To the Editor:
The town of West Tisbury and the West Tisbury library community lost two great members this past week.
Ben Moore created the beautiful building that we now call home. It was a difficult move from the beloved building on Music Street, but Ben’s vision and creativity enabled this transition. The new library was full of sunlight, open spaces, and lots of books. As the town grew, the need for a larger building became apparent. The building committee was charged with many things, but most important among them was to keep the building that Ben had designed, and to use this as the inspiration for the addition.
Ben worked along with the building committee, and met many times with the new young architects who had been hired by the town. His humor, his warmth, and his modesty were always apparent as the design began to take shape. I know that we could never have undertaken this project had it not been for Ben’s support. I had the pleasure of sitting by him when the library celebrated its opening. We were again celebrating Ben’s inspiration as it began a new chapter. I will always remember his beautiful laugh and the look of joy and contentment as his building tried out its new wings.
Beth Kramer
West Tisbury
Gay Nelson will be remembered so fondly by so many people, those who were once children who visited and loved the West Tisbury library, and their parents and grandparents. She created a library clubhouse in the Music Street library for quite a large number of young girls, who thought they ran the library — with Gay as a benevolent advisor. She had the utmost respect for children, listening carefully when they needed to share a story or a book request. Her favorite part of summer reading was when a child would came up to the desk and share a favorite book, with their earnest retelling and excitement about what they had read.
She passed on a few tips for me when I worked with her as an assistant in the children’s room: Always remember the kids’ names; the parents’ names don’t matter as much. When kids are retelling you a story they have read, you can really see their personalities shine through, and they forget they are talking to a grownup. You don’t need to talk differently to kids; treat them with respect and just talk to them normally. Gay loved the magic of children’s picture books, the way beautiful pictures and a wonderful story could come together to create an item that was more than the sum of its parts. She loved sharing those books with children — she always had a suggestion for what to read next.
Kids and parents loved her — her easy laugh and her calm demeanor. She had a wonderfully self-deprecating humor that helped her through the transition of everything on paper, overdue slips, letters to patrons, the card catalog system, to everything on computers. It was tricky for her, and she admitted to me that she probably would never feel entirely comfortable with it. Fortunately, others followed her who understood and even liked computers. But no one was able to step into her shoes entirely.
Even when a child walks into the new children’s room in the new West Tisbury library, Gay’s influence is felt — in the types of books that are chosen, in the way the room welcomes young children, and in the tone of the staff who work here. Gay set the bar high for how to be a children’s librarian, and I was lucky enough to be tutored by her. She will be missed.
Nelia Decker
West Tisbury
The post West Tisbury feels the loss appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.