

The Friends of the Kingston Library is an organization dedicated to improving library services in Kingston. Members of the Friends also promote public use of the Kingston Library and appreciation of its value as a cultural and educational asset to the community.

THANKS FOR FORWARDING THIS EMAIL TO A NEIGHBOR!