New Adult Programs

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.

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.

Saturday, October 7 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 to settle in for the experience, 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.

Wednesday, October 11, 5;00: To Walk It Is To See It With Kathy Elkind.

In 2018, Kathy Elkind and her husband decided to take a grown-up “gap year” in Europe and walk the 1,400-mile Grande Randonnée Cinq (GR5) across The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. She and Jim indulge in warm beds and delicious regional food every night and croissants in the mornings. But the GR5 is not all comfort. 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. Along with her husband she has 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.

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

Wednesday, October 18 at 6:00 PM: When the World Didn’t End: A Memoir. Author talk with Guinevere Turner.

Virtual.Turner’s memoir vividly recalls her unconventional upbringing in the Lyman Family. She was not raised by her mother, Bess, but by other group members who home-schooled her and the other community children. The isolated, hierarchical Lyman commune was led by charismatic “Lord” Mel Lyman, who preached about the dangers of everyone outside their community. He, alongside “Queen” Jessie Benton, reigned over a network of compounds in Kansas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Martha’s Vineyard. With the knowledge of an impending apocalypse in January 1975, the Lyman followers were instructed that the global population of “World People” would be extinguished and only their group would ascend in a spaceship to live on Venus. Slowly, Turner comes to understand the depth of the Family’s deception. Her journey away from the cult and toward a successful screenwriting career is stirring and inspiring.

Guinevere Turner is an acclaimed screenwriter and director. She has written such films as American Psycho, The Notorious Bettie Page, and most recently, Charlie Says. She also wrote and starred in the 1994 film Go Fish and was a writer and actor on Showtime’s The L Word. An essay she wrote for The New Yorker is the inspiration for her memoir, When the World Didn't End. She lives in Los Angeles and New York.

Virtual. Email [email protected] for the Zoom invite.

Sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Library Association.

Saturday, October 21at 3:00: Beack BeFriender Bag Workshop with Laurisa Rich.

Help the Ocean, help yourself: Make a Beach BeFriender bag out of upcycled and found items. Great for beach or roadside collecting or as an eco-fashion statement. All materials and instructions provided. With Laurisa Rich, collaborator with the MV Libraries and Vineyard Conservation’s Beach BeFriender Initiative.

Laurisa Rich of Chilmark is a former sailor, preschool teacher, and lifelong student of using herbs for food and medicinal purposes.

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

Tuesday, October 24 at 7:00: The Lioness of Boston

Join us for a virtual event with author Emily Franklin, as we dive into her novel, The Lioness of Boston. A deeply evocative portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, a daring visionary who created an inimitable legacy in American art and transformed the city of Boston itself. The Lioness of Boston is a portrait of what society expected a woman’s life to be, shattered by a courageous soul who rebelled and determined to live on her own terms. This program will include a passage reading and Q+A with Emily, so share your questions and comments!

To receive the Zoom invite go to www.eldridgelibrary.org. Registration is encouraged as Emily will answer the questions received in the registration form first.

Emily Franklin is the author of more than twenty books including The Lioness of Boston. Her work has been published in the New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Guernica among other places as well as long-listed for the London Sunday Times Short Story Award, featured on National Public Radio, and named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries.

This event is sponsored by the Chilmark Free Public Library, Falmouth Public Library, Hyannis Public Library, Yarmouth Port Library, and Centerville Public Library.

Wednesday, October 25, at 3:00 PM: Tea Club with Lisa See

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.

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.)

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

Wednesdays, October 31, and November 7, 14, 28  at 10:30 AM: Memoir Workshop with Moira Silva

In this course, a blend of exercises, readings and discussions will connect writers with their writing and themselves. Participants will form a supportive community while sharing in-process work. We will honor whatever is created, be it essays, songs, letters or entirely new genres. After five weeks, writers will leave lighter in spirit and richer in purpose. No writing experience required.
Moira Convey Silva is a writing instructor, writing consultant, yoga teacher, community activist, and award-winning writer who, for over 10 years, has freelanced for national and local periodicals. Focusing on features and essays, especially ones that relate to sustainability, Silva’s writing most notably appears in the Boston Globe, Women’s Running and Taproot.

Email [email protected] to sign up and get the Zoom invite.
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.