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Library Hours
Monday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday & Wednesday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Thursday through Saturday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday: Closed
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Edgartown's Library, in the News
It's been an eventful month for the Edgartown Public Library, with changes in leadership and new plans for the beloved building we will be leaving when our operation moves to a new facility later this year.
The Edgartown Library trustees, meeting on July 22, voted unanimously to hire Lisa Horton Sherman, a longtime former circulation director here and most recently director of the Aquinnah Public Library for the past three years, as the next director of the Edgartown Public Library. Ms. Sherman, a resident of Edgartown, starts her tenure at the end of August, succeeding Jill Dugas Hughes, who after three years here is relocating to New York.
And in their weekly meeting on Monday, July 27, the Edgartown selectmen voted to transfer ownership of our historic 1904 Carnegie library building on North Water Street to the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust -- as soon as we're all safely moved out and open in our new location. Chris Scott, director of the Preservation Trust, said his organization plans a restoration project costing between $1.5 million and $2 million, transforming
the building into a visitor center and repository for historic books, papers and art.
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A Special Exhibit Celebrates History
Of Edgartown Library: Join Us
At the Martha's Vineyard Museum,
5-7 p.m. on Friday, August 7
The Edgartown Public Library, born as a small room of books above a Main Street shop in 1891, marks its 125th anniversary next year. The Friends of the Edgartown Library and the Martha's Vineyard Museum are celebrating this month with a one-day, "pop-up" exhibit of photos and artifacts chronicling the library's history. Please drop by the Museum campus at 59 School Street in Edgartown to learn about the library's evolution into the vibrant community center it is today.
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-- Wednesdays in August --
Programs (Mostly!) at the Library
It's been the Edgartown Library's tradition in recent summers to present a series of lively cultural programs on Wednesdays through the month of August, and this year that tradition continues.
Here's the month's lineup of free programs, presented downstairs at the library (unless noted), at 7 p.m.:
August 5:
Presenting William A. Caldwell
 Editor Tom Dunlop will speak about and read from Reflections on Martha's Vineyard, the collected essays of the late Gazette columnist William A. Caldwell. The author of many books about Martha's Vineyard himself, Dunlop does a marvelous job of reintroducing this witty and insightful writer who, for thirteen years beginning in 1973, wrote a weekly column for the Gazette.
August 12:
Edgartown's Carnegie Story
Town historian and president of the Friends of the Edgartown Library, Mary Jane Carpenter, will give a talk on the history of an Island treasure, Edgartown's Carnegie library building -- from its genesis in 1902 to its hand-off later this year to the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust.
August 19 at the Harbor View Hotel:
An Island Film Premiere
The Edgartown Library and the Harbor View Hotel present Following the Ninth, a documentary film by Kerry Candaele exploring the worldwide cultural and political influence of Beethoven's Ninth and final symphony.
The New York Times called it "thrilling, smartly assembled and gracefully paced," and Bill Moyers said: "Following the Ninth is beautiful and powerful!" And the music can't be beat!
August 26:
Island Histories, Revisited
 Author and island historian, Tom Dresser, will spend an hour presenting a "tour" of the eight books in his Vineyard history series.
Mr. Dresser, who this spring launched his newest and final book of the series, Martha's Vineyard: A History, has covered a multitude of Island subjects in his previous books including the Wampanoag tribe, prominent island women, the Vineyard in WW II, and African Americans on the Island. He's even delved into an unsolved 1940 Island murder and presented a convincing solution.
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Sounds Like Summer: Music Series
Continues Through August
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The Edgartown Library's front lawn is the venue for our live music series, continuing on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 pm through August 25. These free one-hour performances by Island's most popular bands is presented with generous support from the Friends of the Edgartown Library.
Here's the musical lineup for the final four concerts of our series:
August 4:
Kent Riley's
House Band
August 11:
The Grateful Dread
August 18:
Jon Zeeman Band
August 25:
Johnny Hoy
& the Bluefish
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Opera Club Has Busy Month,
With Programs Stretching into September
 Opera lovers unite! The Edgartown Library's Opera Club begins a busy month of events at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon, August 9, gathering for a special matinee screening
of Donizetti's comic opera, La Fille du Regiment. It's a sparkling Laurent Pelly production, conducted by Bruno Campanella.
