Publisher's Description: "Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Elena Ferrante's four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its main characters, the fiery and unforgettable Lila and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship. This first novel in the series follows Lila and Elena from their fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence."
Copies of the book (regular, large print, audio) will be available at the Circulation Desk, and eBook / eAudiobook versions are available through Libby.
This event is FREE and open to adults only (ages 21+).
A vision board is also called a dream board.
It is a collection of words, images, quotes, art or doodles which represent a
person's goals, dreams and aspirations for the future that serve as a
source of inspiration and motivation. So, grab a poster board
(30"x40") or a tryptic board and join us in the community room. We
will supply magazines where you can find inspirational material to
add to your board, in addition to markers, paints and other supplies.
Please join us on select Tuesdays for twenty minutes of seated stretches to activate the different joints and muscle of the body, followed by twenty minutes of standing yoga postures while holding on to the chair, plus some slow whole-body movements and deep relaxation.
Sign up for a free class...
June 25, 2024
July 2, 2024
July 16, 2024
July 23, 2024
July 30, 2024
August 6, 2024
August 13, 2024
All classes begin at 11 AM and
will be held in our 2nd floor Community Room.
Registration required.
Please call 1-845-341-5490
or visit www.thrall.org/ecal to register online.
About the Presenter: Livia Kohn is a retired Asian Studies professor and Kripalu-certified yoga instructor with many years of chair-yoga experience.
Publisher's Description: "There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives and wonder: wasn't it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful, hiding our discontent-even from ourselves. For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her own discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. But she soon realized they had come to her from within. This was her own voice-the one she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions, cultural conditioning, and institutional allegiances. This was the voice of the girl she had been before the world told her who to be. Glennon decided to quit abandoning herself and to instead abandon the world's expectations of her. She quit being good so she could be free. She quit pleasing and started living."
Copies of the book (regular, large print, audio) will be available at the Circulation Desk, and eBook / eAudiobook versions are available through Libby.
This event is FREE and open to adults only (ages 21+).
REGISTRATION REQUIRED. (SPACE IS LIMITED TO 13 PARTICIPANTS).
Clemson Brother's Brewery is located at
22 Cottage St., Middletown, NY 10940.
Middletown, NY 10940
Questions? Please call 1-845-341-5461 and ask for Theresa, or send e-mail to t.zacek@rcls.org.
The multiple Germond family murders are perhaps the most famous crime ever committed in the Hudson Valley. Its solution has evaded investigators for 92 years but for an amazing coincidence, it would have remained unsolved.
Presented by author Vincent Cookingham, this lecture will include all the evidence that he has uncovered, crime scene photos, and other forensic evidence.
Mr. Cookingham's book will also be available for purchase.
Please bring whatever papers you can carry to be shredded here, and please make sure all paper clips, binder clips, thick staples, and rubber bands are removed. We would greatly appreciate it!
event flyer →Middletown Thrall Library
is partnering with the City Of Middletown to hold a...
Pet Adoption Event
at Erie Way Park
Saturday, Starting May 11, 2024, 12-3 PM
(with a rain date of Saturday, May 18th 12 - 3 PM)
Also...
Middletown Humane Society is asking for people to fill out adoption applications prior to the event for preapproval.
Their website is www.middletownhumanesociety.com.
Middletown Humane Society has the following urgent needs:
Bleach, paper towels, Dawn dish soap, and 33-gallon garbage bags, Pine Sol, Simple Green, and Odoban (sold in Sam's Club and Walmart)
Dry and canned cat, kitten, dog and puppy food (they prefer Purina One and could use sensitive skin/stomach dry food)
Laundry and dish detergent, rubber gloves, and paper towels
Blankets, towels, and wee-wee pads.
Coconut oil, Salmon oil, peanut butter, pureed pumpkin (not the pie filling)
Publisher's Description: "In the run-up to the 2016 election, Owen Callahan, an aspiring writer, moves back to Kentucky to live with his Trump-supporting uncle and grandfather. Eager to clean up his act after wasting time and potential in his early twenties, he takes a job as a groundskeeper at a small local college, in exchange for which he is permitted to take a writing course. Here he meets Alma Hazdic, a writer in residence who seems to have everything that Owen lacks-a prestigious position, an Ivy League education, success as a writer. They begin a secret relationship, and as they grow closer, Alma-who comes from a liberal family of Bosnian immigrants-struggles to understand Owen's fraught relationship with family and home."
