The West Tisbury Library received a five-star rating and the Edgartown Library received three stars from Library Journal.
A Rhode Island company was the low bidder on a a $7.3 million contract for a new library. And questions surfaced again about the Edgartown Library Foundation.
Timothy Culbert, an architect and founding partner of Imrey Culbert LP, wrote in a letter to town officials that he did not transfer rights for the library design, a step he claims was required for the town to use the design. He said Imrey Culbert was originally retained for design services for the library.
The Edgartown Library summer reading program this year involved more than 100 children and for the first time reached out to children at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club. The statewide theme was Dig Into Reading.
Leading this summer’s readers at the library was Jason Alpert-Wisnia, who read and reported on 58 books. Brandon Engerman read 33 books and Elizabeth Madsen read 24. Reading more than 15 books each were Whitney Johnson, Sasha Kagan, Ellie Kogan, Brant Maynard, Natasha Muromcew, Mary Muromcew, Simon Rhett and Celia Schaper.
Edgartown School students joined town and library officials Monday to celebrate the first visible marker of Edgartown’s new library: a sign announcing the beginning of the project.
A group of students from kindergarten, first grade and third grade at the school posed for a picture in front of a sign that says: “Watch your new library being built here.” The sign is in front of the old brick Edgartown School, which will be demolished this summer to make way for the new library.
In a widening rift between Edgartown leaders and the nonprofit Edgartown Library Foundation, the town library trustees voted Tuesday to ask the foundation to cease and desist fundraising for the library, and to remove the Edgartown library image and information from its website.
“They are no longer, in my opinion, supporting the library or doing any service to the library whatsoever, and because of that I’d like to make sure . . . that any reference to [the Edgartown Library Foundation] is removed from our website,” library trustee Julie Lively said.
Edgartown selectmen and members of the Edgartown Library Foundation sparred Monday over whether the nonprofit organization would turn over money for the town’s new library project, with selectmen criticizing the organization for a lack of transparency and withholding the money, while foundation members said they had concerns about the project’s completion and wanted naming opportunities for the new library.
