Spring is trying to Spring; time to spring some good news on you about some local library offerings and opportunities coming your way. Most of the public libraries in Sullivan County have available to library cardholders in their service area a Bethel Woods Library Museum Pass.

With this pass you and 3 friends or family members can visit the Bethel Woods Museum free of charge, a savings of up to $72! If you haven't in the past this is something you must literally look into ‘checking out' in 2021.

The Daniel Piece Library in Grahamsville and the Ellenville Public Library both offer a Mohonk Preserve Hiking Pass to their library cardholders - another great opportunity to save money while getting outside and enjoying the spring thaw. And the Daniel Pierce Library offers passes for The Time & the Valleys Museum that is in the adjoining building to the library.

Links to the Sullivan and Ulster County public library webpages that include contact information can be found at the bottom of the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public library homepage ebcpl.org, by clicking on the ‘Member Libraries' link. Call or email your local library to learn how you can take advantage of these great opportunities.

The Friends of the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library kindly purchase a 2nd Bethel Woods Museum pass for our library users. The Museum opens April 3rd so start making plans for a free visit soon!

For those of you that hate to see all your plastic wrapping materials - produce bags, the wrap around cases of plastic water bottles, the plastic bags your bread, cereal or crackers comes in - all included with your trash, there are several places in Sullivan County that are seeing that those materials get recycled instead.

The Friends of the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library and the Mamakating Library are both following the lead of the Town of Tusten Energy Committee and participate in the Trex Community Recycling Program.

Have you heard of Trex decking? For every 500 lbs of ‘soft plastic', as it is called, nonprofits like us collect in a 6-month period, this material is then used by Trex to make their outdoor decking products - and we earn free Trex benches.

Between Tusten and the libraries we've collected over 2 tons of this plastic in the last 2 years! If you live in one of these communities and would like to find out more information please call or email one of the participating libraries if you are served by them or if you live in Tusten reach out to the Tusten Energy Committee on Facebook with questions about how you can help keep those plastics out of your local waste stream.