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Our library represents 102 year of caring
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by George Fiala
There are a number of things to appreciate about Amagansett. One is the well kept public bathrooms in the middle of the huge free public parking lot, with electric car chargers even. Another is the historic and well maintained library right in front of the parking lot.
For whatever reason, even though I've been coming out here for over 50 years, I have never spent much time in it. I always admired the tree in front of it. I did a little research and found a photo of it on the library's Facebook page with the caption: "Our stunning Camperdown Elm Tree planted by Dr. Frederick A. Finch in 1907."
Many years ago I worked in Brooklyn for a newspaper called the Phoenix and we used to write about a famous Camperdown Elm tree that was given to Prospect Park in 1872. The tree grew from a branch brought over from Scotland.
It was made famous by the poet Marianne Moore who led a campaign to save it in 1967. It's a memorable tree both in Brooklyn and right here by our library.
Now, with an article to write, I walked in and was struck right away by the pleasantness of the two women in the front who were very happy to greet me and everybody into what is in realty somewhat of a sacred place.
I went upstairs where I saw a room set aside for quiet thought and another for tutoring. Downstairs you had a newsstand's worth of current magazines, including esoteric ones such as Foreign Affairs, and also newspapers for anyone off the street to relax and read.
Like many libraries, there are continuing events such as art for kids and yoga for adults. What struck me, a newspaper guy, were the large bound volumes of the East Hampton Star, some dating back to the 1940s. I'm a sucker for newspapers and especially back issues since that's where you get the best history lessons. I'm looking forward to future issues of this paper where I can write about the monthly board meetings that hopefully I'll be able to attend in person, but in the meantime the minutes are all available on their very well done website.
