New Adult Programs

Please email [email protected] to sign up, get Zoom invite, and/or ask questions.

The Long Game: The Longevity Series. Six Monthly  Lectures on Extending our Health Span, with Jim Lobely.

Jim Lobley is a certified personal trainer and longevity coach in private practice in Northampton, and the founder/director of The Long Game, an online learning and training platform for longevity. He is also a Certified Brain Health Trainer through the Functional Aging Institute, and has an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy from NYU.

All talks begin at 4:00 PM. All classes will be virtual with the option to view on the screen at the Chilmark Library.

Longevity: A Start-Up Guide (9/6) Explore the concept of deep health, a holistic approach to well-being that encompasses the five pillars of longevity: movement, nutrition, cognition, connection, and sleep. We'll delve into the science of aging and look at strategies for building a practice that optimizes our chances of living healthier for longer.
Mobility: Freeing the Body for Movement (10/4)  Whether it's preventing injuries or simply alleviating physical discomfort, we will explore practical techniques to enhance our ability to move freely:  how our habitual sitting and standing postures can impact our freedom of movement, and how to counteract these restrictive patterns.
Stress, Sleep, and Recovery (11/1)  We’ll unravel the intricate relationship between stress, sleep, and recovery, and how they impact our well-being. Learn how stress can disrupt your sleep patterns and hinder your body's ability to recover effectively. With practical strategies to manage stress levels, improve sleep quality, and optimize the recovery process.
How to Train Your Balance (12/6)   Dynamic balance training goes much further than just being able to stand on one foot. It trains the whole balance system including your core and nervous system, making your body more stable, responsive and resilient. Learn how to design your own balance practice.
Eating for Longevity (1/3) The vital connection between metabolic health and longevity and the recommendations of leading scientists and nutritionists on eating for longevity. Practical examples of what a longevity-focused meal looks like, and supplements that boost our "longevity genes," and the potential benefits of intermittent fasting.
 Smart Body – Healthy Brain: Movement for Brain Health (2/7)  The four important areas of cognition – executive function, attention, memory, and processing speed – and how each of these can be strengthened through specific types of movement. Learn how to maximize the brain health benefits of your current workout, and other practices that have been shown to contribute to cognitive longevity.

Email [email protected] to sign up and receive the Zoom invite.
Free. Sponsored by the Chilmark and Vineyard Haven Libraries. 508-645-3360.

Wednesday, September 13: The Confidante with Christopher Gorham

The Confidante is the first biography of Anna Marie Rosenberg, the Hungarian Jewish immigrant who became FDR’s closest advisor during World War II and, according to Life, “the most important official woman in the world”—a woman of many firsts, whose story, forgotten for too long, is extraordinary, inspiring, and uniquely American. Her life ran parallel to the front lines of history yet her influence on 20th century America, from the New Deal to the Cold War and beyond, has never before been told.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s special envoy to Europe in World War II she went where the president couldn’t go. She was among the first Allied women to enter a liberated concentration camp, and stood in the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s mountain retreat, days after its capture. She guided the direction of the G.I. Bill of Rights and the Manhattan Project. Though Anna Rosenberg emerged from modest immigrant beginnings, equipped with only a high school education, she was the real power behind national policies critical to America winning the war and prospering afterward. Astonishingly, her story remains largely forgotten.

"What The Confidante provides, with cinematic color and encyclopedic clarity, is a resurrection.” —The Wall Street Journal

Christopher C. Gorham holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Tufts University, and Syracuse University College of Law. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Literary Hub, and online. The Confidante is his first book.

Email [email protected] for more information.
Free. Sponsored by the Friends of the Chilmark Library. 508-645-3360

Saturday, September 16 at 4:00: Tibetan Singing Bowls for the Ever-Changing Times We Are Living In

Join Priscilla Warner, author and certified sound healing practitioner, as she ushers in autumn with a healing sound bath.
The practice of sound healing is thousands of years old, and the antique Tibetan singing bowls that Priscilla plays are hundreds of years old, ethically sourced from small villages in the Himalayas. Sound healing is a meditative somatic experience as the bowls speak directly to specific chakras- or energy points - in the body, addressing and integrating emotions with the ever-changing dynamics of the times we are living in.

Wear comfortable, loose clothing, and bring a yoga mat and whatever props you might like to use like pillows or blocks. The session will be about 40 minutes long.

Email [email protected] for more information.
Free. Sponsored by the Friends of the Chilmark Library. 508-645-3360

Tea Club News
Join our monthly tasting and talk with teas from around the world. Pick up, or have us send your tea previous to our discussion, and either brew beforehand or brew during our monthly Zoom meeting where we will discuss the taste, origin, history and producer of the specific tea in hand (or cup.)

We will begin Wednesday September 20 at 6:00 PM, tasting several types of Brazilian Tea. For the meeting we will be joined by Eloina Telho, a sensorial instructor at the Brazilian Tea School, Escola De Chá Embahú  (escoladecha.com.br),  tea columnist at @portalgastronomix and volunteer from @wuyistar, a Chinese Tea Company, in Brazil.

