We are a non-profit organization, organized in 1989, dedicated to supporting our library, Middletown Thrall Library. Membership dues and proceeds from the sale of secondhand books, CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes at our Used Book Store help the library acquire new materials and equipment. We also provide funds for special programs.
All our activities are supported through the work of volunteers and members. If you would like to join our organization, please click here for our membership form (PDF format - or click here for Microsoft Word format file).
We welcome volunteers throughout the year, according to our needs.
For more information on the Friends, volunteering, upcoming events, or making donations to the Used Book Store, please call (845) 344-1255.
The Used Book Store, run completely by volunteers, offers a vast selection of donated paperback and hard cover classics, mysteries, science fiction, romance, history, philosophy, law, psychology, cooking, children's literature, biographies, and much more, including many titles no longer in print.
It also has magazines, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, music cassettes, and LPs. to browse. Donations on new materials arrive frequently.
Come visit us, and also visit our beautiful library (formerly the Erie Railroad Station) and discover what vast resources and services await you!
We welcome donations at the bookstore during our regular hours of operation. We also seek donations of large print books for delivery to local area nursing homes.
Please note: we cannot accept weekly magazines, encyclopedias, obsolete textbooks, Reader's Digest Condensed Books, or books in bad/unsellable condition (musty, torn, stained, etc.).
We thank you for your cooperation, understanding, and enthusiasm!
During the fiscal year 2003-2004, the Friends have donated $18,987.25 to the library for materials, collections, and equipment. During the Friends' first decade from 1989 through 1999, the Library received over $100,000 from us. Our most unique donation is a beautiful collage that world renowned painter, printmaker, and collage arist Jonathan Tablot was commissioned to do by the Friends. It is the largest collage he has ever made. The 6 1/2' by 9' work celebrates the Centennial of the Middletown Thrall Library in 2001. This magnificent artwork hangs at the top of the stairs inside the library and depicts a history of THrall Library in a unique way. A key to the artwork hangs to the left of the collage. Please make sure to view the artwork on your next trip to the library. For pictures and story about the artist and installing the collage, visit his website at http://www.talbot1.com/thrall
For a select list of items purchased for Thrall Library, please click here.
There is a table-mounted magnifying unit available for public use at the main library, thanks to a grant from Warwick Savings Bank Inc. awarded to the Friends of Middletown Thrall Library. The unit will magnify all types of printed materials from objects as small as a checkbook to things as large as magazine pages. It is located on the main floor next to the microform reader machines. It is very easy to use, and is available any time the library is open.
We hope that the addition of this machine will help make even more library resources available to visually-impaired area residents.
Middletown Thrall Library wishes to thank Warwick Savings Bank Inc. for their generosity, and the Friends of Middletown Thrall Library for their efforts in obtaining the grant and purchasing the table for the magnifier.
