Years ago, when Lisa Sherman took a part-time summer job at the Edgartown Library shelving books, she did not anticipate how this short break from her harried New York city lifestyle would play a large part in her future. This past fall, more than a decade later, Ms. Sherman became the head librarian at the Aquinnah Public Library. But we are getting ahead of the story.
Most of the time the Aquinnah Public Library lies dormant. Activity in the center of Aquinnah takes place at the town hall, not at the little red schoolhouse building across the street.
The Aquinnah town library will receive a $50,000 grant from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund for emergency building repairs, the town learned this week.
Total repairs could cost $100,000. In March, selectmen pledged to raise money immediately for repairs to the library foundation and its floor, that has reportedly sunk 10 inches in recent years.
The annual town meeting includes a warrant article asking the town to approve $100,000 in borrowing which would be repaid using Community Preservation Act funds.
The Aquinnah Public Library sports a powerful literary and learning engine inside its homespun, 19th century exterior. The former little red schoolhouse, built in 1827 on State Road just past the town hall, houses more than 7,900 books and almost 1,700 audio and DVD materials. Over the past four years, the tiny library, less than 1,000 square feet, has earned national and state honors.
The board of selectmen and several Aquinnah library employees were left scratching their heads about whether or not full-time employees should receive holiday pay for days they were not scheduled to work, after a long discussion at the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday night.
