Special Events for April Break: Live Animal Show, Interactive Princess Bride Movie!

Join us for two special events for kids and families during April school break!

The Wild World of Animals Live Animal Show, 3:30 pm Wednesday April 22nd at the Tisbury School gymnasium

Amazing Animal Ambassadors will bring the natural wonders of our planet right to you in this free, live animal show. We’ll learn about creatures from Africa, South America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and even right here in the United States. During the show, audience members will have the opportunity to handle several animals that you may never have thought possible, and save time for great photo opportunities! There is a lot to learn about wildlife and our planet. No registration required for this free event sponsored by the MV Library Association.

Interactive Movie: PRINCESS BRIDE

11 am Sunday April 26th at the MV Film Center (Ticketed event)

Unfortunately the film SHREK has been cancelled due to a license issue — but not the free family event on March 26th. Join us for an interactive screening of one of Rob Reiner's most beloved films, The Princess Bride. Based on the novel by William Goldman, Buttercup is a beautiful princess who--after being separated by her true love Westley--is captured by and forced to marry a conspiring prince. As the wedding day approaches her true love, a vengeful Spaniard and a kind giant come to her rescue. Filmgoers will get a bag of props and a script of things to do during the movie. Sponsored by the Friends of Vineyard Haven Library & the MV Film Society. 

Free tickets available through the Film Center Website while supplies last,  limit 4 per family. If you already had tickets to Shrek they will be transfered to the new film.

In Collaboration with the MV Film Center, we present a fun, free event great for all ages! Film goers will get a bag of props and a script of things to do during the movie. Shrek sparked a motion picture phenomenon and captured the world’s imagination with…the Greatest Fairy Tale Never Told! Shrek (Mike Myers) goes on a quest to rescue the feisty Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) with the help of his loveable Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and win back the deed to his swamp from scheming Lord Farquaad.

Free Tickets For Interactive Polar Express at the MV Film Center!

 Free Tickets For Polar Express @ Film Center!

One showing only, 11 am Sunday December 7th  



Free Tickets will be Available Starting November 15! 

Come kick off the holiday season with a free interactive showing! Viewers will get prompts and props to interact with the film! Free tickets available through the Film Center Website while supplies last,  limit 4 per family. Sponsored by the Friends of Vineyard Haven Library and the MV Film Society.

Holiday Hours & Vacation Week Programs

 Vineyard Haven Library will be CLOSED on Tuesday & Wednesday, December 24th and 25th, and on  on Tuesday & Wednesday, December 31st and January 1st. (Some MV libraries will be open on Tuesday, see schedule below.)

We will have special children's programming during the holiday week. Come watch a movie, and make a simple craft:

Thursday December 26th 3 to 5 pm: Wild Robot

Friday December 27th Double Feature! 1 pm: Paddington and 3 pm: Paddington 2

Monday December 30th, 3 to 5 pm: Garfield

Our weekly Storytime with Weezie will be held as usual at 10:30am on Monday December 30th.

For Kids Crafts with Jennifer on Thursday January 2nds at 3:30 pm, start the new year with a fresh journal or smash book!

SOLD OUT Tickets Now Available for Interactive Polar Express!

 

Free Tickets Now Available for Special Holiday Event! 11 am Sunday December 8th Martha's Vineyard Film Center at Tisbury Market Place, 79 Beach Rd In Collaboration with the MV Film Center, Vineyard Haven Library presents a fun, free, interactive holiday event great for all ages! All interactive supplies provided, with funding from the Friends of the Library.   This event is FREE, but please reserve your free tickets now to ensure you have admission! Doors Open for 30 min. prior to screening. Sponsored by the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library & MV Film Center.

Culinary Series Sponsored by the Library Friends!

The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Library are kicking off summer programming with a series of special culinary events, to be held in-person at the library.

All events are free to attend, but may require advance registration, and class size may be limited.
 

Film Screening: The Taste of Things [In-person] 6 pm Thursday May 30th This sumptuous award-winning period love story set in France in 1889, follows the life of Dodin Bouffant as a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her. 2 hours 16 minutes. In French with Subtitles. Rated PG-13.

