To the Editor:
I have been back to my home library, in Edgartown, for some time, and it’s wonderful to see familiar faces of the staff (and lots of new ones, too), and explore the new books and offerings, but there is a dramatic decrease in library users.
While throughout the public health crisis, we saw a precipitous drop in people coming to the libraries for services and our libraries for good reason, of course, and to add to this our libraries indeed stayed closed for an extensive period (long past when much else had opened on the Island and in the country, including places like Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, and perhaps far too long, which may have led in part to this current circumstance), we should all avail ourselves of the Island libraries in person, and certainly ours in Edgartown. They are wonderful places, with lots of space for browsing, studying, and enjoying what we have here. Not to mention we all pay for these services as Islanders, but that is not exactly the point. We have these wonderful resources for education, community, and enjoyment for us all.
Dean Rosenthal
Edgartown
