WELLFLEET -- Ask visitors the best thing about Wellfleet and most will say the beach, or the ponds, or maybe the quaint town center with its whitewashed 18th- and 19th-century houses and boats docked down by the harbor.
But if you ask people who live here, quite a different answer may pop up. The late Philip Hamburger , longtime writer for The New Yorker , nailed it when he wrote in his final column about his summer home, ``The true center of town is the library."
Visit the library and you will find the usual solitary figures curled up in armchairs reading magazines or hunched over a computer screen or a book in one of the carrels. But the ambience here is more post office or neighborhood park than hushed sanctuary.
``You can make noise in the library," says Joanna Fabris , a longtime patron who for decades ran the bookstore a few doors up Main Street. ``On Friday mornings there's the Toddler Town. It involves reading, but also having a little indoor playground where the parents know each other. Kids have a wonderful time and get used to the library."
Among the parents are musician Patty Larkin and her partner, Bette Warner , who bring their two young daughters. ``It's a space where kids can romp and run," says Warner, ``and parents can connect. We especially love Lucy [Gilmore, who works in the program]. There's a certain joy about her that is contagious."
``I've heard somebody complain that Friday's too noisy," says Fabris. ``But you can get away from all that if that's what you really need and want."
On the other hand, if what you really need and want is a class, art exhibit, concert, lecture, or film, you can find that, too. The library became the town's de facto culture center in the late '80s, when it moved from its cramped quarters in Town Hall to this former candle factory. Skylights were added to flood the one-story building with natural light. Librarian Elaine McIlroy invited people to try out sample chairs and pick the most comfortable, and she advocated for a large community room with adjoining kitchen. That room includes seating for 100, a well-tuned Steinway grand piano, and excellent audiovisual equipment.
McIlroy, the town's librarian for 25 years, says that some people criticized the expansion, among them a panelist reviewing the library's grant application to a state agency. ``One of the reviewers questioned why we needed so much space for such a small library. But afterwards, they said, `We were wrong!' We understood at the time that libraries were meeting places, and we understood all the things that were waiting for a space to be here. As soon as we had it, so many things started happening."
Because Wellfleet is home to an amazing array of writers, artists, scholars, critics, and musicians, the library is the recipient of their talent and connections. One example is cellist Bernard Greenhouse , a founder and former member of the Beaux Arts Trio, whose visiting students, often professional musicians themselves, perform at the library. Author Nancy Willard, a regular summer visitor, can often be found twisting balloons into animal shapes for children.
``This is what libraries are doing now, expanding to be the center of activity," says McIlroy. What she doesn't mention is her role. If the library is the heart of the town, she is the heart of the library.
``What Elaine has brought is a very generous acceptance of people," says Fabris. ``She's very responsive to serious readers and writers and completely nonjudgmental. . . . A person can walk in looking like they've been sleeping on the street, totally off the wall and weird, and make some request for a book, and she treats them with the same equanimity as anyone. And she's created a staff that's equally accommodating. She really made it comfortable for all sorts of people to come."
That comfort may be the biggest draw. ``The library is part of the ritual of summer for a lot of people," says McIlroy. ``This one young woman would start her vacation every year and check out the same illustrated copy of `Little Women.' "
Part of the ritual is just seeing McIlroy at the desk. ``People come back every summer, and I'm still here," says McIlroy. ``It's gotten to be funny. I think they like that I'm still here."
Kathy Shorr can be reached at kshorr@mail2.gis.net.
Wellfleet Public Library
55 West Main St.
508-349-0310
www.wellfleetlibrary.org
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 2-8 p.m., Tuesday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10-5.