History in Crust: Pastry and Power in 17th-Century New England [In-person] 6 pm Tuesday June 4th Food historian Paula Marcoux will share stories of the first colonial pastries—one French and one English—baked on the shores of Massachusetts. You’ll learn what is known of their bakers, the singular situations in which the baking occurred, the most probable types of ovens to have been used, and best of all, how the pies were likely to appear and taste.

Cheese 101 with MV Cheesery [In-person] 6 pm Tuesday June 11th Join us for a "Cheese 101" workshop where you can ask a monger your most burning cheese questions and sample artisanal cheeses! Presented by Morgen Schroeder of Martha's Vineyard Cheesery and Catboat Coffee. Registration required - REGISTER HERE

Induction Cooking with Cathy Walthers  [In-person] 6 pm Tuesday June 18th Local chef and cookbook author Catherine Walthers will demonstrate using an induction cooktop and talk about the advantages, for cooking, health, and the environment. The class will include a cooking demonstration with food samples.  Registration required - REGISTER HERE

A Culinary History of Martha's Vineyard [In-person] 6 pm Tuesday June 25th Martha's Vineyard is a culinary melting pot, with Native Americans, Blacks, European settlers and Azoreans contributing to a diverse culinary history. Local authors Tom and Joyce Dresser share the history, ingredients, recipes and images of this flavorful island. Book signing and refreshments to follow the talk.

Enjoy books? You will enjoy being a Friend of the Library! Annual dues of $25 to provide financial support for the library and its programs. Volunteer opportunities are also available -- volunteering is an great way to meet island neighbors while helping to support the library! Our monthly meetings are open to all, so come and learn what you can do to support and help.

For more information or to join the Friends, download our brochure and membership application.

December Programs For Children and Teens

 Check out our December calendar!

Sign-up for our newsletter to get a copy of the calendar sent to your inbox.

Free Tickets Now Available for Interactive Polar Express at the Film Center!

 

11 am Sunday December 3rd
Martha's Vineyard Film Center at Tisbury Market Place, 79 Beach Rd

In Collaboration with the MV Film Center, Vineyard Haven Library presents a fun, free, interactive holiday event great for all ages! All interactive supplies provided, with funding from the Friends of the Library.  

This event is FREE, but please reserve your free tickets now to ensure you have admission! Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library & MV Film Center

End of Summer Movies and Crafts

Summer Reading ends September 8th! Be sure to come in and collect your prizes!

Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

This week, join us at 3pm Monday through Friday for Movies and Crafts, and for our regular storytime schedule at 10:30am on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday!



All programs subject to change, please visit our online calendar for the most up-to-date information.

Holiday Hours and Special Programs for April Vacation Week

The Library will be CLOSED for the Holiday on Monday, April 17th

Here's what's happening next week:

Tuesday, April 18th

-Storytime with Emily at 10:30 am

-Movie & Craft in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : Puss & Boots The Final Wish

Wednesday, April 19th

-Movie & Craft in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : Peter Rabbit 2

Thursday, April 20th

-Movie & Craft in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : Turning Red

Friday, April 21st

-Movie & Craft in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : Bad Guys

Saturday, March 4th

-Toddler Tumble Time with Emily at 10:30 am

Note: Monday Storytime with Weezie will return in May!

School Vacation Week Special Programming!

There is NO storytime on Saturday, February 25th -- Tumble Time will return in March!

Here's what's happening next week:

Monday, February 26th

-Storytime with Weezie at 10:30 am

-Movie & Craft in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : Pokemon Detective Pikachu

Tuesday, February 27th

-Storytime with Emily at 10:30 am

-Movie & Craft in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : Minions, The Rise of Gru

Wednesday, March 1st

-Movie & Legos in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : The Lego Movie

Thursday, March 2nd

-Movie & Craft in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : Interactive Encanto

*This is an interactive film showing of Encanto. We will have bags that will have props and a movie script that will instruct participants what to do throughout the film! (No registration needed but supplies are limited)

Friday, March 3rd

-Movie & Craft in the Program Room from 3-5 pm : Paddington

Saturday, March 4th

-Toddler Tumble Time with Emily at 10:30 am

Interactive Polar Express at the Film Center December 4th, Sponsored by the Friends of the Library

 

THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT!