At 1 p.m. on Sunday, August 23, the Opera Club presents its second program of the month: "Aida's Brothers and Sisters: Black Voices in Opera," a  documentary focusing on the complex history of African Americans to enter the mainstream of opera. The film, released in 2000, relies heavily on the research of Rosalyn Story, author of "And So I Sing: African-American Divas of Opera and Concert," and includes a roster of American divas including sopranos Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, and Barbara Hendricks, an array of famous divos, and fascinating vintage film clips.
And at the end of the month, we are delighted that Susan Grunthal of the Taconic Opera will be returning with a new listening class, this time on the Art of the Voice. Susan will spend four sessions with us discussing the different types of voices, beginning with the soprano and playing wonderful examples of the coloratura, lyric, dramatic, spinto, and others. In other sessions she'll cover the mezzos, contraltos, tenors, baritones and basses. The program series meets on Sundays at 1 p.m. on August 30 and Sept. 6, and on Tuesdays, Sept. 1 and 8, at 6:30 p.m.
Please note, these programs are for adults.
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Jewelry Crafts: Drop in
Every Monday
Rachael Convery of our library staff has a considerable talent for jewelry-making, and she leads a drop-in program here every Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is a free activityfor adults, and all are welcome.
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Book Group Meets August 19
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The Edgartown Library book group meets at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, to discuss Alice Hoffman
's novel,
Illumination Night
. It's
a chronicle of a modern marriage, beginning on the night of the Grand Illumination in Oak Bluffs.
Hoffman, says The New York Times, "has created a narrative that somehow makes myth out of the sticky complexities of contemporary marriage. . . . Her characters are branded onto one's memory."
We have copies of the book available at the library desk, and gatherings of the group are open to all.
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Monday Afternoons in August:
Drop in and Help Us Build
An Edible Container Garden
Melinda Rabbitt DeFeo, horticulture educator at the Edgartown School, is leading a drop-in program from 1-3 p.m. on every Monday through August here at the library, on our front lawn.
Join us in cultivating a container garden of edible vegetables. All ages are welcome, and this program is free.
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August Events in the Children's Room
The Children's Room has a busy calendar of events this summer, built around the state's summer reading theme, Every Hero Has a Story. Every Wednesday morning in August, we're presenting a 10:30 a.m. Story Hour at the Edgartown School playground -- or at the library if the weather is bad. And every Thursday this month at 9:30 a.m., we'll have staff visiting the Boys and Girls Club to hear their summer reading reports.
All this summer, if you read a children's book and report on it to a librarian, you can earn prizes and a T-shirt (if you read at least ten). We even have a
special web page where you can report on your summer reading, online.
Here's the August calendar for kids, day by day:
Tuesday, August 4:
3 pm - Mark Binder presents a lively
program, "Every Hero Has a Story." Join us
and discover the hero within you.
Friday, August 7: Noon on the Lawn
Author Amy MacDougall presents "The Tremendous
Pagoda Tree of Martha's Vineyard,"
beneath the library's own pagoda tree. Bring
lunch and a blanket.
Monday, August 10:
3 pm - Performing artist Jungle Jim presents
a lively program, "Jedi Knight Training." Try
your hand with a laser sword.
Friday, August 14: Noon on the Lawn
Star Stories, featuring the Perseids, and a
make-your-own Summer Triangle star chart.
Tuesday, August 18:
3 pm - Our Heroes, the Coast Guard. Meet
our local Guardsmen, learn about what they
do, and try out some of their gear.
Friday, August 21: Noon on the Lawn
An hour of stories about the Fair. Bring
your blanket and lunch.
Tuesday, August 25:
3 pm - "Touch a Truck Day" is held at the
Edgartown School parking lot. Check out
a town dump truck, loader, fire engine,
rescue vehicle, ambulance, and police car.
Rain date is August 27.
Friday, August 28: Noon on the Lawn
An hour of stories with ice cream served
for dessert. Bring your blanket and lunch.
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Please Help the Friends, Who Help Us
All our programs at the Edgartown Library are supported by the Friends of the Edgartown Library, who have
their own page on our website. We hope you'll consider supporting or joining the Friends today.
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