The East Hampton Library 2021 Author’s Night resumes this year on August 14th after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 crisis of 2020. The Executive Director of the East Hampton Library, Dennis Fabiszak was excited about the resumption of this year’s Author’s Night and in an interview with hamptons.com he explained the process of bringing it back.
He explained, “This year the East Hampton Library Author’s Night will be live and on site at the Library. There will be a book signing cocktail party and it will be under a tent, but a smaller tent. People who have been vaccinated will not need to wear masks, whereas people who have not been vaccinated must wear one. We will have other safety protocols in place such as crowd size. Instead of the usual number of authors this year we are paring it down to about 20 authors. It will be on Saturday August 14, from 4 PM to 6 PM.”
There will also be zoom events that everyone can participate in with the authors. He stated how proud he is of the large sums of revenue the event has generated over the last 18 years. He explained how the raised funds has helped financed the many programs the Library has does for the community. His passion and energy for everything East Hampton Library is perhaps part of the success story the library has continued to be. Yet he credits the wisdom of the library board for making the East Hampton Library one of the best in the nation.
He went on to explain how last year’s epidemic enabled the library to both create and then grow zoom programs that will now be kept in place moving forward because they expanded participation. “We used to get perhaps 16 people at the programs and events at the library, but through zoom we have so many more… and we actually have people participating from all over the world. It added so much more to the discussions and everyone has enjoyed the expanded input.”
Mr. Fabiszak went on to explain that at first the 2021 Author’s Night was going to be “completely virtual with zoom talks with various authors but as things began to open up the decision was made to host a somewhat smaller event on the library grounds. There still will be the zoom events too.” He suggested all interested for detailed information about the zoom events should visit the library website EastHamptonLibrary.org . He suggested the zoom events with authors will give interested readers more detailed information from the authors than they might normally get at the signings.
He went on to say how special the event has been to the community as a whole over the years and “how painful” all the canceled events of covid crisis of 2020 were. Then he said Library usage is actually now higher than before the pandemic. How the library has historically always been sort of the center of the community since its founding in 1897. Mr. Fabiszak explained,”… the present building was designed to be like a home with rooms with big windows.” Everyone who has stood on the front steps of the Library understands what a great location it occupies with views of the historic windmill village grounds, Guild Hall and the heart of East Hampton Village.
Mr. Fabiszak in closing discussed the importance of actual books. He said that even with the availability of audio books the volume of checked out books is higher than ever before. “People as actively still reading actual books!” he said adding, “I believe this library is special, in a special community, in a special building.”
The wonderful tradition of the East Hampton Author’s Night is back, August 14th at the Library and just another sign of east end life coming back to the way it was before the pandemic. Donations are always welcomed. Visit the website and participate online in the many programs offered.
For more information, visit AuthorsNight.org