On Wednesday, October 25, at 3:00 PM Author Lisa See, author of Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane and Lady Tan's Circle of Women, will join our meeting. We will be tasting and discussing two teas she has recommended: Silver Needles Jasmine and Green Mandarin Stuffed Pu-erh, and discuss her books and the tea research she has done for them.

Email [email protected] to sign up, receive your tea, and get the Zoom invite.
Free. Sponsored by the Friends of the Chilmark Library. 508-645-3360.

Wednesday, September 27, 5;00: To Walk It Is To See It With Kathy Elkind.

In 2018, Kathy Elkind and her husband took a grown-up “gap year” in Europe and walked the 1,400-mile Grande Randonnée Cinq (GR5) across The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Walking day after day for ninety-eight days brings sickness, accommodation struggles, language barriers, and storm-shrouded mountains in the Alps. As the days unfold, however, she discovers her own wise strength and comes to the gratifying realization that a long marriage is like a long trail: there are ups and downs and it takes hard work to keep going, but the beauty along the way is staggering.

Kathy Elkind is a long-distance walker, writer, and eater. She and her husband have walked the GR5, the Anda­lusian Coast to Coast Walk in Southern Spain, and parts of the Cammino Mater­ano in Italy. She can be reached at www.kathyelkind.com.

In person. Email [email protected] for more information.
Free. Sponsored by the Friends of the Chilmark Library. 508-645-3360

Saturday, September 30 at 3:00 PM: Chilmark’s Deaf and Signing Community: A New History with Justin M. Power, Richard P. Meier, and Linsey Lee

In 1785 Benjamin and Lydia Mayhew of Squibnocket in Chilmark had a deaf son named Benjamin, and later had four more deaf children. By 1824, three other Chilmark households would have deaf children: the Smiths, Luces, and Tiltons. These parents reported that they had never known a deaf person prior to Benjamin’s birth, surprising, given claims that Martha’s Vineyard had a well-established deaf community in the 18^th century. However, the parents' claim is fully consistent with our demographic data on the Vineyard’s deaf population from 1692 to 1998. We conclude that Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language emerged after 1785 and remained isolated from other signed languages for only 40 years. The first three Vineyard students to enroll at the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT in 1825,  encountered the newly-emergent American Sign Language and deaf islanders began integrating themselves into the wider New England Deaf community. 

Richard P. Meier is a professor of linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. He has long worked on the linguistics of signed languages.

Justin Power is a postdoctoral fellow in linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. His research on signing communities and their signed languages has taken him to far-flung places like Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and now Martha’s Vineyard. 

Linsey Lee is the oral history curator at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

ASL Interpretation provided by Audrey Ulloa and Patty Lessard.

Email [email protected] for more information.
Free. Sponsored by the Friends of the Chilmark Library. 508-645-3360

Youth Services

The Chilmark Free Public Library is pleased to offer individuals, groups, or organizations the opportunity to display their art exhibits. 
Goals of the exhibits in the library include:

- Supporting community cultural and artistic activities
- Encouraging individuals to contribute to the appreciation of the arts
- Broadening horizons by presenting a wide range of art, collections, or displays
- Nourishing intellectual, aesthetic, and creative growth
- Reaching non-traditional library patrons

Exhibitions typically run for 3 weeks in the summer and 1 month during the rest of the year. The summer is defined as June, July, and August.

Email [email protected] for the application and rules. or call 508-645-3360 for more information.

Virtual Resources

Libby: https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby
Libby is an Overdrive app designed to make borrowing and enjoying eBooks and audiobooks easier than ever. Try it out on your smartphone or tablet! Download it for free from your app store, and log in using your library card number and PIN.

Kanopy: chilmark.kanopy.com
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video service for Chilmark Library cardholders.  Download the free app from the app store or log in through your browser. Kanopy allows you 20 borrows per month. Enjoy critically-acclaimed movies, inspiring documentaries, award-winning foreign films, and more! Log in with your library card number and PIN.

Visit https://www.chilmarkma.gov/referenceeresources/read for free access to the NY Times and the Washington Post.

Complimentary access to NYTimes.com and WashingtonPost.com is sponsored by the Martha's Vineyard Library Association.

The Martha’s Vineyard Library Association has partnered with Brainfuse, a national online education company, to provide free online tutoring and homework help to all Martha's Vineyard library cardholders. The program is available seven days a week to anyone with a library card issued by any of the six Martha's Vineyard libraries. Click here to learn more about Brainfuse and get started!

Martha's Vineyard Library Association presents Creativebug! This online service provides access to thousands of award-winning art and craft video classes taught by recognized design experts and artists! Click here to get started, log in with your library card number, and get crafting!

Introducing a new digital database for children and kids: ComicsPlus! Read comics on your digital device wherever or whenever. No holds, no waitlists, no borrowing limits. Read ALL the comics and graphic novels! Patrons must have a Chilmark library card to register (a library card that begins with 1600000) for ComicsPlus. Click here to register today!