TO WELCOME,
TO INSPIRE,
TO ENRICH THE MIND
Return to
Friends
of the Library
We work to foster close relations between Stowe Library and the Stowe community by developing human and financial resources, sponsoring activities and programs, and promoting knowledge of Library resources.
Donations support library programs for children, teens, and adults, and provide items like DVDs and children's audiobooks for circulation. Thank you for supporting our community space!
2027 Annual Book Sale
July 3 to 24, 2027
Save the Date
Thank you to everyone who has supported this year’s sale and the Stowe Free Library! 📚💙
Support Your Local Library—
Donate Your Used Books!
The Friends of the Stowe Free Library are now accepting donations for our 42nd Annual Summer Book Sale, our largest fundraiser of the year!
Donations may be dropped off during regular Library hours at the rear entrance on Pond Street. Simply leave your books at the foot of the half-flight of stairs located to the left of the rear door.
We gladly accept books that are in clean, good, sellable condition.
To better match current buyer demand, we are no longer accepting:
-
Encyclopedias
-
Reader's Digest Condensed Books
-
Textbooks
-
Magazines
-
Music CDs and cassette tapes
-
DVDs
-
Audiobooks (DVD or cassette)
-
Computer books
Every donation helps!
Proceeds from the book sale directly benefit the Friends of the Stowe Free Library, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing Library resources, programs, and services for our community.
Funds raised support:
-
Children's, teen, and adult programs
-
Summer and year-round reading initiatives
-
Museum passes
-
Travel books and other additions to the Library's collection
-
Special events and activities
-
Projects and resources that enrich the Library for everyone
Your gently used books become new adventures for readers while helping provide valuable programs and services for our community.
For more information, visit Friends of the Stowe Free Library or email stowelibraryfriends@gmail.com.
Thank you for supporting your local library!
Beyond Our Own Backyard
Interested in foreign affairs? Ready to move beyond the headlines? “Beyond Our Own Backyard” invites community members for engaging conversations about recent foreign policy actions by the United States.
Pulling from nonpartisan foreign policy think tank panels, thought-provoking readings, and expert presentations, we examine not just current actions but the historic relationships and cultural contexts that drive them, and how they affect our daily lives.
Watch for background information, and future sessions on the third Wednesday of each month.
China: the people and the politics, Wednesday, September 16, 2026, 5:00-6:00PM
Hosted by Special Guest: Loren Polk
All are welcome to join and share your perspectives.
This session on “China: the people and the politics” will begin with a discussion on the socio-cultural aspects of life in China and then segue to the present U.S.-China relationship.
We will hear closing comments (virtually) from the Asia Society Summer Summit 2026 in Paris by the Honorable Dr. Kevin Rudd AC. Now President of the Asia Society, Dr. Rudd is an Australian diplomat, author, and former politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Australia and Australia's Ambassador to the United States.
link to the Rudd comments: https://youtu.be/BONGjPnNZIw?is=eSR6NzJlS8JwKTcN
As general background, following are some selected items:
Mind-Blowing Chinese Culture and Traditions by Geography Hub
https://youtu.be/1-o3L5JYury?is=QF8T-ohNgj8L0k1
Council on Foreign Relations
• This is a very quick, 4-minute summary of key issues and an invitation to follow CFR’s
various investigations on U.S.-China strategy through reports and on-line.
Congress.gov. China Primer: U.S.-China Relations.
• By Susan V. Lawrence and Karen M. Sutter. Congressional Research Service (Library of
Congress), May 11, 2026
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10119
Big sister, red sister, little sister: three women at the heart of 20th century China, by Jung
Chang. 2019. (In Stowe Free Library and available through Penguin Random House and Amazon)
• This is nonfiction biographical account of the three Soong sisters: One married the finance
minister H.H.Kung; another married Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China, and later
served as Vice-Chair of the People’s Republic of China working closely with Mao Zedong;
and the third married Chiang Kai-shek and become the first lady of Nationalist China.
It's Halloween season!
