Thank you Tisbury for Supporting the Library Renovation!
On April 25th, 2023, Tisbury Town Meeting voters approved an $800,000 article to fund repairs and renovation of the existing library building in 2024. In order to include the meeting room addition in the renovation project, the Library Building Fund is working to raise an additional $500,000 by the end of this year.
Gifts made to the Building Fund now will allow the addition and renovation to be done as a single project, that will limit interruptions to library services for the public, as well as achieve significant cost savings. The renovation and addition will include environmental upgrades for sustainability, much needed storage, and flexible meeting facilities that will position the library to deliver even better services to our community.
For more information, please review these Frequently Asked Questions.
I AND YOU: Reading by the Peter H Luce Playreaders to Benefit Library Capital Campaign
4pm Sunday Jan 8th 2023 at the MV Film Center
Join us for a special fundraising event at the MV Film Center to benefit the Library Capital Campaign! Enjoy a special reading of I AND YOU, performed by John Brannen and Beebee Horowitz, players in the Peter H Luce Playreaders, directed by Linda Comstock. “I AND YOU” is a play about the search for connection as two young adults (performed by two not-so-young Play Readers!) navigate a rocky path to a relationship. As they work together on a project in witty, non-stop repartee, they discover what makes up an ‘I and You’ relationship – a challenge as Caroline is housebound with a life-threatening illness while Anthony is a popular thriving athlete. Written by Lauren Gunderson, a multiple award-winning playwright, who in 2019 alone had a whopping total of 16 plays in production. Sponsored by the MV Film Society and the Friends of Vineyard Haven Library.
Attend the event and enter to win some awesome prizes from these generous donors: Bunch of Grapes, Calleen’s Day Spa, CB Stark, Cronigs, Green Room, Louisa Gould Gallery, Our Market, Nochi, Pie Chicks, Salvatore’s, Vineyard Pilates!
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online: https://mvfilmsociety.com/2022/11/i-and-you-a-reading-performed-by-the-peter-h-luce-playreaders/
A Century of American Short Stories with Philip Weinstein
Philip Weinstein, the Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor of English Emeritus at Swarthmore College, will present a six-part seminar discussing short story collections from six American writers, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings, beginning Nov. 16. These programs will be held online via Zoom. Prior to the first class, registered participants will receive a welcome email with Zoom access information and a reading guide. If there is sufficient interest, the library may also host a small group to view the Zoom event together at the library. Contact the Library Director if you are interested in this option.
Schedule: 11/16 - Ernest Hemingway, In Our Time; 11/30 - William Faulkner, selected stories; 12/14 - Raymond Carver, Cathedral;
1/11/2023 - Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine; 1/25 - Edward P. Jones, All Aunt Hagar's Children; 2/8 - Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge.
Register here: http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/ekform.cfm?curOrg=VH&curName=2022/11/16_Philip_Weinstein:_A_Century_of_American_Short_Stories
Capital Campaign Announces 2022 Matching Gift!
New challenge will cover costs for state-of-the-art audiovisual systems
VINEYARD HAVEN January 20, 2022 -- The Library Building Fund is pleased to announce a new fundraising challenge for 2022. A local family of year-round Tisbury residents has offered to match one dollar for every two dollars raised up to $30,000, for a total of $90,000 to be raised through this challenge. Funds raised through the "Media Challenge" will support expenses related to optimizing multimedia presentations in the new facility. Plans call for up-to-date technology, lighting and acoustics, including a state-of-the art sound system with assisted hearing loop, a large retractable projection screen with a high resolution projection system, and large windows opening the room to the garden but that can be easily darkened with drop-down blackout shades. The capital campaign has now passed the halfway point towards the $2 million fundraising goal. A challenge grant from the Sibbri Foundation in 2021 raised more than $100,000, bringing the total raised to more than $1 million as of January 1st!
$50,000 Challenge Grant for Vineyard Haven Library Capital Campaign
Matching grant could put Library Building Fund over halfway mark for capital campaign
VINEYARD HAVEN September 28, 2021 -- The Vineyard Haven Public Library Building Fund, Inc. is pleased to announce a $50,000 challenge grant from the Sibbri Foundation. The grant calls for the Library Building Fund to raise $50,000 by December 31, 2021, which will then be matched dollar for dollar by the Sibbri Foundation. Every gift or pledge for a future gift made before the end of 2021 will be counted towards the challenge, so a gift or pledge today will be doubled.
VHPLBFI is raising the funds needed for the library addition project through gifts and grants, without further taxpayer funding. To date, VHPLBFI has raised approximately $900,000 towards the $2 million campaign goal. An additional $50,000 in gifts to be matched by the Sibbri Foundation would take the campaign past the halfway mark. "We’ve seen wonderful support for the library and look forward to meeting this fundraising milestone near the end of this year,” said Building Fund President Arch Smith. “We are excited to have the Sibbri Foundation gift to offer encouragement to bolster donations, with a matching grant every donation becomes even more important.

On Thursday August 5th at 5pm, join us for a special fundraising event with author Martha Hall Kelly at the West Chop Club Casino. Martha will discuss Sunflower Sisters, her second prequel novel following her bestselling historical fiction debut, Lilac Girls. This limited-capacity event is sponsored by the Vineyard Haven Library Building Fund, Inc. Reserve your place early to meet Martha and learn about the Library's exciting new program room project. A reception and book signing will follow the talk. Copies of Sunflower Sisters will be available for purchase.
Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online: www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-martha-hall-kelly-to-benefit-vineyard-haven-library-tickets-161676710393
Vineyard Haven Library Building Fund appreciates the generosity of the West Chop Community for providing the event space.
Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online: www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-martha-hall-kelly-to-benefit-vineyard-haven-library-tickets-161676710393
Vineyard Haven Library Building Fund appreciates the generosity of the West Chop Community for providing the event space.

On Thursday, July 9th at 5pm, The Vineyard Haven Public Library Building Fund presented a free virtual event with New York Times Book Review Editor Pamela Paul. Pamela Paul is the editor of the New York Times Book Review and oversees books coverage at the New York Times, which she joined in 2011 as the children’s books editor. She is also the host of the weekly Book Review podcast for the Times. She is the author and editor of five books, including My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues, and How to Raise a Reader, co-authored with Maria Russo. Her work has appeared in the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the New York Times Magazine, Time, the New York Times Education Life, the Economist, Vogue, Psychology Today, and other national publications. This event was presented as a conversation facilitated by Vineyard Haven seasonal resident Maureen Sullivan, a widely-recognized leader and educator in the library profession and past president of the American Library Association.
View a recording of the event: Pamela Paul: How to Raise a Reader
View a recording of the event: Pamela Paul: How to Raise a Reader