Copies of the book (regular, large print, audio) will be available at the Circulation Desk, and eBook / eAudiobook versions are available through Libby.
This event is FREE and open to adults only (ages 21+).
REGISTRATION REQUIRED. (SPACE IS LIMITED TO 13 PARTICIPANTS).
The Switch Inn is located at
126 East Main St., Middletown, NY 10940.
Middletown, NY 10940
Questions? Please call 1-845-341-5461 and ask for Theresa, or send e-mail to t.zacek@rcls.org.
event flyer →
The Friends of Middletown Thrall Library proudly present
Brooklyn Baroque
Sunday, April 14, 2024, 2 PM
in the 2nd floor Community Room at Thrall
Please join us as we turn to sunny Italy as the quartet steeps us in its vibrant musical heritage.
For their 20th performance here at Middletown Thrall Library, this amazing quartet will present "Italia Mia," Italian and Italianate Delights by Vivaldi, Corelli, Telemann, and others.
The performers will be Melanie Williams, flute; Theresa Salomon, violin; Andrew Koutroubas, cello; and Rebecca Pechefsky, harpsichord.
As always, the program is free and open to the public.
Publisher's Description: "Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal-an experience that shocks him to his core. Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe."
Copies of the book (regular, large print, audio) will be available at the Circulation Desk, and eBook / eAudiobook versions are available through Libby.
This event is FREE and open to adults only (ages 21+).
REGISTRATION REQUIRED. (SPACE IS LIMITED TO 13 PARTICIPANTS).
Piccolo Cucina e Vino is located at
17 North St., Middletown, NY 10940.
Middletown, NY 10940
Questions? Please call 1-845-341-5461 and ask for Theresa, or send e-mail to t.zacek@rcls.org.
At this special concert, Marc will perform songs from the album and share some unforgettable stories of his experiences as an easterner in remote parts the mountain and desert West."
About the Performer: "Marc's life has been about pursuing twin passions: creating, recording and performing his original songs and exploring the American West. He's performed at Austin's SXSW Music Festival and the Kerrville and Falcon Ridge Folk Festivals and has opened for Bob Dylan and other national acts. His antinuclear anthem, The Last One, was a staple of Richie Havens' concerts. Marc's critically acclaimed album, RIDE, a collection of songs all having to do with the romance of the West, has received national airplay and been licensed by STARBUCKS for worldwide in-store airplay."
NONFICTION. From the publisher's description:
"Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time-war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race-in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all. In a time when our political and cultural views feel more polarized than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote to so much of what divides us, while making a passionate case for the twin chariots of enlightenment-a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science. After thinking deeply about how science sees the world and about Earth as a planet, the human brain has the capacity to reset and recalibrates life's priorities, shaping the actions we might take in response. No outlook on culture, society, or civilization remains untouched. With crystalline prose, Starry Messenger walks us through the scientific palette that sees and paints the world differently. From insights on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive, Tyson reveals, with warmth and eloquence, an array of brilliant and beautiful truths that apply to us all, informed and enlightened by knowledge of our place in the universe."
Available copies of this book can be borrowed from or reserved at Middletown Thrall Library.
About the Presenter: Matt Pfisterer is the Director of Thrall Library. Matt earned a Master's Degree in Library Science from the State University of New York at Albany. He is the moderator of the Remarkable Reads book discussion group at Thrall Library, and he has moderated numerous book discussions covering both fiction and nonfiction titles from popular authors.
event flyer →
The Friends of Middletown Thrall Library invite you to
Birds of All Seasons
Presented by Scott Baldinger
Sunday, March 10, 2024, 2 - 4 PM
in the 2nd floor Community Room at Thrall
Join us as we explore and learn about local birds.
This event is free and open to the public.
Refreshments served.
About the Presenter: Scott Baldinger is a member of Sullivan County Audubon and the Edgar A. Mearns Bird Club. He has led the Tuesday morning bird watch at Minnewaska State Park for over 18 years as well as being a bird leader for programs at the Basha Kill, all gratis. Not only is Scott knowledgeable about local birds, but he has birded across the country and can recognize birds by sound as well as sight.