11 am Sunday December 4th
Martha's Vineyard Film Center at Tisbury Market Place, 79 Beach Rd

In Collaboration with the MV Film Center, Vineyard Haven Library presents a fun, free, interactive holiday event great for all ages! All interactive supplies provided, with funding from the Friends of the Library.  

This event is FREE, but please reserve your free tickets ahead of time to ensure you have admission! Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis and based on children’s author Chris Van Allsburg’s modern holiday classic of the same name, The Polar Express revolves around Billy (Hayden McFarland), who longs to believe in Santa Claus but finds it quite difficult to do so, what with his family’s dogged insistence that all of it, from the North Pole, to the elves, to the man himself, is all just a myth. This all changes, however, on Christmas Eve, when a mysterious train visits Billy in the middle of the night, promising to take him and a group of other lucky children to the North Pole for a visit with Santa. The train’s conductor (Tom Hanks) along with the other passengers help turn Billy’s crisis in faith into a journey of self-discovery. A long-time fan of Van Allsburg’s book, Hanks also helped produce the film.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library & MV Film Society

Films of Alfred Hitchcock Virtual Event September 27th

[Online] 7 pm Tuesday, September 27th
The Films of Alfred Hitchcock with Brian Rose

Join us online for a Virtual Presentation with Brian Rose, Professor Emeritus, Fordham University. Sponsored by the Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven, West Tisbury, and Chilmark Libraries. Contact your local library for the Zoom access, or for more information.

Alfred Hitchcock is probably the most famous film director who ever lived. For five decades, first in England, then in Hollywood, he made fifty-four films, including classics such as The Thirty-Nine Steps, Rebecca, Notorious, Rear Window, North by Northwest, Vertigo, and Psycho. Few filmmakers have been as popular, critically celebrated, and as influential, not only as a director but also as a multi-media showman through his television series, magazines, book anthologies, even extending to board games and record albums. This presentation looks at his achievements as “the master of suspense,” and through dozens of film clips, examines his extraordinary creativity as one of the 20th century’s greatest filmmakers.

Brian Rose is a retired college professor who for the last decade has been presenting talks on film and TV history to libraries and community organizations. He is a professor emeritus at Fordham University, where he taught for 38 years in the Department of Communication and Media Studies. He’s written several books on television history and cultural programming, and conducted more than a hundred Q&A’s with leading directors, actors, and writers for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Directors Guild of America.

Pre-event at Oak Bluffs Library On Tuesday September 20th at 6pm OBPL will host an in-person screening of North by Northwest, a 1959 American spy thriller produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. 

Stream at Home Several of Hitchcock's films can also be viewed online for free through the library's Kanopy service, including Dial M for Murder, Foreign Correspondent, and The Lady Vanishes. 

Black History Month Film Selections on Kanopy

 

In honor of Black History Month, our streaming video provider Kanopy has curated a collection of films that offer various perspectives on the Black experience in America. These films, both narrative and documentary, highlight the history and culture of the Black community while noting the trials and tribulations endured during periods of racial injustice. By telling the stories of leaders and those working behind the scenes to improve civil rights, as well as displaying facets of Black identity, these cinematic works provide valuable commentary of race relations across several generations.

