OFFICERS

Cheryl Lowe, President

Susan Wasserman, Treasurer

Mary Sage Napolitan, Secretary

Henry Bassett

Joyce Graves

Marilyn Hollinshead

Peggy Isham

Barbara Rogers

Kathleen Skinner

Richard Williams

Contact the Friends at westtislibraryfriends@gmail.com

The Friends raise money to support library needs and amenities beyond the annual town budget funds.  Membership donations and book sale proceeds have allowed the Friends to build additions, renovate indoor and outdoor spaces, provide furnishings, flooring, shelving, as well as planning funds for future needs, landscaping, and the required pre-construction funds not included in the most recent State grant.  All these enhance the library experience for our patrons.

THIS IS WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!

From funding to planning to hands-on volunteer work, there are countless ways (large and small) in which the Friends make our library more comfortable, attractive and complete.  The Friends underwrite  the color copier, museum passes, this very website and advertising for library events.  Some of the other library functions the Friends have supported:

The Summer Reading Program. Our summer reading programs, for kids and adults, encourages a love of shared reading.  Tee shirts and tote bags, with special logos, are awarded.  Friends supply Halloween hayrides, publication-day celebrations for authors, concerts and lectures and monthly artists receptions.

Staff Training.  A modern library serves as a community center, communications hub and a magnet for continuing education, along with more traditional functions of preserving and promoting the written word.  The Friends help pay for up-to-date staff training as library services are constantly redefined.

Library Materials.  Over the years, the Friends have donated additional funds to supplement town budget requests toward the purchase of new library books, DVDs, museum passes and other materials.

Community Programming. One of the most significant library resources that the Friends fund is the variety of community programs available in the library and online. Friends funds enable the library to have a diversity of robust programs year-round, for all ages.

Planning and Construction.  The West Tisbury Library has Martha’s Vineyard’s largest materials collection and the Island’s highest rate of circulation.  Whenever the library has needed more space for collections, activities and displays, better accommodations for young adults and researchers,  a place for lectures, films and presentations, the Friends provided the needed funds to get these projects “off the ground.”  As the 2014 rebuilding evolved, Friends paid for pre-construction requirements, landscape planning and some of the furnishings.

The Friends support special craft projects.

OPPORTUNITIES

Much of what the Friends do for the library comes in the form of financial support made possible through the annual membership appeal and the summer book sale.  However, the Friends help in other ways, too.

Volunteering isn’t just shelving books.  The Friends are always looking for new members with diverse talents and skills.  If you can handle a camera, please photograph a library activity for on-going publicity.  A batch of favorite cookies for a library event or providing inspiration for a public program—the Board of Directors welcomes you interest, expertise and willingness to volunteer.  The annual book sale requires many volunteer hours to sort, price, move tables, put up signs, take out trash and staff the checkout lines.  The month of July, into early August, is the peak demand time for book sale volunteers.

The Friends of the West Tisbury Library can be reached at:
PO Box 905,
West Tisbury, MA  02575

With thousands of titles the annual book sale draws hundreds of avid readers every year.

Halloween would not be the same without the Friends making possible the annual hayride.

Please see guidelines below on what we can/cannot accept. Hard copies of the guidelines at www.westtisburylibrary.org or pick up a flyer at the library’s Main Desk. 

PLEASE NOTE: We discard donated books that we know we cannot sell, and we pay a dumpster fee to do so. To reduce our costs – and the resulting support we can provide the library – please bring your unwanted books to the recycling area of your town dump.

Are there any restrictions on what books are accepted?  Yes, generally books offered at the sale are in like-new condition, both paperback and hardback books.

We do not accept the following:

• Mass market paperbacks (small paperbacks). We only sell oversized paperbacks.
• Books with writing, highlighting, dog-eared pages, or visible damage
• Books that smell, yellowed, torn, or in general bad shape
• Dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, bibles and other religious texts, book sets
• Cookbooks with food stains
• Textbooks
• Ex-library books
• Out-of-date travel books (published before 2021)
• Medical, self-help books, parenting or relationships books
• Magazines, periodicals, periodic journals, comic books
• Coffee table books unlessthey are art books in very good conditions
• Books on tape, cassettes, VHS tapes

Where should I bring my book donations?  Books can be donated at the Friends donation shed behind the tennis courts at the West Tisbury School. If you have more than a grocery bag full, please call the library at 508-693-3366 or email WestTisLibraryFriends@gmail.com. Do not leave donations outside the shed. If they get wet all will be thrown away. Please do not bring donations to the library.

Do you accept other media?  We accept CDs and DVDS. We also accept jigsaw puzzles with all pieces. If used, please place them in a ziplock bag and into the original box.

What is the money used for? The money raised by the Friends of the West Tisbury Library summer and holiday books sales provide funding for children’s and adult programs throughout the year. 

For more information, contact WestTisLibraryFriends@gmail.com.

Donate to the Friends of West Tisbury Library!
Donate at the Library or by mailing:
PO Box 905,
West Tisbury, MA 02575

The West Tisbury Library Foundation, Inc. promotes and supports the continuous improvement and maintenance of the buildings, services and programs of the West Tisbury Free Public Library by raising revenue from private sources to supplement the funds provided by the Town and State.

Visit the FOUNDATION’S WEBSITE
Visit the FOUNDATION’S FACEBOOK PAGE