Upcoming Events

The Pretty Committee will show you how to create a beautiful autumnal runner for your holiday table.  All materials provided.

This program is for Adults and Teens, 16+.

Join the Library's new Walking with Books walking group.  Join other walkers every Saturday morning for a stroll around the Library grounds and adjacent areas. Group will meet outside the Library near the front door.

Can you grow those same beautiful vegetables and flowers again next year? Come and find out! Saving seeds is a longtime practice of many gardeners and farmers. While not all seeds can be saved, many can. This presentation will help you understand which seeds can and can't be saved. You will also learn when to collect seeds, how to prepare them for saving, and how to store them for future use. We will conduct a demonstration on how to prepare tomato seeds for saving.

Art Lillard's On Time Trio is a swinging combo of piano, bass and drums. They will present a narrated program designed to illustrate how some of the old standards have been recreated and refreshed by jazz musicians.  Listen for some renowned TV theme songs, too!

Summer concerts are held outdoors on the River Birch Patio; please bring a lawn chair or blanket.  In the event of inclement weather - including excessive heat - the event will move indoors and the first 50 registrants will be seated.

Music on McFarland is funded by a generous gift to the AWPL Foundation by Glenn P. and Susan D. Dickes.

This Month's Read: EATING TO EXTINCTION, by Dan Saladino

“Of the roughly six thousand different plants once consumed by human beings, only nine remain major staples today.” This book describes what has been lost and how, and why this is a concern for our long-term survival. The author explains why we need to reintroduce more foods (and flavors) from a variety of sources into our diets for the health of humans and the planet as a whole.

French Exit (2020): Based on Patrick DeWitt's 2018 novel, it stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges; "My plan was to die before the money ran out," says 60-year-old penniless Manhattan socialite Frances Price, but things didn't go as planned. Her husband Franklin has been dead for 12 years, and with his vast inheritance gone, she cashes in the last of her possessions and resolves to live out her twilight days anonymously in a borrowed apartment in Paris, accompanied by her directionless son Malcolm and a cat named Small Frank--who may or may not embody the spirit of Frances' dead husband.   Rated R: 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Long-standing habits can be difficult to break. How often do you find yourself in the middle of an activity that you barely remember starting? Or engaged in an activity that you wish you hadn’t started? Because much of life is spent engaging in habitual behavior, establishing healthy habits is crucial to our well-being. By cultivating mindfulness, we can develop greater awareness of our habits. Join Anthony Gonzalez, a mental health counseling intern and student at SUNY New Paltz, for weekly discussions about using mindfulness to develop healthy habits. 

Come and meet new friends and join in on a game that is played all over the world.  Mahjong enthusiasts of all skill levels are invited to play every Tuesday from 10am to 1pm. The sessions are open-ended and participants can play as many or as few games as they wish.  Players with mahjong sets are encouraged to bring them, as the Library has only a limited number to loan. This program is free, ongoing and open to players from all communities.

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Join us for an online conversation with prolific British-American writer, journalist, and consummate adventurer Simon Winchester.  This author talk will cover many aspects of his work across myriad fields of history, technology, and geology as well as the author's personal expeditions, including his path to becoming the acclaimed best selling author he is today.  A master storyteller, Winchester’s narrative is like a journey through time. His keen intellect and ability to precisely and expertly weave everyday life into historical examination leaves his readers feeling awestruck at the world surrounding them.

Winchester is a New York Times Bestselling author with an omnibus of more than 30 titles, including The Professor and the Madman, Pacific, The Perfectionists, and most recently, Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World.  Beginning his writing career in journalism, Winchester has found renowned success in the world of non-fiction and now works almost exclusively as an author.

About the Author:  Aside from his numerous books, Simon Winchester OBE has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Geographic, and Conde Nast Traveler among many others. Honored with several awards throughout  his career—Britain’s Journalist of the Year in 1971 among them—in 2006 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to journalism and literature. In addition, he received an Audie Award for Non-Fiction for The Perfectionists and was made an Honorary Fellow of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford in 2009.  

Dorianne Laux’s sixth collection, Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems was named a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.  Join Dorianne (via Zoom) as she shares her work with the Circle Of Voices!  Click here for selected poems. New members are always welcome.