On my recent visit to the Chilmark Free Public Library, library director Ruth Davis Konigsberg guided me through a special collection reflecting Chilmark’s unique history — particularly the legacy of the Island’s deaf community, a story still stewarded here and one that continues to draw visitors from around the world. We then sat down in the comfort of the 1882 reading room. I had a chance to meet Ruth’s colleagues, children’s librarian Drew Dubno and program director Lynne McCormack, and hear about the work they do. And then I got to know Ruth a little better.

Ruth had a long career in journalism before turning to her passion for libraries. She was a writer and editor at New York magazine, had editorial roles at Glamour and Elle , and launched TIME magazine’s digital platforms. Now in her first full year as director of Chilmark library, she has cultivated a team with diverse expertise. Together they share a mission to make the library a “third place” for connection, learning and community life.

Q. How did you get to the Vineyard?

A. I grew up in New York City, and I was very lucky — my grandparents bought a house in Edgartown, so I spent summers here as a child in the seventies. I remember going to the Edgartown library for summer reading, biking around, and going on scavenger hunts and trying to find people who had been in Jaws to get their autographs. After my grandmother sold the house, there was a period when I didn’t come back. But when I had young children of my own, I wanted to introduce them to the Vineyard, so we started renting for a week every August. My aunt, the dancer Lucinda Childs, later bought a place in Aquinnah, so we were able to spend time with her there as well. Over time, I just loved coming back.

Q. How did you find your way to library science?

A. I was getting my master’s in library science at night while working part-time in circulation at the Pelham Public Library in New York. This was toward the end of my journalism years. I’d always had an affinity for libraries, but I started to realize that the values of librarianship reflected my own values more than what journalism had become over the thirty years. As I began to transition to being a librarian, in the back of my mind I thought it would be amazing to work as a librarian on the Vineyard.

Q. What was your first job on the Island as a librarian?

A. Actually, it’s a funny story. In the summer of 2019 I was on the ferry, miserable about going back to my life in New York, and I struck up a conversation with a woman who turned out to be Nelia Decker, the [now retired] children’s librarian in West Tisbury. I told her I was finishing my degree and that I would love to work on the Vineyard. She connected me to people here, literally from a meeting on the ferry. I wound up working for five years as the reference librarian at Vineyard Haven Public Library. That was a perfect role for me, because of my background as a journalist.

Q. With so many new ways to access information and books, how does today’s library continue to find its place?

A. I think all of the town libraries play a very important role. There’s this concept of a “third place” in society; there’s home and there’s work, and now those two have become conflated. There are very few places left to simply exist and be part of society, to share stories, to have a connection. The library serves that role.

Q. And that plays out in unexpected ways — even in what’s on the shelves. I have to ask about the library’s huge collection of DVDs – from the complete works of Jacques Tati to seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Is there still strong demand for these from your CLAMS card holders?

A. We have a lot of takers! Irene Tewksbury manages the collection. It’s funny, Vineyard Haven is known for having a great large print collection; Oak Bluffs is known for their Portuguese language books and other foreign language books. Each library has special attributes. It’s what makes libraries so cool!

Q. Of course, the resources and documentation that keep the story of the 19th century and the Island’s Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) alive are unique to the Chilmark library.

A. Yes, it is major and now people are building off of that work and really getting into a much more scientific and granular study of that history.

Q. And more broadly, how does the Chilmark library serve this up-Island community?

A. We play an essential role here, especially in the wintertime, when the Chilmark Store is closed and the Chilmark Community Center has very limited use. There really isn’t another place to go. Because of our geographical location, being here on Beetlebung Corner is a real privilege — we’re right in the center of town.

Q. The [library] trustees have just completed a five-year plan. What emerged as the key priorities, and what excites you most coming out of that process?

A. It was incredibly helpful to me as a new director, and I feel very lucky to have come into that process. Improving access, expanding hours, being a cultural hub for the community, and preserving Chilmark’s unique history and character — those are four great things.

Q. You share a fence with the Chilmark School. How does that unique relationship work day-to-day?

A. It’s an unusual and special relationship — we serve as the Chilmark School library. Because of our physical location, we’re part of what people think of as a campus — the school, the library, and the Chilmark Community Center (CCC). But when the CCC isn’t functioning, it’s just the school and the library. Every week, every class comes for a library visit, and we also have visits from the preschool. And after-school time is very active here.

Q. I can hear the children out on the playground! What a gift for them to be so close to this beautiful, nurturing place.

A. That’s a perfect situation for us to be in. Nothing makes us happier than having tons of kids regularly coming to the library — having it be their third place in life. And the importance there is not only to encourage early childhood literacy, but to create those reading habits and inspire that independent love of reading. And that is kindled by what libraries do.

Q. Is there a magic formula to get a kid to read?

A. It is recreational reading — reading whatever you want. Who cares if you read that Choose Your Own Adventure book sixteen times? It’s that love that then translates into academic success. It’s not what you’re being told to read — it’s about letting a child develop their own personal reading taste. When you turn someone into a lifelong reader, that gives them so many advantages academically — and the benefits that come from that. So, it’s not that we’re trying to turn them into students. We’re trying to turn them into young people who love reading.

Q. Children’s librarian Drew Dubno spoke enthusiastically about the annual high school poetry contest sponsored by the Brickner family.

A. That continuing gift and the poetry corner in the children’s room honor their daughter Elisa who loved poetry. The Island has a lot of adult poets, but I think this is the only program specifically for children.

Q. Lynne McCormack’s adult programs are really robust all year long.

A. Yes, thanks to Lynne. She lives in Chilmark and knows the community and she’s got that local connection that is so important.

Q. Lynne is very enthusiastic about the regular Wednesday Chilmark Coffee & Conversation hours, continuing this summer, with the Women of Chilmark series rolling out after Memorial Day.

A. Not surprisingly, there are many progressive, interesting and historically significant women who have lived in Chilmark. Our kickoff [for the Women of Chilmark series] is Who Was Lucy Vincent? You’ve heard of the beach, but she was also our longest-serving librarian and trustee. Lindsey Lee will interview her grandniece, Jane Slater.

We’ll also explore the Blackwell sisters, the first female MDs in America and among the first summer residents of Chilmark. Lesser known is Katie West, who was prominent in the deaf community and the last known signer of Martha's Vineyard Sign Language. Her house (now greatly expanded on) became the Chilmark library. Another focus [for the Women of Chilmark series] will be the “scallop ladies,” who in 1951 went to the State House to fight for women to have shellfish licenses.

Q. What do you have planned for the Nation’s 250th milestone this summer?

A. An event called One Island, One Book. David McCullough’s 1776 , spearheaded by Oak Bluffs [Public Library]. The conversation will take place at the West Tisbury Public Library on July 11, led by Aquinnah resident and constitutional scholar Jack Fruchtman.

Q. Well that sounds like an all-Island effort for sure! Is there another book that’s going to be on everyone’s list this summer?

A. A book that has kind of taken everyone by surprise — and doesn’t seem to be losing any steam — is The Correspondent [by Virginia Evans] It really took off through word of mouth. Ann DeWitt, who works at the library, came to me with it, and I ordered more copies. She did the same thing with Theo of Golden [by Allen Levi], and both times she was right!

Q. What’s on your bedside table?

A. Whidbey by T. Kira Madden and London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe.

Sissy Biggers is the Q&A columnist for The Vine and a frequent contributor to Martha’s Vineyard Magazine .