We're Hiring: Would You Like to Join Our Team?

Edgartown Library is adding two new part-time, year-round, Library Assistant(s) to our staff. Regular scheduled circulation desk and children’s room desk duties. Evenings and weekends required. Superior customer service, multi-tasking, and flexibility required. Must be tech savvy, detail oriented, and love libraries. 10-12 hours per week, $16.83 per hour.

We'll begin reviewing applications on May 24, 2013. Please submit employment application, cover letter, resume, and references via email to: Jill Dugas Hughes, Library Director:

edgartownlibraryhr@gmail.com

The Town of Edgartown is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Library Building Project Advances

The Library Building Committee has been hard at work advancing plans to build a new Edgartown Public Library on the site of the town's old 1924 elementary school building. With about three weeks remaining before final designs are nailed down,  we have a fresh set of architectural plans here at the library, and you're welcome to come in and view them.

The next big date on the calendar is Friday, May 17. That afternoon, bids for the demolition of the old school will be publicly opened and read. We'll let you know as soon as there's news on this front.

Meanwhile, Edgartown's application for a bond issue to fund this project is all in place.  The project is on target for completion in the first quarter of calendar year 2015.

Viva Verdi! An Introduction to Classic Operas

Susan Grunthal, outreach coordinator of the Taconic Opera, led a popular program here last fall introducing the early operas of the great composer, Giuseppe Verdi. This spring she's back with a second series of listening programs exploring Verdi's later operas.

These free programs -- four of them in all -- will be offered at 1 p.m. on Sundays, June 2 and 9, and at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, June 4 and 11, here at the library. To reserve your seat, please call us at 508-627-4221.

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CLAMS Network Sees Explosion of Interest in eBooks

If you need a vivid picture of what geometric growth looks like, take a peek at the graphic at left, which tracks the circulation of digital media by patrons of our CLAMS library network.

The year 2009, when we first started offering books, music and videos through the OverDrive service, saw a circulation of just 5,819 items. That number jumped to 19,188 in 2009, to 31,349 in 2010 -- and in 2011, surpassed the 60,000 mark.

Most of the digital activity in 2011, just in terms of sheer numbers, has been in audiobooks, as patrons grow increasingly comfortable getting their books online and loading them into portable devices like MP3 players and smartphones instead of checking out boxes of 12 or 16 audio discs. But by far the fastest-growing category lately has been eBooks, the sort of digital books you read with your eyes -- on devices from the Sony Reader to the iPad and Amazon Kindle.

Digital book readers were evidently popular Christmas gifts for CLAMS network patrons this year. Checking the Overdrive service in the first week of January, we found nearly 3,700 eBooks in the network's collection -- and nearly 60 percent of them were checked out.

Language Learning Service Adds iPhone, iPad Apps

At the Edgartown Public Library, on behalf of our patrons, we recently expanded our subscription to the online language-learning service, Mango. And now the folks at Mango, who continue to win prizes for their service, have added a rich set of new features for all our language-learners to enjoy.

Most important of these is the new, free Mango app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It's called Mango Mobile Library Edition, and it gives you access to all the free language courses offered through your library. This new service works just like Mango online. Simply touch the screen to reveal answers and to hear pronunciations by native speakers.

We've been offering the Mango Languages service free to our all our patrons since early in 2009. This January we expanded our contract with Mango so that our patrons now have access to all 36 language courses offered by the service.

This service is available to you, as a library patron, from any internet connection — at the library, a coffee shop, or at home. All you need to log in is your 13-digit library card number.

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Free eBooks in Kindle Format Are Available Now

One of the most popular new services we offer, through the CLAMS library network and the Overdrive service, is the ability to download free eBooks to your Kindle readers.

Most of the eBooks in our network's Overdrive collection are now available in Kindle format, as well as in formats that work well with the iPad, the Nook, the Sony Reader and a range of mobile devices.

We encourage you to watch this 4-minute video, which explains the download process. We also invite you to visit our downloadable book site, read all about downloading titles to your Kindle devices -- and enjoy!

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Free Music Service for Edgartown Patrons

The Edgartown Library has subscribed, on behalf of our patrons, to a new service which offers free access to songs from the Sony Music catalog of legendary performing artists.

The service is Freegal, and you can sign in here with your Edgartown library card number and PIN. Once signed in, you can select and download five free songs each week in the MP3 format.

We're trying this new service for one year to see if it's popular with our patrons. We hope you'll visit Freegal, give it a test-drive and let us know what you think!

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Click to See Your Town Government at Work

All year 'round, Edgartown Town Hall is a bustling center of civic activity, with important decisions being made at public meetings almost every day. Now, we're happy to report, there's an easy way to check in and find out what's on the agendas of every Edgartown board and committee.

Just visit this handy link and you'll be whisked to the page of Edgartown's excellent municipal website where all meeting agendas are posted. You might be surprised at all the work that's going on -- and you might find a reason to become more involved in the decisions that shape the future of our town.

Planning a Visit to Boston?
Stop Here First for Museum Passes

On your next trip to Boston, perhaps you'd enjoy an hour or three at the Museum of Fine Arts. If this is on your itinerary, do stop at our circulation desk before heading north -- and pick up a free pass. One pass entitles two visitors admission to the museum for $10 each. That's one more great reason to visit the library. The passes are generously purchased for us by the Friends of the Edgartown Library.

As you plan your fall travels around New England, you should definitely visit this page of the CLAMS network catalogue. It lists discount tickets to all sorts of destinations, from Battleship Cove to Mystic Aquarium, from the New Bedford Whaling Museum to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Enjoy!

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$17,000 for the Library -- in Nickels

Who would have guessed that nickel and diming could add up to $17,000?  Since 2007, volunteers have collected and redeemed bottles and cans, and as of this summer, their efforts have now reached the $17,000 mark. 

The folks in charge of this project have earmarked these funds for Edgartown Library programs, services, and library wish list items. If you're interested in pitching in, please call the library or drop off your bottles and cans in the bins at the back of the Warren House, adjacent to the library. 

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