Groucho Marx once said, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
Inside the Amagansett Free Library, however, things are looking bright indeed. Yesterday, Arielle Hessler officially became the library’s director, succeeding Lauren C. Nichols, who held the post for over two years.
Ms. Hessler arrives in Amagansett having spent the last three years at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor. She was hired there as an emerging-technologies librarian, which entailed digitizing many of the library’s resources, filming programs, and running social media. When she left, about 10 days ago, she was their program and outreach coordinator.
Placing a tech-savvy library director at the helm in Amagansett evidences the fact that libraries are no longer archaic rooms of dusty books, but part of a global network that offers open access to technology and digital data. In other words, there’s a whole lot more to a modern-day librarian’s job than stamping due dates.
So, will taking the Amagansett library into the heart of 21st-century life be at the forefront of Ms. Hessler’s goals?
“Well, studies have shown people are much more willing to read a physical book than they are the e-book,” she said during a recent Zoom call. “So, I think what I’d like to do is maybe just add a few more computers and up the technology that’s already there.” She stressed that any improvements or changes would come as a result of working closely with the library’s board of trustees.
Ms. Hessler also said that any new tech upgrades would not happen at the expense of the current hard copy offerings, or “everything else — the traditional librarianship — that everyone knows. . . . So, for example, in an archive, you still want the physical book, but it would be nice if we could get some of it online so people can browse it from home, or where a researcher doesn’t have to come to us if they live far away.”
A Shirley native and current resident, who still lives “two minutes from where I grew up,” Ms. Hessler studied ancient medieval history at Stony Brook University as an undergraduate. Following graduation, she got a job in the university’s library as a bookbinder, a civil service position that she held for about five years. “I think there were only four bookbinders in the state at the time when I was there,” she said. “I’m not sure how many are left. It’s a diminishing job. People just buy new books instead of fixing old ones.”
Next came an online degree as a librarian through the State University at Buffalo. “I was thinking of going into academic libraries, but I didn’t like how you’re not really dealing with the public a lot. Academic librarians work mostly with professors. I really wanted to work with the public more. So that’s when I started looking, and I got the job at the John Jermain Memorial Library.”
In the digital age, when information is increasingly becoming available online, there is a propensity to say that libraries and librarians are redundant. But information available online is often of dubious origin, and there is still a trove of data behind paywalls that can be accessed only by those who have paid. By contrast, a library is one of the few free civic spaces that’s accessible to all.
According to the New York University sociologist Eric Klinenberg, author of “Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life,” libraries can play a pivotal role in helping to heal our divided, unequal society.
The author regards public libraries as a lifeline to society. Not everyone has a computer or knows how to find what they need on the internet. Not everyone has books at home or a well-stocked school library. But there’s something for everyone in a library, and all of it for free. Without them, Mr. Klinenberg theorizes, those most in need are further marginalized and disadvantaged.
Ms. Hessler noticed firsthand how much people relied on libraries when the pandemic forced the Sag Harbor library to close for about two months. “We had a surge of people once we reopened,” she said, “even though we, like a lot of libraries, had created ways to engage people even when they couldn’t come into the physical space. Like Zoom programs online and curbside pickup.”
She noticed that it was the same names that were using the library services regularly, along with many new people who had moved to the area during Covid. She also noticed an influx of parents, “because they rely on the libraries to get their kids’ books and entertainment.”
One of the biggest challenges facing libraries around the world is staying relevant to young adults. Anecdotal evidence suggests the group that uses public libraries the least is teenagers. Ms. Hessler shared a few ideas to address the issue.
“I think programming is a big thing. If you have programs that appeal to the different age groups, they’ll hopefully come in. Also, where you advertise the programs is key. And just knowing the community, striking up conversations with people when they come in, or also maybe surveys to find out what people are interested in. Just because there’s one trend that’s national, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be true for the teens and Amagansett or somewhere else.”
So, is there a library anywhere in the country, or abroad, that Ms. Hessler has walked into and swooned over?
“No, actually, because I think every library is different,” she replied. “You can see that even with John Jermain and Amagansett. John Jermain is very imposing looking. It has those big columns, and the inside is beautiful. But when you go into the Amagansett library, I actually kind of preferred it because I liked how cozy it was. At John Jermain, it felt very much like someone could shush you at any moment — not that the staff are like that, but the building itself gives you that message. Whereas in Amagansett, I just wanted to go there and write. It just seems like much more of a hometown library and it felt more welcoming. The building itself, you know?
