Poetry and Music with Naomi Arenberg, Stepanie Miele and Friends

Naomi Arenberg, a local host for "All Things Considered" on WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR Station, and Stephanie Miele will sing selected poems that have been set to music. Poets Muriel Gould and Grant Willis will read each of the poems to be sung. The singers will be accompanied by musicans on keyboard, guitar and concertina. The poems selected, including "This Little Rose" by Emily Dickinson, "The Pasture" by Robert Frost and "Evening of Roses" by Erev Shel Soshanim, concern nature, love and the sea. Other pieces will be from Leonard Cohen, A.E. Housman and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Please join us for a joyous evening of poetry and song to welcome Spring. The program will be presented in the main room of the library and a reception will follow.

Earth Day Drawing!

The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Library have made available reusable polypropylene bags featuring the library logo, to help reduce the use of plastic bags by library patrons. The Friends have contributed to make the bags available for only $1. The colorful eco-friendly bags can be used to carry books and DVDs home from the library, or may be used for groceries and other personal items.

This year, in honor of Earth Day, the Friends are offering an additional incentive to purchase the bags. Purchase a bag for $1 between April 1st and April 21st, and you may enter a drawing to win a limited-edition sterling silver library charm. The charms are also available for sale at the library for $74.99, with proceeds supporting the Friends' work on behalf of the library. The Drawing will be held on Earth Day, April 22nd, 2010.

Sales of the bags and charms help support Library Children’s Programs, the Summer Reading Program, and other Friends-sponsored events.

Special Time for Poetry Event

On Thursday, March 25th at 5:30pm, the Vineyard Haven Public Library will be hosting an evening of poetry with Kirsten Andersen and Sara Elizabeth Johnson, Poetry Fellows at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. The Fine Arts Work Center is a leading long-term residency program for emerging artists and writers. The poets will read from their work and engaging in a question-and-answer session. A reception will follow the reading.

This is the fourth event in a series sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Library Association, and supported in part by a grant from the Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council, a local agency that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Spring Schedule Changes

Sunday hours at the library have been extended for the Spring season. We will be open from noon-4pm every Sunday through May 2nd, except Easter Sunday, April 4th.

The library will close at 6:30pm on Tuesday, April 6th, and Tuesday, April 13th, due to the Tisbury Town Meetings to be held on those evenings. Public access computers will be shut down at 6pm, and evening programs have been canceled for those dates. The library will also close for Patriot's Day on Monday, April 19th.

Calling Local Artists for June Exhibition

The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library are looking for emerging artists to participate in their first annual art show.

The show will be held on June 7-19th, with an evening reception on Tuesday June 8th.

The deadline for submissions will be May 1, 2010.

For more information, visit the library or view the Friends website: www.vhlibrary.org/artshow.shtml

New Travel Books for 2010

A New Crop of 2010 travel books from Eyewitness (DK) and Fodor’s Publishers have arrived at the library. Included are many popular cities such as Vienna, Dublin, Barcelona and Stockholm, and countries including Bali, Kenya, and Mexico.

Prefer not to fly? Check out United States On the Road. Armchair travelers may enjoy reading an account such as Eliza Fay's Original Letters from India, or Paul Theroux's Ghost Train to the Eastern Star.

You can also pick up one of last years' guidebooks for just $1 at the Friends of the Library book sale on March 20th, or hear Joe Doebler, an experienced photographer, talk about his recent visit to Alaska and the Bering Strait on Sunday, March 21st at 2pm.