Off-Season @ Your Library

Is your library in a winter or summer vacation destination? Here’s how the librarians in Martha’s Vineyard MA have dealt this situation.

While the library landscape has adjusted to the technology age, one of the most important ways that the local institutions serve the public, according to representatives from five of the Island’s six libraries, is as a social setting and a center for a wide range of activities. And this is especially true in the winter when Islanders may be isolated and bored.

Beth Kramer, director of the West Tisbury Free Public library said, “Off season was once a quiet time for Island libraries, but we are really busy now — helping people write resumes and search for jobs, helping students with their school projects and providing a safe place to come after school and work on homework, providing material for upcoming trips, working with the public to learn how to use the Internet and computers, and planning our upcoming programs in response to community requests.”