The Libraries of Massachusetts: Provincetown

Friday, June 13, 2025

Yesterday, I visited thirty three libraries, which was certainly a personal best, although I spent about an hour inside only one of them, the Eldredge Public Library in Chatham. Today, I’ll visit only one, the Provincetown Public Library, and spend most of the day there.

I had parked at the Surfside Hotel and Suites, which costs $369 per night and was maybe one-quarter full. Sleeping in Goldfinger, I had the only perk that mattered to me: when I popped open the hatch at 6.30, I was greeted with an unobstructed view of Cape Cod Bay. After a few quiet moments admiring the still waters, I headed to the only recovery meeting in town, the one that meets seven days a week at 7 a.m.

Maybe forty people jammed the room, which was arranged with folding chairs lining the walls and four rows on each end, divided so that they faced each other. We opened with the usual texts read aloud, with the twist that each of the 12 steps was read by a different person which, for me, enhanced their meaning. Those with less than 90 days of sobriety were encouraged to share their thoughts first, followed by a “round robin” (one person was called upon to speak, and then that person called on another, and so forth). We passed the hat, went around the room to introduce everyone in the customary manner, and closed by holding hands to recite the Serenity Prayer. What a great way to start the day. Oh, and coffee.

Commercial Street is, well, the main commercial street in Provincetown and when I arrived last night it was crowded with people and pedicabs, so I was out of place as I slowly drove through. As the street was open to cars, and there were no barriers, and because P-town has a reputation as a gay mecca (as Karen Christel Krahulik describes in her 2007 book, Provincetown: From Pilgrim Landing to Gay Resort) I had a momentary flashback to the carnage on Bourbon St. in early 2025 when a terrorist killed more than a dozen partiers and so I wondered what someone holding extreme anti-gay animus could do here. I tried to get that thought out of my head.

The street was deserted this morning and I easily found a metered spot, an almond croissant, and a coffee at the 361 Coffee and Espresso Bar, where I continued reading Joanna Quinn’s The Whalebone Theater. I had come to P-town to watch the movie “The Librarians” which is now on the film festival circuit, and this was the closest to Medford it was scheduled to show. For a “Right to Read” guy like me, it was a tough movie to watch, as it was all about how school libraries (and librarians) are under attack by those who want to ban books because they are beholden to the belief that this will “protect the kids.” It’s easy, and even tempting to scoff. Really, you think banning books (that you oppose) will actually make kids safer and healthier? Hey, if you don’t want your kids to read those books, how about you just don’t let them, ok? Why should your freaky ideas about the dangers books pose become public policy? We all have a fundamental right to read without governments imposing bans. 

Then, I remember. The arguments that school book banners make are not altogether different from those that gun violence prevention advocates make, and the responses of the defenders of guns and books are much the same. Do you really think that gun control will make your kids safer? If you’re worried about gun violence, then don’t buy guns, ok? Why should your perverse (and unconstitutional) views about guns become law? We all have a fundamental right to gun ownership. 

I have no reason to believe that advocates and opponents are insincere in their beliefs. Those seeking to reduce gun violence may well say “We don’t want to ban guns. We just want to impose reasonable, common sense, regulations on them.” Substitute “books” for “guns,” and the same logic follows.

Inside the Provincetown Library

Inside the Providence library, I write. Outside, I enjoy a bowl of clam chowder from the Lobster Pot. Returning to my desk, I write about Ora Hinckley, truck-driving terrorists, books, and guns.