* * * *     APRIL 2016    * * * * 
  www.edgartownlibrary.or g   * * * *    508-627-4221  
Library Hours
(Closed Monday, April 18, for Patriots Day)

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
April Brings Our First Full Month
In a Beautiful New Library Building
Welcome to the library's new home at 26 West Tisbury Road.
After a two-week closure, the Edgartown Public Library began serving patrons from our new building on Monday morning, March 21. All of us on the library staff are still pinching ourselves, absorbing the general wonderfulness of this new facility. The numbers of new card applications we have filled out in just the first three weeks have been amazing, and every day we have visitors who are experiencing and appreciating our new building for the first time.

It's been an exhilarating time, full of fresh challenges, for your library staff, and we know that our service to you will only improve as we master the complexities of this wonderful new vessel for the programs and collections of the library. Please do share with us your ideas for ways to serve you better in this new space. 

The library's weekly knitting group uses one of the sunny new meeting rooms on Saturday mornings.
Library Celebrates Shakespeare
With Week-long Festival of Events
Scottish Society presented a concert in the new program room on April 9.

One of the most exciting features of our new library is the program room, a dedicated space with comfortable seating for an audience of 100 people, excellent acoustics and a state-of-the-art sound and projection system. We're celebrating this new facility in the last week of April with "Will Power," a seven-day series of free films and live performances inspired by the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's passing.

"Will Power" opens on Sunday, April 24, with a 1 p.m. presentation of Falstaff, Verdi's final masterpiece, on the program room's new 12-foot movie screen. This film presents a production conducted by James Levine and recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera.

Two films are scheduled for screening on Monday, April 25: Romeo and Juliet (1968) at 2 p.m. and Othello (1995) at 7 p.m.

Tuesday's film lineup presents Henry V (1989) at 2 p.m. and Twelfth Night (1996) at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, the library will screen King Lear (1996) at 2 p.m. and Macbeth (2015) at 7 p.m.

Films on Thursday, April 28, are Hamlet (1990) at 2 p.m. and Much Ado About Nothing (1993) at 7 p.m.

On Friday, the Shakespeare for the Masses troupe will perform The Taming of the Shrew at 7 p.m.

And on Saturday, April 30, the "Will Power" festival will conclude with "Songs from Shakespeare" by the Duo Marchand -- a 7 p.m. performance featuring lute, voice and renaissance harp.
Library Book Club Meets
Wednesday, May 11
 
The Edgartown Library Book Club meets at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, to discuss a new historical novel from Kim van Alkemade entitled Orphan Number 8. Historical Novels Review writes: "This book is utterly unputdownable. At once atmospheric, disturbing and absolutely engrossing, it poses a host of moral questions; I fully anticipate that it will become popular with book clubs."
All are welcome to participate in this group, which is facilitated by Jean Stone. If you'd like us to secure a copy of the book for you to read, please call us at 508-627-4221 or visit the library desk.

Thank You, Edgartown Voters, for Your Support

In addition to approving our operating budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, Edgartown voters this week supported our efforts to put staffing in place to continue our tradition of good service in this new facility which has doubled in size.

At Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday night, voters approved an appropriation from the Community Preservation Open Space and Recreation Fund of $50,000 to create a Sensory and Literary Garden here at the new Edgartown Library. Look for work to begin later this year in the space set apart by the triangular metal fence adjacent to the Children's Room.
 
In the brief special meeting that opened the town's business on Tuesday night, voters approved two more funding articles, providing for additional staffing and operating expenses in the new library during the remainder of this fiscal year.
 
We appreciate everyone's support for the work we are doing, and promise to make the very best use of this funding to deliver the best possible programs and services to all our patrons.
 
 


Please Support the Library Friends,
Who Support 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.