The Art Room
As is fitting in a town renowned for its history as an arts colony, the Woodstock Library is home to an impressive collection of art books and exhibition catalogs. Books in the Dewey Decimal range 700 – 779 are housed in this room, including volumes on painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, decorative arts, architecture, landscape architecture, and graphic literature. All Art Room books are listed in the Mid-Hudson Library System catalog and can be checked out to read at home.
The Woodstock Times
The full run of The Woodstock Times (1972-2020) is available digitally in a searchable database. Providing an in-depth peek into community life for nearly 50 years, this resource covers the entire run of the newspaper up until it ceased publication.
Woodstock Shelf Room
This special collection (located in the Reading Room) consists of works written, illustrated, or published by people connected to Woodstock, NY. We have been building this collection since the 1930s. This is a non-circulating collection to be enjoyed within the library. Items are shelved alphabetically by the last name of author, illustrator, or publisher connected to Woodstock. Please ask the Circulation Desk staff for access.
The following is a quote from The Story of a Small Town Library: The Development of the Woodstock, NY Library, by Frances Rogers (p. 80-81), when criteria for inclusion on the shelf was much more stringent:
Miss Doughty read from her typed notes: “I have been asked to determine what the Book Committee thinks about the Woodstock Shelf. Well, there seems to be a difference of opinion about the famous shelf. A few thought it should be done away with entirely, others did not. One member suggested that any writer who visited here of who spent a summer here should be included, but the majority felt that the Woodstock Shelf should represent writers whose interests were closely connected with Woodstock and, when put to a vote, the following rule was passed: A writer whose work is represented on the Woodstock Shelf must own a home in Woodstock Township, or vote in Woodstock, or have lived within the Township for five season, not necessarily consecutive.”
Digitized Historical Collections
We hold a variety of collections that document the rich history of our community, including materials from the Byrdcliffe and Maverick arts colonies, local newspapers, small press publications, community video projects, scrapbooks, diaries, manuscripts, compositions, and more. Contact our Librarian Kim Apolant to ask about accessing these collections. Some have been digitized and are searchable through the New York Heritage Digital Collections website.
