Tickets are on sale now at the library for the Duck Derby, to be held at 3 p.m. May 13 at Popp Park boat launch on Route 208 (next to Stewart’s).

Participants “adopt” a duck ($5 for one and $25 for a six-quack), enter their adoptees in the May 13 race on the Wallkill River, and see if their duck is the winner! Ticket numbers correspond to the ducks’ numbered labels, so if you have ticket number 500 and duck number 500 wins, so do you! First prize is $500; second is $250; and third is $100. Sales benefit the Wallkill Senior High School’s graduating class.

The event is sponsored by Vision of Wallkill and the Wallkill High School Senior Celebration – details and rules are available on their Facebook pages. Family-friendly events are scheduled at Popp Park from noon until 4:00 p.m. on Derby Day. See schedule below. Come out and make a day of it!

Tickets will be on sale at the library through May 11. If available, ducks can also be adopted the day of the race for cash sales, only. 

For tickets or more information, you can call or text VOW at 845-325-2329 or the Senior Celebration at 845-728-0606.  

You may have noticed when you click on the library catalog from our website that things look different – that’s because RCLS libraries are in the process of upgrading to a more functional, user-friendly online public access catalog!

Aspen Discovery has replaced Enterprise as your source for library material searches, as well as lists of the latest best-sellers, award winners, and suggested reads! With Aspen, you’ll be able to:

• Search our E-book and print collection simultaneously.
• Easily browse all formats (print, e-book, audiobook, etc.) of a title within one search result
• Receive suggestions for other related titles to check out while you wait for a hold to be filled.
• Review current checkouts, renew materials, and place holds online for physical and electronic materials.
• Manage your own privacy settings.
• View detailed fine information.
• Save searches so you're alerted when new materials arrive.
• Add your own tags, reviews and star ratings to titles.
• Make purchase suggestions online.
• Create, manage and share lists of your favorite books.

If you’re worried about losing the reading history you had saved in the old catalog, don’t be! Your history will be transferred from Enterprise to Aspen when you visit “My Account” and click “Start Recording my Reading History.”

We hope you enjoy the new catalog! As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to visit or call our circulation desk!

Celebrate the season from 12-4 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at the Community Spring Fest in Kingston!

Enjoy food, vendors, live music, DJs, art, and more at the Sojourner Truth State Park event. You can catch free shuttles to and from the park at the Kingston Area Library, the YMCA parking lot at 507 Broadway, and the Friends of Historic Kingston at 63 Main Street.

The Ulster County Library Association will offer three storytimes at the event, as well, at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m.! For more information, visit Scenic Hudson.org.

Back by popular demand

Hate throwing your used batteries in the trash? You know you should be doing something better with them, but nothing is easy or convenient? We have a solution!

Bring your used batteries to the library in a zip-top bag and drop them in our WeRecycle Battery Box. (Don't have a bag? Use one of ours!) When the box is full, we ship it off to be recycled properly. Easy! Convenient!

Wednesday, May 10, 2:00-8:00 PM

We have had a good response to the Spring Plant Swap!

If you are:

• Offering without an exchange, drop off your items any time after 2 p.m.
• Looking to exchange plants, seeds, knowledge, stories, tips and tricks, meet at the library at 6:30 p.m.

What is being offered:

• SEEDS - marigold, strawflower, dill, parsley, cucumber, butternut squash, patty pan squash, peas, assorted varieties of beans
• PLANTS - leeks, tomatoes, hosta, columbine, lily of the valley, pachysandra, irises, flag irises, rose of Sharon, Stella D'oro day lilies, yellow archangel, horseradish, lilacs. stinging nettles anise, hyssop, lemon balm. 

What is being sought:

• Poppy, sweet William, ferns, nepeta, lamb's ear, peonies, redbud tree, ajuga, and herbs.

Also, if you have extra tools, pots, or other related items you'd like to offer then feel free to bring those as well!

Our next selection is The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix. Our next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 24.

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend. -- from Goodreads

One week to go...

Time to get those last few pages read and check off those remaining squares on you Spring Book Bingo cards! All cards must be turned in by May 15, 2023.

For each challenge square you complete, you will receive one raffle ticket to be entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. Earn extra tickets by completing a BINGO (across, down or diagonal rows) or by completing a "blackout" (all squares). The drawing will be held and the winner will be notified on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Good luck to all!

Upgrade to Libby today

The OverDrive app for iOS, Android, and Windows 8/10 was retired on May 1, 2023. Users who try to access their library’s collection in the app will see the following message, informing them they need to upgrade to Libby:

Users can sign up for a virtual training hosted by OverDrive or access Libby Help for step-by-step instructions and videos that explain how to use the app.

Applications are now available for Ulster County’s Summer Youth Employment Program!

To be eligible for the program, applicants must be between 14 and 20 years old, live in Ulster County, and meet income guidelines. Proof of family income must be included with your application packet.

Those interested can apply from now to May 19. For an application or for more information, visit ulsterworks.com or call 845-340-3170.

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!

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.

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.

Our next pop-up program is Saturday, May 27

Are you hanging out at home this holiday weekend, looking for something engaging to do with the kids? Then come on over to the Children's Room for a staycation creation - we will celebrate the "unofficial" start to summer by making some colorful seasonal garlands to brighten up our homes! 

Check out our bulletin board to see who got caught reading what! 

May is also Mental Health Awareness Month – we will have a special book display dedicated to this important topic.

Our themes for May are:

• Week 1: Children’s Book Week
• Week 2: Celebrating Moms!
• Week 3: Endangered Species Week
• Week 4: Space Week
• Week 5: Summer Soon!

• 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.
• Online programming, 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.