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We Are Hiring
Click here for details on the patron services position.
We Need Your Input
As we develop our 2026-28 strategic plan, we welcome you to share your thoughts about the Kirkland Town Library. Please think about our collection, hours, services, programs, and facility, and give us your ideas. You can stop in to handwrite a form or click here to complete it online.
How to Camp:
A Beginner’s Workshop
Tuesday, July 22 at 6:30 p.m.
Learn how to have a comfortable time in the outdoors. This workshop will cover planning a trip, if and when reservations are needed, and essential skills like putting up a tent, lighting a fire, and what to put in your hiking pack. Weather permitting, we will be outside for hands-on practice to answer all your questions. All equipment provided.
Hamilbrary: Huck Finn and James
Thursday, July 24 at 6 p.m.
Even if you missed the first session, you are welcome to join us for the second as Benj Widiss, Associate Professor of Literature at Hamilton College, leads a conversation on Huck Finn and James. This meeting will focus mostly on James (chapters 11-32 of Book 1 and Book 2).
Copies of both books are available at the Kirkland Town Library.
Clinton Challenge
Do you like to read? Are you over 18? If you answered yes to both of those questions, we need you for the Clinton Challenge!
The Kirkland Town Library was the winner of the first Clinton Challenge in summer 2021! We won again in 2023, but we are lagging behind this year. We need to bring the trophy home! All you have to do is keep track of how much time you spend reading.
If it seems intimidating, here’s a helpful tip. This year, all six libraries have agreed that one page is equal to one minute of reading. Once you finish a book, make a note of how many pages it is (or Google it!). Divide the number of pages by 60, and you have your reading time.
Every Friday, let us know how long you’ve read during the week. Snip this week from your reading log and drop it off, email your time to clinton@midyork.org, or fill out the online form.
For every instance that you submit your time, you’ll be entered in a raffle to win a fun prize at the end of the summer.
Week eight Results
We’ve taken first place!
The gloves are off in this summer’s Clinton Challenge, and New York has moved from fourth place into first! Team Coach Dennis May says, “It was a complete team effort here in Clinton, New York. Everyone on our team showed up this week in a big way. The race isn’t over yet, and the competition is just going to get harder, but it feels good not to see the backs of everyone else for a change.”
“In five years of competition, I’ve never seen this much drama outside of a YA romance book!” says Commissioner Laura Stoll.
Pennsylvania slides into second with 11,622 hours, followed closely by Iowa (11,139) and Indiana (10,942). Massachusetts and New Jersey may be next to make a move as they look to push from 7,901 and 4,547 hours, respectively.
Raku 451 Auction
Stop in to bid on one of two unique vases made especially for the Kirkland Town Library by Clinton Pottery. In the Raku technique, glazed ceramics are taken from the kiln while they are still glowing red hot and are placed in a material that would be able to catch fire. For these two pieces, Jonathan used a book from the Friends of the Kirkland Town Library’s Annual Book Sale in July 2025.
Place your bid by Friday, July 25. Both winners will be notified on Monday, July 28. Payment is by cash or check (made out to the Kirkland Town Library).
Teen Lit Bags Now Available
Teens aged 13-18 can sign up to receive a bag full of goodies from the library! You’ll receive two library books selected just for you, a craft, snacks, and more! Click here to request one:
Summer Reading For Kids & Teens
Kids
Visit the Library to sign up. You’ll receive a log and your Read & Bead necklace. Then, start reading! Keep track of the time you have read and mark it on the log. Throughout the summer, visit the library and show us your log. You’ll earn beads for each box you fill in and you can add them to your necklace. We’ll have a new special collector’s bead every Friday! When you’ve filled in all the boxes, you’ve read 10 hours and completed our reading challenge. Bring your completed log back to the library to get all of the beads you’ve earned plus a ticket for a prize raffle. Then, keep reading! You can complete more logs to win more raffle tickets and beads.
Teens
Stop in to get a reading log. Cross off one box for every 30 minutes you read. When you’ve filled all the boxes, you’ve read for ten hours and completed our reading challenge! Bring your log back to the KTL to choose a gift card and enter a prize raffle. There is a limit of one gift card per teen, but you can fill the reading log to earn as many raffle tickets as you like.
In addition to reading, we have a lot of fun events and activities planned all summer long. Make sure you’re signed up for our e-newsletter to get all the details (link is above).
Prizes
All teens who complete their reading log can earn a gift card to the Clinton Cider Mill, Cremeria, or Lorenzo’s (one per person). Plus, enter a raffle to win a black belt bag, a gently used Fjallraven bag, a throw blanket, Popin Cookin’ Candy kits, an Owala water bottle, or a gift card to Bookshop.org.
In addition to earning beads, kids can enter to win a Barnes & Noble gift card, reusable water balloons, a Minecraft activity kit, a gnome door craft, SnapCircuits, or a LEGO Creator 3-in-1 set.
Be sure to bring in your logs and let us know what you’ve been reading this summer!
Community Calendar of Events
We created a calendar of events happening at the KTL, Kirkland Art Center, Chamber of Commerce, Village of Clinton, and others! Click here to see the most up-to-date version or stop in to get a paper copy. (It’s not just for kids!)
