Author Talk: The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club A Novel by Martha Hall Kelly

Save the date!

At 6:00 PM on Wednesday, July 9th, the Vineyard Haven Library welcomes New York Times bestselling author Martha Hall Kelly for a reading, discussion and signing of her new, World War II-era historical novel, The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club (Ballantine Books, May 27, 2025). This event will be held at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, July 9th, 2025 at the Katharine Cornell Theatre, with books available for purchase through Bunch of Grapes Bookstore.

Two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women in this spectacular novel inspired by true events, from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls.

“A dreamy beach book that also sizzles with tension . . . another winner by one of the best historical fiction writers around.”—Fiona Davis, author of The Stolen Queen

2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving after her mother’s death as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Devereaux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Devereaux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there. As the tale unfolds, Mari is shocked to learn that her relationship to this island runs deeper than she ever thought possible.

1942: The Smith girls—nineteen-year-old aspiring writer Cadence and sixteen-year-old war-obsessed Briar—are faced with the impossible task of holding their failing family farm together during World War II as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard. When Briar spots German U-boats lurking off the island’s shores, and Cadence falls into an unlikely romance with a sworn enemy, their quiet lives are officially upended. In an attempt at normalcy, Cadence and her best friend, Bess, start a book club, which grows both in members and influence as they connect with a fabulous New York publisher who could make all of Cadence’s dreams come true. But all that is put at risk by a mysterious man who washes ashore—and whispers of a spy in their midst. Who in their tight-knit island community can they trust? Could this little book club change the course of the war . . . before it’s too late?

Martha Hall Kelly is the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls, Lost Roses, Sunflower Sisters, and The Golden Doves. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Martha was inspired to write this novel by her mother’s family, the Smiths, who settled on Martha’s Vineyard in 1891. She received journalism degrees from both Syracuse and Northwestern Universities and worked as an advertising copywriter for many years before becoming a novelist. With more than two million copies of her books sold and translated in fifty countries, Martha lives in Litchfield, Connecticut, and Hobe Sound, Florida.

Photo: © Frank Cordoba

This event will be held at the Katharine Cornell Theatre, above the Tisbury Town Hall, at 51 Spring Street in Vineyard Haven. Registration not required. For more information, please contact the library at vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org or (508) 696-4211.

Library Temporarily Closed on Fridays, Starting March 14th 2025

 

We have Library Renovation News!

The town has just received bids for the general contractor for the planned renovation and addition project, which is now expected to begin in the coming weeks. When construction is underway, the library building at 200 Main Street will be closed to the public, and library staff will be providing services from a temporary satellite location. More details will be announced soon, through our newsletter and on the website.

The Library will be closed on Fridays beginning March 14th, to allow staff to prepare for moving the collection. Friday hours will resume following the move to the temporary building.

Sign up for 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten!

Book by book, step by step, help your child get ready for school and start a lifelong love of reading and learning!

Did you know that by reading, writing, talking, singing, and playing with your child that you can help foster their reading development? 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is a program that encourages all families and caregivers to read 1,000 books with their young children before they enter kindergarten.

When you register your child for “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” at Vineyard Haven Public Library, you will receive a log to record your child’s progress. In the log, there are lots of tips to help parents and caregivers to read, write, talk, sing, and play with their children in meaningful ways that will help them to be ready to read when they enter kindergarten!

Studies have shown that families who start reading aloud to their children at birth help to strengthen their language skills and build their vocabulary – two important tools for beginning to learn to read when they enter kindergarten. By participating in 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, you will be introduced to the Association for Library Service program called Every Child Ready to Read. Every Child Ready to Read has targeted pre-literacy skills and identified fve practices, or activities, that can help children enter school ready to learn to read.

How the Program Works

• Visit the library to register your child, at any age before they enter kindergarten, for this free do-it-at-home program
• Your child will receive a reading log to record the books you read together
• This month when you visit the library to register, you can also pick up some free board books and other rewards, while supplies last!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can sign up for this program? Any child from birth until kindergarten.

Do I have to read books from the library? You can read books from anywhere, not just library books.

Can I count books that are read to my child in school, or by a nanny or day care provider? Yes! Any and every book your child hears counts for this program.

What if my child wants to read the same book over and over? Repetition is key to learning. Each time you read the book, it counts.

My child likes to listen to books on the computer/iPad/eReader/etc. Can I count them? As long as your child listens to the whole book, it counts.

Will I have time to read 1,000 books with my child? It's easy! 3 books a day for 1 year = 1,095 books. 1 book a day for 3 years = 1,095 books

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten was started by the 1,000 Books Foundation, whose objectives are to promote reading to newborns, infants, and toddlers and to encourage parent and child bonding through reading. The 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program at the Vineyard Haven Public Library is funded by the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library.

Virtual: Tick Ecology, Behavior, and Protection Measures for 2025

Click here to register and make sure you're prepared for the 2025 tick season: https://forms.gle/BNVtW45YR6j2W8NT8

At 2:00 PM on Friday, March 28, biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds of the MV Tick Program and the Inter-Island Public Health Excellence Collaborative returns for a virtual presentation on Tick Ecology, Behavior, and Protection Measures for 2025.

With the main tick season right around the corner, Patrick will discuss the best tips and tools to keep yourself safe, including the latest prevention measures he uses on a daily basis to prevent tick bites..

