Need something to do with the kids on a frosty winter weekend? Want to learn a new skill and meet new people? Like to sing? The Kingston Library’s weekly ukulele workshop is playing your tune.

The program, which is free and open to the walk-in public, takes place every Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the library’s temporary location at 61 Crown St. in Uptown Kingston.

The program began at libraries in Phoenicia and Olive, run by Phoenicia Soap Company owner and ukulele evangelist Barbara Mansfield and husband Phil. Kingston Library Director Margie Menard said Mansfield approached her in 2021, asking if she would be interested in acquiring a collection of ukuleles for the library to lend out and use for their own meetups.

In 2021, Mansfield used her annual Killian Fest ukulele jamboree – named for her musician son, the late Killian Mansfield – to raise money for instruments and funding for a grant to get the Kingston program off the ground. By the fall of that year, as the world was just beginning to emerge from pandemic lockdowns, the program started under the direction of local musician Kat Larios.

“When Barbara contacted me, I had already seen the fun community building that was happening with the uke collections they had sponsored at the Olive Free Library and the Phoenicia Library and I was happy to accept the donation,” wrote Menard in an email.

The ukulele, that tiny little guitar you’ve seen in movies, is based on four-stringed instruments in the guitar family that were introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants in the late 19th century. In 1915, the instrument was featured at the Hawaii Pavilion of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, which touched off a craze for the Hawaiian sound.

Local folk musician Max Rainwater, who took over the ukulele program in 2022, said the instrument’s great strengths are the relative ease with which beginners can grasp the basics and its compatibility with the keys used in a wide range of popular music. The instruments simplicity means that players can very quickly jump into playing while singing along to well-known songs.

Rainwater, who teaches music and plays fiddle in area honky-tonk act The Hudson Valley Flyers called the ukulele a versatile “incubator” instrument that could quickly teach players musical concepts much harder to grasp on other instruments

“If you want to be a guitar player, grab a ukulele, too,” said Rainwater. “Because you’ll learn concepts in the first week that will save you a year on guitar.”

The Saturday workshops have three or four regulars, some of whom have been with the program from the start. But the meetups are aimed at all ages and abilities. Rainwater said the tenor of the event can vary widely depending on who shows up.

“Sometimes parents will show up with their kids or kids and their friends and it will be more of a party atmosphere where we’re just singing ‘Old MacDonald’ and having a grand old time,” said Rainwater. “Sometimes its just my regulars or maybe someone I haven’t seen in a while coming back. But it's always a good time.”

In addition to the Saturday meet-ups, ukuleles are available for loan during all regular library hours. For more information on the program go to https://www.kingstonlibrary.org/event/uke-meetup-57/.