Sitting among the other people using the computers at the Vineyard Haven library on a bleak, icy day this week, Jon and Rick blend right in. The only hints of their difference are a couple of small piles of possessions nearby.

These men are homeless, and for them, the primary purpose of coming here is not research or reading, but warmth.

It would no doubt come as a surprise to the other Vineyarders tapping away at adjacent terminals to know this. It might even surprise them that homelessness exists on the Island.

The good news for the Vineyard economy is that in the first three months of this year banks loaned some $240 million for new mortgages, well above the numbers for the previous two recession years.

Even better, said Chris Wells, president and chief executive officer of the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank, most of that was for new purchases rather than refinancing of existing loans, the biggest part of the mortgage business during the downturn.