Oak Bluffs Library director Allyson Malik has created an exciting new endeavor — the Community Library. The initiative arose from her concern about AI-generated information that is not authentic, accurate, or reliable infiltrating the publishing world.
In a recent conversation, Malik set the stage: “We acquire new material year after year, and all of it goes on our shelves. Therefore, anything unused or potentially outdated must be removed.” It used to have one of two fates: It went to the Library Friends for their book sale, or was recycled.
Malik recalls that around 2022, she began to hear how AI was being used to generate an increasing amount of content that sounded as though it was authored by a human: “It dawned on me that people might eventually start to write books with this material. Lo and behold, here we are in 2025, and there have been articles about how AI ‘slop’ has ended up in public libraries.” The derogatory term “slop” vividly refers to low-quality, AI-generated text and images.
“My concern was that when weeding our older books, we’re putting ourselves in a position to replace good, authentic, reliable information with dubiously authored, potentially AI-generated slop. With AI on the rise, it makes us very hesitant to get rid of authentic material to make way for potentially inauthentic replacements.” In response, Malik wanted to develop a way to create more space for books that were removed from the shelves but still valuable. Of course, space is at a premium on Martha’s Vineyard. She couldn’t increase the building’s footprint. Every square inch is accounted for, with barely enough storage for what they have. Likewise, no suitable or affordable offsite storage facilities are available in Oak Bluffs.
Then Malik hit upon an idea — instead of getting rid of the older books, why not see if library stakeholders in the community would be willing to store them in their homes? To date, about half a dozen patrons are housing mini–lending libraries, totaling some 120 books. Malik gives an example of how it works. A patron came looking for books about resistance during World War II: “We have some of that material, but we placed about half a dozen titles into the Community Library.” The community member brought the materials in, the library processed the loans, and the community member picked them up when the books were returned. “Those titles were no longer in the Oak Bluffs library, but were still very much needed. If we had continued our previous approach, they would have simply been sold or recycled. However, now we have a system to keep them on-Island.”
Malik notes that another benefit to storing books with patrons relates to accessibility and living on Martha’s Vineyard. “Our normal interlibrary loan system doesn’t work when the boats don’t run. With climate conditions worsening, this is happening more often. Having reliable information that can be accessed on-Island is safer and quicker than waiting for it to be delivered.”
Anyone who is a full-time resident of Oak Bluffs, a library patron, and can house at least 20 books is eligible to participate in the Community Library. Malik and her staff have been field-testing the system since last September, and are eager for other patrons to volunteer to house materials.
Anna Marie D’Addarie isn’t just a participating patron; she has worked at the Oak Bluffs library since 2008. “When there is an opportunity to help, I will raise my hand. Housing books in my home is the least I can do to ensure patrons have access to information -— information that comes from ideas, research, edits, and reputable publications, versus AI. It has been easy to be part of the program. The system that Allyson came up with works very well. The only thing I have done aside from providing clean, safe shelf space is to put a large sign on the boxes saying ‘Property of Oak Bluffs Library.’ I joke that in case I’m hit by a bus, the books will get back to the library.”
Malik believes the Community Library is a win-win proposition: “We have this unique solution partly because we are an Island with limited space, and partly to expand our library network of people who want to maintain a closer relationship with us. Mostly, it’s so that information doesn’t get lost. Many nonfiction titles we had to remove simply to make space are as relevant now as they were when they were printed. Imagine if you couldn’t get ahold of the information you knew was authored by humans, vetted by humans, and edited by humans. Because information generated online and now in print is so uncertain, we’re trusting our community to safeguard what is real.”
For more information about how to participate in the Community Library, contact Allyson Malik at amalik@clamsnet.org or call 508-693-9433.
