Using the word “resource” to describe the East Hampton Library doesn’t do it justice. The library was founded way back in 1897 and since 1912, when a permanent building was designed by the noted architect Aymar Embury, it has become a community hub for just about everything libraries have and do these days: computers for those who do not have their own, a vast digital collection of historical documents and images, lively programs for children and adults, myriad videos, and thousands upon thousands of books.
The library’s Long Island Collection, containing invaluable papers, pamphlets, maps, letters, diaries, and artwork, is its crown jewel — and it has its own expert staff. It also is the repository of a fragment of the silk, cotton, and metallic gold and silver thread presented by Capt. William Kidd to Mrs. John Gardiner of Gardiner’s Island in 1699.
Because the library is a stone’s throw from the Star office and my desk is near a window facing it, I look out at and admire it all the time. I am intimately involved in other ways because a wing is dedicated to my late mother-in-law, Jeannette Edwards Rattray, who helped raise some $200,000 for its expansion in the late 1970s. A photograph of her in later life looks out over the reference room.
Some of the library’s operating budget is covered by a tax that is put up for a vote once a year. But it requires a lot more money than it raises though taxes, hence the forthcoming Authors Night, which introduces to the public as many of the town’s literary lights as can be corralled and raises many thousands more. Authors Night is followed each year by a free children’s fair, the icing on the cake.
The library, and its driveway and parking lot, abut and share the boundary of the Rattray family house on Edwards Lane, and it shares responsibility with us for one of the largest and oldest tulip trees on Long Island. The last time the tree was professionally assessed, some 20 years ago or more, I think, it was 129.5 feet tall and had a 15.4-foot circumference. If you are interested in trees you can sit under a bench behind the library parking lot and look up at its impressive branches.
The East Hampton Library’s charter dates to 1897, when it was housed in Clinton Academy, known then as Clinton Hall. It has expanded greatly over the years, with the physical space growing from 11,000 to 17,000 square feet. The late Tom Twomey was president of the library’s board for many years, and as chair of its capital campaign in 1997 helped raise $3.6 million to renovate and restore it. The campaign was largely responsible for the construction of the children’s wing, which was completed in 2014.
A four-volume local history compilation, “Awakening the Past,” “Tracing the Past,” “Exploring the Past,” and “Discovering the Past,” published in hardcover, was overseen by Mr. Twomey and is still available. It is a handsome set if you are looking for a unique gift or want to squirrel away a bit of history for the cold nights to come.
These days, I find myself taking frequent advantage of the library’s recently installed Starbucks coffee and chai machine, but have to say that I most enjoy simply wandering through the stacks, glimpsing the many people in big easy chairs, sitting in quiet carrels, or reading silently in its several atmospheric small rooms. How lucky we are! The library is a beautiful, tranquil, and incomparable place.