Richards Free Library

Engage, Enrich, Entertain

Fundraiser

2025 Library Festival!

The Library Festival Book Sale is on August 23rd!

Don’t miss our famous annual Library Festival with its huge book sale, raffles, cookie walk, giant bubbles, children’s craft, and face painting!
Right across the road from the giant Apple Pie Craft Fair, the Book Sale opens at 8am for members only, and 9am for everyone else. Stock up on books for the year at incredibly low prices! Teachers get books half-price starting at 1pm with their school ID. Everyone gets books for 1$ a bag starting at 2pm!
Fun for the whole family! Children will love getting their face painted, trying our free craft, and enjoying our famous giant bubbles! Come early to do the “cookie walk” to fill a bag with cookies before they sell out!
The Library Festival has been hosted by the Friends of the Richards Free Library in Newport NH for well over 50 years. The whole community pitches in to help put together this huge event, from Friends volunteers who spend hours sorting books, to local sports teams who help move books and tables, to the community sponsors. Thank you all for your incredible support!
This year will look a little different! The library is reseeding the grass on the giant side lawn after getting trees taken down over the winter, so the event will take place in the parking lot! The library will still be open during their Saturday hours of 10am-2pm, so folks can cool off in the AC, have a rest, or use the facilities.
Look for the special pre-sale event, new this year, called Books and Brews Preview Night, August 22nd 5pm-7:30pm. $25 tickets will buy you access to the preview-sale to get an exclusive first chance to buy books, as well as two drink tickets, with beer provided by Rockingham Brewery West.
For more information or to volunteer to bake cookies or help with the event, please email friends@newport.lib.nh.us

Keep Newport Warm ’23

On October 24th we will celebrate Sarah Josepha Hale’s 235th birthday by starting the “Keep Newport Warm” project.

This year there are two ways to get involved: As we did last year, Community members can help to make a scarf for the SJH statue displayed in front of the library. Just bring a piece of work measuring 8 inches on one side to the front desk of the library. Contributions will be joined together by a volunteer. The scarf will go around the Sarah Josepha Hale statue on Wednesday, the 22nd of November, in time to honor her for Thanksgiving. A volunteer will place it up in the evening with a sign explaining the project. The scarf will stay up until snow flies, and be down before the new year.

New this year is an opportunity to honor Sarah by giving back. The Library will be collecting handmade woolens to be donated to the food pantry in Newport. So, calling all knitters, weavers, and crochet artists! If you have handmade hats, mittens, scarves, or other winter woolens that you would like to contribute, you can bring them to the library to make sure that they get into the hands of those in need.

Need some yarn to get started? Check at the library for a free skein, donated by a generous crafts-person.  

When community members contribute, they will be asked to fill out a card with their contact information, and given the option to sign up for the library newsletter, or to be contacted for more information about the knitting group. 

We hope to continue Sarah’s legacy of industriousness, charitable giving, caring for the young and needy, and coming together as a community on our national day of thanks.

For sale at the library!

Next time you visit the library, be sure to check out our sale section. We’ve always had books for sale in this spot, but we’ve added greeting cards, postcards, and our brand new library tote bag!

All profits benefit the Richards Free Library and help support the growth of our collections and programs.

Book Sale 2022 Debrief

Festival 2022 was a huge success!!! It’s been a few years since the big tent went up, and we picked up where we left off. We welcomed old friends who look forward to this event every year, and they thanked us for returning. 

The raffle winners are in…

Donna Y –  the Wine & Chocolate Basket

Cathy R – Baby Quilt

David H – Graphic Novels

Bob E – Local Restaurant Gift Basket

Nancy W – Banned Books Basket

Deb R – Cord of Wood

Susan F – Dollhouse

The grand total raised today was $5,100.98!!!!!   The breakdown is as follows:

                Books       $3,186.15

                Café               $325.50

                Cookies         $796.00

                Friends           $806.88

                Children’s      $37.45

Thank you to everyone who worked at the festival, baked, set-up, cleaned up, planned, and supported us.   We have an amazing library, an amazing staff and a cadre of people who are committed.  

A special thank you to Paula Johnson for being the person that makes this all come together year after year.   You work tirelessly, and we appreciate all that you do.

A big thank you to Discovery Books for picking up the left overs from our sale! 

The Friends of the Richards Free Library thank all who made our Book Festival such a great success. Special mention to Sugar River Bank and ProMania for their generous donations, and to all the volunteers who made it happen.

Coronis and Yoshi’s Markets provided water and ice to keep the Newport field hockey and football teams and our volunteers well hydrated!

Thanks to everyone who donated and bought books and made this community event something we all look forward to each year. See you on August 26, 2023!