* * * * * *    MARCH 2014    * * * * * * 
 www.edgartownlibrary.org         508-627-4221

Dear library patrons and friends,  

 

This month we announce more exciting programming, and 6 days of library service!  Please join us for a Community Open House on Monday, March 3, 10am-6pm to celebrate our new hours, sponsored by the Friends of the Edgartown LibraryWe look forward to seeing you there! 

 

 Warmly,

 

Jill Dugas Hughes

Director    

Announcing Our New Hours:
11 More of Them Each Week! Century-old Regulator keeps time in the library.

Not surprisingly, the highest primary goal in the Edgartown Library's strategic plan for the next three years is to build a wonderful new library building. Another critical goal is to revise the library's schedule to provide more convenient hours of service. The plan, specifically, is to "Provide 6 days of library service by the time we move into the new library building."

This month, we're beating that deadline by more than a year. Beginning this week, the Edgartown Library has expanded its hours of operation from 41 each week to 52 -- making 6 p.m. our earliest closing time, and adding eight open hours to the schedule each Monday.

As has been our tradition, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are still our extended days, with evening hours to 8 p.m. Every other day but Sunday (when the library is closed), hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Here's the new schedule, by the day:

      Monday, 10-6
      Tuesday, 10-8
      Wednesday, 10-8
      Thursday, 10-6
      Friday, 10-6
      Saturday, 10-6
      Sunday, closed

We hope you will find these new hours make for easier access to all our library services, and we especially look forward to seeing you on Mondays.
Gravestone talk set for March 12
Gravestones of Edgartown: Free Library Talk on March 12

Island historian Elizabeth Villard will take us on a winter, indoor "walk" through the graveyards of Edgartown in a free library program at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12.

 

"Gravestones are a window into the Island's past," says Ms. Villard.  "They show us the history of the town through the lives of those who lived it."

 

Ms. Villard has been leading Graveyard and Ghost, Gossip, and Downright Scandal Walking tours for over 20 years. She became an Edgartown Cemetery Commissioner last year. She is also a Chappaquiddick Ferry captain, theater director, and retired teacher. We hope you'll join us for her program on March 12 -- refreshments will be served.
On Our Big Screen:
One Film Series Ends,
Two New Programs Begin

The library's winter film series, "The Music Makers," has presented a great run of movies in which music plays a lead role. This series concludes at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, with Shine, the story of Australian piano prodigy David Helfgott and his triumph over mental illness.
 
After a one-week break, another Tuesday evening series begins here at the library with the March 18 launch of "Movies About Movies," eight award-winning films set in the context of the great dream machine that is the movie industry. The season opener is Francois Truffaut's Day for Night, a loving, humorous and charming tribute to the communal insanity of movie-making. It continues on March 25 with The Purple Rose of Cairo, Woody Allen's 1985 romantic comedy about a woman seeking refuge at the movies during the Depression years.
 
And looking ahead, Sunday, March 23, marks the launch of the third year in an Edgartown Library tradition: Tea and Downton, a marathon showing of Season Three of the hit PBS serial drama Downton Abbey on four successive Sundays, at 1:00 pm. Afternoon tea is served on each Sunday of this series, which concludes on April 13. Reservations are required for Tea and Downton -- please call the library at 508-627-4221.
 
And please note, all these film programs are for adult audiences.
Library resources for Alzheimer group
Ongoing Programs in March

The new Alzheimers support group facilitated by Elyce Bonnell of our library staff held its first meeting this month, and the group is scheduled to meet again on the second and fourth Fridays of March -- the 14th and the 28th -- at 6 p.m. here at the library. Anyone whose life has been touched by the disease is welcome to attend.

In other ongoing programs here, Donna Blackburn continues to meet with a sociable (and increasingly skilled) group of knitters at 10:30 a.m. every Saturday. Scrabble players continue to gather at 10:30 a.m. in our mystery room on Thursdays. And our book discussion group, which held a lively conversation Feb. 19 on the book One Drop, will meet again on Wednesday, March 19, at 1:30 p.m. to discuss Michael Chabon's book, The Yiddish Policemen's Union.

Reading specialist Kathy Farrell
Instructor Kathy Farrell
Starting March 8:
Free Reading Workshop
Offered for Kindergartners

Reading specialist Kathleen Farrell will lead a free workshop for Kindergarten students at the Edgartown Library, meeting from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on seven Saturdays beginning March 8.

Ms. Farrell, who holds a master's degree in early childhood education from Lesley University, is the proprietor of Benchmark Literacy in Edgartown. Students participating in her workshop will learn good reader strategies as they learn to recognize patterns in books, recognize rhyme, explore the concepts of setting and character, and make predictions.
 
Enrollment in this program is limited to 12 children; for information and to sign up, contact the Edgartown Library at 508-627-4221.
Valentine art
In the Children's Room,
March Is a Busy Month

 Valentines Day was a central celebration in our children's programming this February, with lots of creative card crafts and a cupcake-decorating party on Feb. 14.

March kicks off with a Mardi Gras family party on Saturday, the first of the month, from 2-4 p.m. Two Saturdays later, on March 15, the children's room will host another party celebrating St. Patrick's Day, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Thanks to the Newes Pub, this party will feature a live performance by traditional Morris dancers and sword dancers.

Other March events of note in the children's room:

Friday, 3/7: Circle Crafts at 3 p.m. (we'll have lots of colorful paper circles for young crafters to get creative with).

Saturday, 3/8: Rainbow loom crafts from noon to 4 p.m.

Friday, 3/14: Shamrock wreath crafts activity, 3 p.m.

Wednesday, 3/19: Our March young-adult movie, presented at 5 p.m., is The Secret of Roan Inish, rated PG and inspired by the Irish legend of selkies, ocean seals that can shed their skins and take on human form.

Friday and Saturday, 3/21 and 3/22: Celebrate Earth Day at the library with seed and shell mosaic crafts. This drop-in program is held Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday from noon to 4.

Friday and Saturday, 3/28 and 3/29: Drop in for rainbow loom crafts from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Please note, our children's story hour on Saturday mornings will be suspended in March for the duration of the Ready to Read program. All month long, story hours will be offered at 10:30 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.
to the Friends of the Edgartown Library

Visit the Friends web page

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