To browse the complete collection, visit: 
https://vhlibrary.kanopy.com/category/40898

Black Boys
This documentary explores the body, mind, voice, and heart of Black boys and the
double-edged sword of having to build up their own self worth while knowing the world
is not built for them. As various Black men and boys open themselves up to the camera,
the emotional landscape of racism and its effects on them are revealed.
vhlibrary.kanopy.com/product/black-boys

Brother Outsider: The Life of Freedom Fighter Bayard Rustin
On November 20, 2013, Bayard Rustin was posthumously awarded the prestigious
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Who was this man? He
was an important part of the Civil Rights Movement — but always in the background.
Brother Outsider asks "Why?" It presents a vivid drama, intermingling the personal and
the political, about one of the most enigmatic figures in 20th-century American history.
vhlibrary.kanopy.com/product/brother-outsider

Daughters of the Dust
At the dawn of the 20th century, a multi-generational family in the Gullah community on
the Sea Islands off of South Carolina — former West African slaves who adopted many of
their ancestors' Yoruba traditions — struggles to maintain their cultural heritage and
folklore while contemplating a migration to the mainland, even further from their roots.
vhlibrary.kanopy.com/product/daughters-dust

The French Way
This farcical romantic-comedy set in WWII France is about young lovers forbidden to
marry by their respective families. Josephine Baker plays Zazu, the owner of a nightclub,
who inherits the job of restoring harmony between the two families and allowing the
young lovers to "se marier."
vhlibrary.kanopy.com/product/french-way

Fresh Dressed - The Evolution of Rap Fashion
A fascinating chronicle of hip-hop, urban fashion, and the hustle that brought oversized
pants and graffiti-drenched jackets from Orchard Street to high fashion's catwalks and
Middle America shopping malls. Director Sacha Jenkins's music-drenched history draws
from a rich mix of archival materials and in-depth interviews with rappers, designers, and
other industry insiders.
vhlibrary.kanopy.com/product/fresh-dressed

Jayhawkers
Directed by Oscar-winner Kevin Willmott, Jayhawkers tells the powerful fable of how a
small group of unlikely allies modernized college sports and changed a small Midwestern
town, serving as a parallel to the Civil Rights movement that would transform an entire
American society.
vhlibrary.kanopy.com/product/jayhawkers

Sounder
Set in rural Louisiana during the Depression, this heartfelt story tells of a sharecropper
family struggling to overcome adversity. After stealing to feed his family, Nathan is sent
to a prison camp. In their fight for survival, his determined wife and their eldest son hold
the family together. Once the boy becomes an adult, he searches for his father but
instead discovers manhood.
vhlibrary.kanopy.com/product/sounder

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson—the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World, whose
dominance over his white opponents spurred furious debates and race riots in the early
20th century—enters the ring once again in Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of
Jack Johnson a provocative PBS documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns.
vhlibrary.kanopy.com/product/unforgiveable-blackness

To browse the complete collection, visit: 
https://vhlibrary.kanopy.com/category/40898

Civil Rights Film Screening & Discussion

 

On Tuesday, December 7th at 6pm, please join us on Zoom for a presentation with filmmaker Craig Dudnick. Craig’s documentary Alice's Ordinary People is available to stream anytime for free on Kanopy. The Zoom presentation will be approximately an hour long, and can be enjoyed whether or not the participant has seen the film.

Alice's Ordinary People is a documentary about Alice Tregay – a woman who refused to stand still for injustice and brought others together to change what was. Her remarkable story spans the historic period from the marches of Dr. King to the election of Barack Obama, and her great contribution in the field of politics is the thread which connects the two. 

Craig’s presentation will begin with a 30 minute overview of the Civil Rights Movement and Alice's role in bringing politics to the Movement. Discussion and Q&A to follow. Email amcdonough@clamsnet.org to request the Zoom invitation. This event is free, open to the public, and sponsored by the Vineyard Haven Library and West Tisbury Library.

View the film here (library card required): https://vhlibrary.kanopy.com/video/alices-ordinary-people

Juneteenth Collection on Kanopy

 

Last year Massachusetts recognized Juneteenth Independence Day as a state holiday, commemorating the June 19th date of the emancipation of Black slaves in the United States. Vineyard Haven Library will be closed for the holiday on Saturday June 19th.

The library's streaming, on-demand video service Kanopy has a curated collection of films that commemorate the day, honoring and celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Kanopy videos are free with your Vineyard Haven CLAMS card.

