by Brent Persun
During the winter months, the Provincetown Library makes the effort to create meaningful engagement with the locals who stick around all year. With programs and education for all ages, the library staff gives the hearty few something to do during the cold winter nights on the Cape.
Every week the Provincetown Library hosts Winter Wednesdays, a series of adult education classes on a drop-in basis. These classes cover everything from card making to woodshop to mindfulness. Shane Landry, owner of Connie’s bakery, organized this year’s program. Landry, who also teaches pie making, says, “I really enjoy having a winter project and it pushes me to learn new things about my craft. I also like the social aspect of the program. I can isolate all winter but this gets me out of the house among friends.”
On Friday mornings Provincetown locals can gather in the Marc Jacobs Reading Room for a coffee hour sponsored by Wired Puppy. This is a more casual opportunity for the library staff to interact with the brave souls who winter in town. According to Brittany Taylor, Assistant Director, these coffee hours have been a resounding success.
Not only is the library a place to read books but write them as well! This winter Mary Ann Bragg, local journalist, hosted a weekly Women’s Write In. As most writers will tell you, just sitting down to write can be the hardest step. Bragg looks to overcome this hurtle by offering women writers in Provincetown an hour session to write and then share their work, whether it’s poetry, a novel, or biography.
For the second year, the library will host Provincetown World Story Telling Day. This holiday, started in the 90s by Sweden, celebrates the human endeavor of sharing the stories of our lives. The event takes place on March from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, when locals are invited to stop by the Marc Jacobs Reading Room to tell, or just hear, stories of life in Provincetown.
Just before May brings all the tourists back to town, the Provincetown Library will host the third annual Moby-Dick Marathon Reading, an event that spans 3 days with 24 hours of volunteers reading Herman Melville’s classic whaling novel. Starting off the marathon with the famous words “Call me Ishmael” is local legend Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, Senior Scientist and Director of the North Atlantic Right Whale Ecology Program at the Center for Coastal Studies. From there each reader will have a passage of 5 pages to share with the audience. And where will the reading of this whale of tale take place? Why, on the starboard side of the library’s model Rose Dorthea of course!
More than just a place to pick up books (though the library is excellent for that), Provincetown Library strives to engage with the local population in the cold months of post-season hibernation. Winter is the perfect time for slowing down, getting some rest, and curling up with a good book.
