Kingston neighbors, mark your calendars!

The Kingston Library has stood at the heart of this city since 1899. It survived a fire, two relocations, and more than a century of change.

As you know, it’s been closed for much-needed renovation for the past couple of years, operating off-site on Crown Street.

That chapter is over.

On Saturday, October 17, the Kingston Library comes home to 55 Franklin Street. The Friends of Kingston Library invite every neighbor, patron, and supporter—YOU—to join us on the block for a free community celebration.

Live music. Food trucks. Kids activities. Library tours. A ribbon cutting.

And a chance to say thank you to the people who made this possible.

This is your library. 

This party is yours too.

Return to Franklin Street: A Community Homecoming 

Saturday, October 17 

55 Franklin St., Kingston

Free and open to all

More details coming soon. Share this with someone who loves Kingston.

A Special Invitation to our Friends: Calling all former Kingston Library Board Members!

The Kingston Library is the creation of every former staff member, trustee, and Friend of the Kingston Library! We hope you will come back to visit us for this special day as we celebrate the past, present, and future of our beloved library. We honor your contribution and this community thanks you.

At our Homecoming event, we wish to recognize every current and former Kingston Library Boardmembers. Please mark your calendars!

Join The Friends of Kingston Library

to lead, shape, and advocate for the future of our library

We Need YOU!

Event Crew for the Homecoming Party (October 2026):

Want to be a part of Kingston Library’s special day as we celebrate the reopening of Franklin Street? We are looking for 10 volunteers to be part of our Event Crew for the big day.

Fill out our volunteer interest form here

• We need 10 volunteers for this short-term opportunity to support making the re-opening celebration at Franklin St. a fantastic community day and help us run the event.
• Position description: Event Crew volunteers will plan events, help set up or break down the day of the event, be a greeter or crowd guide, or support the various exciting activities that will be happening. Be a part of this special day in Kingston history!
• Commitment: Coordinate with our recruiting committee leading up to the event to help make this special day successful.

Core Friends of Kingston Library Volunteers:

• We need 5-10 volunteers who can make a longer-term commitment - library lovers who want to be part of our community of Friends, enhance the Kingston Library programming and share the impact of our library with others in our community.
• Position description: Core FoKL volunteers will work with other members on fundraising, event planning, making community connections, and other tech and database management support. Friends volunteers make special events and projects happen - banned book readings, special programs, book sales, little free library projects, and so much more!
• Commitment: Friends volunteers meet every Tuesday, 6-7 pm, in person and over zoom, and are asked to give 2-3 hours a month. Join one of our committees working on events, fundraising, recruitment or another project based on your skill set.

Make sure you fill out the Membership Form!

A Special Note from the Events Committee:



On Tuesday, July 21st, the Friends of Kingston Library will join the neighbors of 10th and Wall Street to dedicate a little free library, built by students and staff from the Wooden Boat School of the Hudson Maritime Museum! The Little Free Library Project represents one of the many community partnerships that highlights Kingston’s rich and vibrant resources.

Picture of the Wooden Boat School students and staff shared with permission.

The final result of this collaboration with the Hudson Maritime Museum and the Friends of Kingston Library.

When I was 7 years old, my library card was my first credential. It was proof that I existed. And that card meant the freedom to choose what I would read; by extension, it was a taste of autonomy. At the time, the library put a kid on par with an adult — thrilling stuff. It has also made equals of women and men, of immigrants and citizens, of the propertied and the unhoused.

Today, the public library still calls power to account by presenting us with the luxury of knowing our own minds. This, in a world where algorithms flatter our individuality while flattening our taste into one big blob of memes and cheap cashmere sweaters and viral hot takes. Where but the library, I frequently ask my students, can you linger without buying something first? There are apps to find a bathroom that won’t cost a cup of coffee first. Drugstores lock up baby formula. The grocery store requires a cellphone number for a discount on pork chops. Everywhere else in our fragmented worlds, we are reduced to transactions. Meanwhile, the library will hand you a stack of books, a carpet cleaner and a stack of seeds without collateral. Public libraries are tangible proof of an inalienable truth that we have forgotten in our 250 years: Some things are more important than profit.

Read more from Tressie McMillan Cottom on 'An Island of Democratic Possibility,' in the New York Times' series Its America's Birthday. What Are We Celebrating?

The New York Library

Association has issued a Call to Action to tell Governor Hochul and members of the Legislature that our libraries need funding increases, not cuts.

New York's leaders are in the final days of negotiations for the FY 2027 State Budget, let's not lose momentum. Thank you in advance for your help with this!

Take Action for Library Funding New York's FY2027 Budget Today!



Registration is now open for the 27th annual children’s and teen literature conference Fall Into Books. This year’s conference will be held in-person on October 22nd from 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM at The Venue Uptown in Kingston, NY.



This collaborative event for library staff serving youth features book discussion sessions led by your peers ranging from picture books to young adult and guest speakers. This year’s morning speakers are Hannah Schneewind and Jen Scoggin co-authors of Trusting Readers and our author presentation will be given by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc."

The American Library Association released its State of America’s Libraries 2026 report in April. From the ALA President’s message: 

The events of 2025 are marked by intensified debates over access

to information and shifting fiscal priorities which have forced

a reckoning. We the People are now tasked with answering a

fundamental question that will define our trajectory for the next

century: Are libraries merely a civic “nicety?” Are they a pleasant,

nostalgic amenity to be maintained only when budgets are

flush and times are quiet? Or are libraries a true American value,

essential to the health and survival of our republic?



If we decide they are the former, we accept the slow

erosion of free public thinking, endless attainability of learning,

and easily accessible assembly. But if we affirm that libraries

are indeed a core American value, then we must move beyond

slogans or sentimentality with shoestring budgeting. Valuing

libraries requires tangible, vigorous commitment in three

critical areas: use, resourcing, and supportive policy.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The monthly Friends of Kingston Library is scheduled for the SECOND TUESDAY of the month from 6-7pm.

Can't attend in person? Here is the ZOOM option. It's the SAME every month:

Friends of Kingston Library

Join Zoom Meeting:

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

Meeting ID: 850 2023 6289

Passcode: 515727

Share a short story about your experience with Kingston Library, up to 300 words, for a chance to be featured online. Send submissions to fokl@friendsofkingstonlibrary.org with the subject “My Story about Kingston Library.”

Mid-Hudson Libraries:

66 Libraries,

1 Great Community

One account connects you to your library's catalog, digital content, events, and account management. Search, borrow, hold, track your reading, and stay notified. All in one place.

CLICK HERE to access your account.

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.

THANK YOU to the volunteers who compiled the information in this newsletter: Vaidya G., Susan R., Heather A., Denise H., Kathryn B., and Heather O.

THANKS FOR FORWARDING THIS EMAIL TO A NEIGHBOR!

FOLLOW US:

FoKL: Friends of Kingston Library

Temporary Address: 61 Crown St Kingston, NY 12401