Stop by in late September and check out our
decorations and activities!
.jpg)
(1)_resized.jpg)
.jpg)
Thursday, October 1, 2026
7pm
The Boy Who Raked Hay
by
Film Maker, Author, and Farmer
George Woodard
Join us in the Community Room at 7pm for an evening with local film maker, author and farmer, George Woodard. George has written a new book, The Boy Who Raked Hay, that follows a young boy's adventures on the farm on a summer's day.
George will be talking about the book, his process and the story. If still in the printing process, pre-orders and book plates will be available from Bear Pond Books and Stowe Free Library. If published, Bear Pond Books will be selling his books after George's talk.
George, author of The Christmas Calf, is a two time award winning film actor, a Country Music contest winner, a National Jr. College cross country ski champion and an award winning filmmaker. Mostly he milked cows.
Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 7pm
Author Thea Lewis
Join us in the Community Room at 7:00 PM for an evening with bestselling Vermont author Thea Lewis, owner of Queen City Entertainment and creator of the popular True Crime Burlington and Queen City Ghostwalk tours.
Featured in Yankee Magazine, the Hartford Courant, and Vermont Magazine, Thea has also appeared on the CW television network, as well as numerous programs and podcasts throughout the United States and Canada.
Free and open to the public.
Bear Pond Books will have a selection of Thea’s books available for
purchase following the talk.
Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 7pm
Author Katherine Arden
Join use at 7pm in the Community Room for a talk with New York Times best selling author Kathrine Arden. Katherine will be talking with us about her newly released book called The Unicorn Hunters. This book is about an orphaned duchess who must journey into a world of myth and discover a power that may be her salvation—or her demise.
Born in Texas, Katherine studied French and Russian at Middlebury College. She has lived abroad in France and in Moscow, among other places. She has also lived in Hawaii, where she wrote much of her Winternight trilogy. She currently lives here in Vermont.
Bear Pond Books will have a selection of Thea’s books available for purchase following the talk.
Thursday, October 22, 2026 at 7pm
Author William Alexander
William Alexander is a National Book Award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of middle grade fantasy and science fiction.
Awards include the Eleanor Cameron Award, the Earphones Award, two Junior Library Guild Selections, two CBC Best Children’s Book of the Year Awards, a Mythopoetic Award finalist, a Cybils Award finalist, and an International Latino Book Award finalist.
His novels include Goblin Secrets, Ghoulish Song, Ambassador, Nomad, A Properly Unhaunted Place, and A Festival of Ghosts.
He studied theater and folklore at Oberlin College, English at the University of Vermont, and creative writing at Clarion.
He now teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
Join us in the Community Room at 7pm.
Free and open to the public.
Bear Pond Books will have a selection of William's books available to purchase after the talk.
Thursday, October 29 at 7pm
Author Ann Davila Cardinal
Join the Friends of the Stowe Free Library for a special evening with award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal on October 29, 2026 at 7:00 PM in the Community Room of the Stowe Free Library.
Ann is a two-time International Latino Book Award–winning novelist, a Nuyorican, Vermont-based writer, and an educator with an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She comes from a long line of Puerto Rican writers and brings a rich cultural voice to her work.
She is also a founding faculty member of University of San Francisco’s newest program—the MFA in Writing for Young Readers, launching in June 2026.
Ann will be talking about her new book, Hear the Dead—an edgy, genre-bending thriller following a retired photographer who begins to hear the murders of women she knew in her punk youth, forcing her to reckon with the past she’s desperate to forget.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from a dynamic and inspiring literary voice right here in Stowe.
Bear Pond books will have a selection of Ann's books for sale after her talk.
December 4 - 6, 2026
Check back for holiday events!
2027 Programs
Stop the Bleed
Wednesday, January 20, 2027
5:30pm
This class is free but registration is required due to limited space.
Participants in the course will learn how to recognize life-threatening bleeding and act quickly and effectively to control it with three quick techniques. The ACS Stop the Bleed training course will empower you to make a life-or-death difference when a bleeding emergency happens.
