It was spring of 2024, and Michelle Techler didn’t like her options.
As Cary Library’s Teen Services Manager, Techler runs monthly book clubs for tweens and teens. Some of the kids have been participating in her clubs since they were in sixth grade. Now they were high school seniors, and the library was about to lose all of its programming space to make room for the Children’s Room construction project. It looked like Techler’s only choices for the year were either to shut down book club, or make it entirely virtual. Neither prospect felt right. Techler was determined to find another way. But how?
The answer: Offsite.
“Offsite” is Cary Library’s brand for the dozens of book clubs, art classes, gaming, and other programs offered each month for all ages and interests that can’t be held in the library building until the renovated lower level reopens later this year. Offsite is made possible by the businesses, nonprofits, and town government departments that didn’t hesitate to become intermittent or regular hosts to Cary Library’s events and programs, most notably Galaray House, Omar’s World of Comics, the Lexington Venue, Lexington Community Farm (or LexFarm), the Lexington Community Center, and the Monroe Center for the Arts.
It’s not unheard of for public libraries to offer programs outside their four walls, but it’s typically done by libraries far larger than Cary. “I think the unusual thing is likely how much programming we are managing to offer during the closure,” Library Director Koren Stembridge said. “One of the truly wonderful things about Lexington is that when there is a problem to be solved, there are friends and neighbors willing to come together to help solve it. Programming is one of our passions, and finding a way to keep doing it during this difficult year has been a bright spot for us.”
Molly Rappoli, owner of Galaray House, felt a friendly connection to Cary’s librarians, who would venture down once a week for a special break-time treat at her art gallery’s expresso bar. When asked to partner on the library’s teen book club and other events, Rappoli easily obliged. “We have the space,” Rappoli said. “Why not help out?” One Monday evening a month, when the gallery is closed to the public, Rappoli opens just for Techler’s teen book club. “All of them always get hot chocolate,” Rappoli said with a smile. Surrounded by fine art in a hip café, the teens respond to Techler’s prompts, like: How would you summarize this book in five words? (“Weird girl saves cursed family,” one teen succinctly offered for the Jandy Nelson novel When the World Tips Over.)
LHS senior Anne Labbe, a book club participant since sixth grade, said, “The best part about being in book club is that, at the end, when you’re rethinking, there’s just this magical feeling of a completely new understanding and new view of the book because of the ideas and discussions that you had with your peers. It’s amazing.” Labbe said that book club has helped her become more comfortable speaking up in English class and in thinking critically in general. During an interview with the Observer, Techler turned to Labbe and with real feeling said, “Watching you grow and become stronger and more confident in your voice—that’s a great part of my job.”
Around the corner from Galaray House, Omar’s World of Comics has been host to Cary Library’s book clubs for younger children, a miniature painting night, and Dungeons and Dragons games. “Everybody who works here understands the importance of libraries and the community and we’re happy to help out in any way we can,” said Omar’s General Manager Tyler Christopher. He sees benefits flowing back to the store as well. “I think we’re getting folks—kids and families—in the store who may not necessarily have been in before that will continue coming back,” Christopher said.
Offsite community partnerships are enabling Cary Library to bring to the public events like “visible mending” at the Munroe Center for the Arts; zero-waste cooking lessons under the stars at LexFarm with Lexington Zero Waste; and film screenings with the Lexington Climate Action Network at the Lexington Venue. Helen Lui, Cary Library’s programming and partnership manager, felt it was important for the library to continue with in-person programs during construction rather than simply move everything to virtual. “When you go to an in-person program, you’re meeting new people, you’re learning a new skill without having to pay for it—anyone can go, and it’s free,” she said.
Town Meeting Member Lawrence Chan attests to the value of offsite, in-person classes as a regular participant in “Studio Art for Adults 60+,” a library program funded by the Dana Home Foundation currently being held in the arts and crafts room of the Lexington Community Center. (All of the funding for the library’s programming comes from private sources, especially from donations to the Cary Library Foundation.) The art course allows Chan, a retired engineer, to stretch himself into the new realm of making art. “The Cary Library 60+ art program really allows me to work on mind, body, and spirit,” Chan said. Because the course builds on techniques and skills, the library’s commitment to continue the program offsite has been crucial to Chan’s progress. He attends with his wife Edi, a “much, much, orders-of-magnitude better artist than I am,” he insists. “This activity that we get to do is an amazing way to bond with my wife,” Chan said.
In addition to the art program, the library has partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital on several health-and-wellness programs at the Community Center. “All of this is really just providing enrichment for our community, for our residents, in a space that hopefully feels like home,” said Community Center Director Chrisine Dean.
“Offsite” has been so successful that there’s a hope that many of these partnerships will continue even after things return to normal at the library in the fall. In the meantime, library director Stembridge said, “I’m inspired by the library staff’s creativity in reaching library users, and deeply grateful to the local organizations, town departments, and businesses that have welcomed us.”
Jeri Zeder served as president of the Cary Library Foundation from 2016 to 2019.