 

 

 

 

Virtual: A Real Life Love Story From Hollywood's Golden Age

 

On Tuesday May 25th at 6 pm, author Victoria Riskin will join us on Zoom to discuss her recent book Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir. A love story, memoir, and dual biography of two of Hollywood’s most famous figures, this book explores the fascinating lives of two exceptionally talented people at the center of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Author Vicki Riskin, who is the daughter of Fay Wray and Robert Riskin, will be interviewed by personality Arnie Reisman for what is sure to be most entertaining evening.  

Fay Wray (1907–2004) enjoyed a long, sterling career, but achieved cinematic immortality for her role in King Kong (1933). Robert Riskin (1897–1955) was an Academy Award-winning writer and producer whose collaboration with Frank Capra yielded films such as It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), among many others. In this moving and masterful work, Wray and Riskin’s daughter interweaves the story of their lives and connects them to one of the most interesting periods in Hollywood history. At the heart of this biography is a great love story, backed by a cast of characters that includes the greatest stars, filmmakers, screenwriters, and moguls of the era. Readers should not miss this touching and highly acclaimed book. 

Author Victoria Riskin adapted Willa Cather’s My Ántonia for television and was a producer of Carson McCullers’s The Member of the Wedding as well as The Last Best Year, based on her years as a psychologist. Riskin was president of the Writers Guild of America West and served for twelve years on the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch. She lives on Martha’s Vineyard with her husband, the writer David W. Rintels.

Arnie Reisman started as a print journalist, and moved into radio, TV, and film (acting, directing, and producing). He recently added playwright and poet (and Martha’s Vineyard poet laureate) to his résumé.  Both Reisman and his wife Paula Lyons have been mainstays on Says You!, a wacky national radio quiz show slated for its 20th season.

Special Event: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf

 

Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf
A Film by Thomas Piper
Virtual Event : Filmmaker Q & A on Friday, May 21st at 2pm
Open Screening: Mon. May 17 - Sun. May 23
 
“For me, garden design isn’t just about plants, it is about emotion, atmosphere, a sense of contemplation. You try to move people with what you do. You look at this, and it goes deeper than what you see. It reminds you of something in the genes — nature, or the longing for nature.” – Piet Oudolf
    
We are showcasing the work of the brilliant landscape designer Piet Oudolf this month with a virtual screening of Thomas Piper’s documentary on the Dutch genius, Five Seasons, between Monday, May 17 and Sunday, May 23. The screening will be accompanied by a Q&A with the filmmaker on Friday, May 21 at 2pm.

Five Seasons is an immersive and meditative documentary that reveals how the revolutionary landscape designer Piet Oudolf upends our conventional notions of nature, public space, and ultimately, beauty itself. 

After completing a feature documentary on New York’s High Line, award-winning filmmaker Thomas Piper met the inspirational designer and plantsman, Piet Oudolf, and the idea for a new project was born. The documentary, FIVE SEASONS: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, immerses viewers in Oudolf’s work and takes us inside his creative process, from his beautifully abstract sketches, to theories on beauty, to the ecological implications of his ideas.

Intimate discussions take place through all fours seasons in Piet’s own gardens at Hummelo, and on visits to his signature public works in New York, Chicago, and the Netherlands, as well as to the far-flung locations that inspire his genius, including desert wildflowers in West Texas and post-industrial forests in Pennsylvania.

As a narrative thread, the film also follows Oudolf as he designs and installs a major new garden at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, a gallery and arts center in Southwest England, a garden he considers his best work yet.

Piet Oudolf has radically redefined what gardens can be. As Rick Darke, the famous botanist, says to Piet in the film, “your work teaches us to see what we have been unable to see.” Through poetic cinematography and unique access, FIVE SEASONS will reveal all that Piet sees, and celebrate all that we as viewers have been unable to see.

This program is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Edgartown Free Public Library and the Chilmark, West Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, and Vineyard Haven libraries.

Request the link to the film and the Zoom link to the filmmaker’s Q&A  by contacting library program coordinator Anne McDonough amcdonough@clamsnet.org