You will learn bleeding control techniques such as:
-
Use your hands to apply direct pressure to a wound.
-
Pack a wound to control bleeding.
-
Apply a tourniquet.
These three techniques will empower you to assist in an emergency. Instructors will keep working with you until you demonstrate the correct skills to stop the bleed and save a life.
Chocolates with Charlie Nardozzi
_resized.jpg)
_resized.jpg)
Thursday, February 11, 2027
7pm
Join us in the Community Room for our annual visit with Charlie, and lots of chocolate, to talk gardening! As always Charlie will not only entertain and delight us, but teach us something new to apply to our gardens.
Make sure to save the date and plan to come early.
Free and open to the public.
Charlie Nardozzi is a Regional Emmy® award winning, nationally recognized garden writer, speaker, radio, and television personality. He has worked for more than 30 years bringing expert gardening information to home gardeners through radio, television, talks, tours, on-line, and the printed page. Charlie delights in making gardening information simple, easy, fun and accessible to everyone.
(1)_resized.jpg)
_resized.jpg)
.jpg)
What/Who are the Friends of the Stowe Free Library?
The Friends of the Stowe Free Library, a 501(C)(3), was formed in 2006 by the Library Director at that time and several devoted library volunteers to raise funds to support library activities, events and the collection. The Friends mission is to work to foster close relations between the Stowe Free Library and the Stowe community by developing human and financial resources, sponsoring activities and programs, and promoting knowledge of Library resources.
Volunteer a Little or Volunteer A Lot and Meet Your Community!
The Friends is 100% volunteer run! We love new members and encourage interested persons to reach out. You can be an active Friend by giving a few hours a month or a few hours a year. There are lots of different areas to volunteer for. We have financial, marketing, publicizing, writing, set up and/or breakdown for events (we love chair unstackers and stackers!), poster distribution, decorating and un-decorating for various holidays and events and, of course, our annual book sale, plus more!
Coffee with Connie:
Reach out for a Coffee with Connie meeting today (she started with the Friends by dusting shelves!) and see how much we can offer you! We also offer Community Service Credits for high school students.
Annual Activities:
Overtime the Friends has taken on the annual book sale, started by the Library Trustees, growing it to the not only the Friends largest fundraiser but truly an epic sale that people plan their vacations around. The book sale celebrates it's 41st year in 2026! The book sale has started having small pop-up sales as well. Look on the Library's website, Facebook and Front Porch forum for announcements.
The Friends recently partnered up with Vermont artists to create book bags for sale. There are 5 unique bags featuring a local artists work. They are only sold at book sales or special Friends events. 100% of sales go to the library. They are great for books, groceries, farmers markets, the beach and any other ways you use your bags. Buy one of each! $10.00 per bag.
In Our Own Backyard:
Early on in the Friends formation they developed an ongoing event called In Our Own Backyard where they bring in authors, speakers, small business owners, artists and other unique community members to share with us what they do, why and how. Our community is overflowing with creative people and this program has been active for over 15 years. Check out our Website, Facebook, and Front Porch Forum for upcoming speakers.
Partnerships:
The Stowe Free Library loves to work with community members and businesses. In the summer of 2025, the Friends created a family friendly scavenger hunt and worked with over 20 small businesses and non-profits for people to figure out from Jeopardy style questions, visit the business and earn a stamp at. It's hard to say who had more fun, the creators, the businesses or the people doing the scavenging. Every location was within biking distance. We got lots of positive feedback about fun family bike rides!
Past Activities:
In the summer of 2026, the Friends worked with the Stowe Free Library and multiple Stowe businesses who generously provided snacks and prizes, to hold a monthly family friendly trivia night. Trivia night was held inside or outside, weather dependent, and developed a devoted following. The planned three (June, July and August) trivia nights were expanded to also include Halloween and the winter holiday season due to popular demand.
Watch out for more partnerships with the Friends of the Stowe Free Library. We love working with community members and highlighting what makes them special!