Patrick Roden-Reynolds is a Public Health Biologist for the Inter-Island Public Health Excellence Collaborative and Director of the Martha’s Vineyard Tick Program. His work focuses on education and surveillance of vector-borne diseases and their vector populations. 

The Martha’s Vineyard Tick-borne Illness Reduction Initiative (aka the Tick Program) is dedicated to reducing the number of ticks and tick-borne illnesses on Martha’s Vineyard through education, advocacy, and cooperation with other organizations and individuals. The Tick Program is an initiative of the Inter-Island Public Health Excellence Collaborative of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

This event will be held via Zoom. The program will be recorded and sent via email to all registrants within 48 hours of the event. For more information, please contact the library at vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org or (508) 696-4211.

The Way We Wore: Island Textiles & Fashion Before 1850

At 6:00 PM on Tuesday, March 18th, local historian Norah Van Riper returns to the Vineyard Haven Library for another interactive program about Martha's Vineyard History, entitled “The Way We Wore: Island Textiles & Fashion Before 1850.” This event will be held on the upper level of the library, with refreshments provided by the Friends of the Library. 

Today, wool and linen are considered luxury fabrics, but for most of Western history, they were the fibers that everyone of every social status wore and used on a daily basis. Sheep arrived on Martha’s Vineyard with the earliest English colonizers and flax became an important crop on their farms. The sheep were so successful that wool became the Island’s premier cash crop for nearly two hundred years! But what changed, and why? This interactive program demonstrates (almost) the entire process of taking raw wool and flax and turning them into useful textiles by hand. This program is presented in historical costume from a modern perspective. 

Itinerant historian Norah Van Riper has been in the museum and living history trades for the better part of twenty-five years. Her focus is primarily on historical agriculture and domestic life in New England before the Industrial Revolution, however, she’s known to dabble in a number of other subjects and periods. Her real passion lies in giving voice to the forgotten and misunderstood people of the past. She lives in Vineyard Haven

For more information, please contact the library at (508) 696-4211 or send an email to vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org. 

Art in the Stacks: UNSEEN CONNECTIONS

Hoft Farm Road 8x10 oil, Rebecca Everett

The path, 6x8, oil, Lynne McCauley

Almost Home, 5x8, oil, Judith Drew Schubert

The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Library are pleased to present a cooperative exhibit featuring Island-inspired oil paintings by Lynne McCauley, Rebecca S. Everett and Judith Drew Schubert. This exhibit will be on display in the lower level of the library during regular library hours from today through the end of March.

Featured artists, Lynne McCauley, Rebecca S. Everett and Judith Drew Schubert, connected through an online art course, led by renowned instructor and artist, Ian Roberts. The three Vineyard-based artists discovered each other while participating in the virtual course alongside over 600 other students worldwide. Judith found Lynne in their small critique group, while Rebecca spotted Ann DuCharme (who is unable to participate in the exhibit due to other commitments) through the platform’s geographic search feature.

For the past nine months, the four have been meeting regularly to critique and discuss the challenges of painting and being productive artists. The insights, support, and understanding found in their meetings and growing friendships have become an invaluable part of their artistic lives.

Lynne McCauley is dedicated to exploring the interplay of color and light in landscapes, still life and abstract compositions. With a background in design, she has refined her skills through workshops and master classes, including studies with Ian Roberts, Margaret McWethy, and JSS Civita in Italy. Deeply inspired by atmospheric perspective, Lynne translates fleeting moments into expressive paintings, aiming to evoke emotion and energy in her viewers. Whether painting en plein air or in the studio, her work is a dynamic reflection of her artistic vision.

Rebecca S. Everett, a Harthavener, has spent her life immersed in the beauty of the island. As an undergraduate at MICA, she discovered her visceral love for oil painting, in a 1981 course by Raul Middleman. Encouraged by her cousin Bill Abbe, a renowned island painter, Rebecca honed her artistic voice focusing on the Vineyard landscape. Working en plein air and in the studio, her compositions capture the island’s light, texture, movement, and color with a deep sense of place. 

Judith Drew Schubert is a professional fine art painter based on Martha’s Vineyard, primarily working in oils. Painting en plein air is the start, if not the finish, to most of Judith’s warm season landscape or seascape compositions. However, with New England weather, her Oak Bluffs Arts District studio offers her the light, space and warmth to continue painting in the cold dark of winter. Judith has found that her long career as a fabric designer has translated well into seeing flow and design in land, sea or animal compositions.

Art in the Stacks is an initiative of the Friends of the Library to provide artists an opportunity to show their work, and for library patrons to enjoy art throughout the year. 

Traditional Storytelling for Adults with Nancy Binzen

Rescheduled from January! 

At 6:00 pm on Wednesday, February 26th, the Vineyard Haven Library welcomes storyteller Nancy Binzen for a wildcrafted evening of traditional folktale and myth from around the world–especially for adults. 

Storytelling isn’t just for children. Traditional storyteller Nancy Binzen will entertain us with two to three tales, including the myth of the Red Bead Woman from Siberia and the tale of the Selkie Bride from the Orkney Isles. Both stories are centuries old and revolve around a woman discovering and reclaiming her true identity, although their journeys are quite different.

Nancy Binzen has a BA in Theatre Arts, a Certificate in Storytelling from Dominican University, and has studied with noted mythologist, Martin Shaw. She’s been telling traditional tales for 25 years and is a seasonal Vineyard Haven resident. 

This event will be held on the upper level of the library, with refreshments provided by the Friends of the Library. For more information, please contact the library at (508) 696-4211 or send an email to vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org.