Kathy Morley, author of the book, The Gift: Finding the Extraordinary in Everyday Living, whisks the audience into another dimension through her own experiences with psychic phenomena, hypnosis, UFOs, and channeling.
The Gift chronicles a fascinating journey that highlights the capacity of the higher self, transcending time and space, keeping the reader spellbound and eager to learn more.
Kathy will discuss her book, answer questions and pick a few volunteers to experience the gift of unseen energy.
This program is free and open to the public.
No registration required.
About the Author: Kathy is a certified hypnotist, Reiki Master, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner, Silva Graduate, multidimensional healer, member of the National Guild of Hypnotists and IANDS (Institute for Near Death Studies). She has taught meditation and metaphysics classes at colleges for over 30 years.
A family band with a unique repertoire of original and traditional music, the Homegrown String Band brings an American folk tradition into the twenty-first century.
Comprised of mother, father, and daughter, this dynamic trio adds their own musical DNA to an American tradition.
Come listen to songs by the likes of the Carter Family, the Delmore Brothers, and Jimmy Rodgers, along with a tasty sprinkling of original material inspired by the rural American string band and folk traditions of the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.
The Homegrown String Band will take you on a musical journey from ancient ballads of the British Isles to blues and bluegrass of the twentieth century!
Feb. 7, 2024 (2 pm): Soul (Rated PG. Runtime 1 hour 40 min.) "After landing the gig of a lifetime, a New York jazz pianist suddenly finds himself trapped in a strange land between Earth and the afterlife."
Feb. 14, 2024 (5 pm): Invisible Beauty (Not Rated. Runtime 1 hour 55 min) "Fashion revolutionary Bethann Hardison looks back on her journey as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and activist, shining a light on an untold chapter in the fight for racial diversity."
Feb. 21, 2024 (5 pm): The Woman King (Rated PG-13. Runtime 2 hours 15 min.) "A historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries."
Feb. 28, 2024 (5 pm): A Ballerina's Tale (Not Rated. Runtime 1 hour 25 min) "A feature documentary on African American ballerina Misty Copeland that examines her prodigious rise, her potentially career ending injury alongside themes of race and body image in the elite ballet world."
Questions? Please call 1-845-341-5461 and ask for Theresa, or send e-mail to t.zacek@rcls.org.
Celebrate National Poetry Month by sharing your poems at Open Mic Poetry. Each poet will be alloted 5 minutes. For Ages 16 and up! Only poets need to register. Listeners can just show up!
event flyer →
In celebration of Women's History Month,
Middletown Thrall Library Adult Services Presents
Diva Wreath Craft
Sunday, March 17, 2024, 1 - 3 pm
in the 2nd floor Community Room at Thrall
Please join us on select Tuesdays for twenty minutes of seated stretches to activate the different joints and muscle of the body, followed by twenty minutes of standing yoga postures while holding on to the chair, plus some slow whole-body movements and deep relaxation.
Design your very own diva wreath! Supplies included!
Attendance will be limited to 15 participants (ages 18+).
You can register via online at thrall.org/ecalin person
at our Reference Desk, or you can call us at 1-845-341-5461.
Publisher's Description: "In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mig htiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child -- not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power -- the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love."
Copies of the book (regular, large print, audio) will be available at the Circulation Desk, and eBook / eAudiobook versions are available through Libby.
This event is FREE and open to adults only (ages 21+).
REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
Copperbarn Coffee Bar is located at
368 East Main St.
Middletown, NY 10940
Questions? Please call 1-845-341-5461 and ask for Theresa, or send e-mail to t.zacek@rcls.org.
Publisher's Description: "Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle."
Copies of the book (regular, large print, audio) will be available at the Circulation Desk, and eBook / eAudiobook versions are available through Libby.
This event is FREE and open to adults only (ages 21+).
REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
Aspire Brewing is located at
600 N Galleria Dr.
Middletown, NY 10941
Questions? Please call 1-845-341-5461 and ask for Theresa, or send e-mail to t.zacek@rcls.org.
