Fitness Classes Flood Local Libraries

Libraries are about a whole lot more than books these days.

Just ask any librarian across the East End. Each will say that now, libraries offer more than just books on shelves. Libraries have become community centers, catering to the wants, needs and desires of local residents. And at the top of that list of wants, needs and desires are fitness classes—from high-impact aerobics and Zumba to the mellower Pilates and yoga.

“Libraries are places where anybody, from infancy to 104 and older, can come, learn and leave healthier—mind, body and soul,” Hampton Library Director Kelly Harris said during an on-site interview in Bridgehampton last week. “That is my philosophy, and I believe it’s other East End librarians’ philosophies, too.”

By far, Zumba—a Latin dance-inspired fitness program that incorporates hip-hop, martial arts and a bit of Bollywood dance, to name a few—is the hottest new exercise class taking libraries by storm, packing out community rooms with class sizes in the double digits.

This month, Quogue Library saw its largest Zumba class to date: at least 16 people showed up to get their workout on. And the numbers are only going up, Library Assistant Cathy Vermylen said during an interview at the library last week.

“I actually take the Zumba, and I totally, totally love it,” she said. “But I am a klutz. I can’t put the feet and hands together. I’m in the front row; I don’t care if people are looking at me. So I’ve decided that I would just do the feet the right way and I’d just sort of do this with my arms,” she paused, moving them back and forth close to her waist.

“Once you start doing this, and this,” she waved her arms over her head, “I lose it.”

Starting on Thursday, January 26, the library will begin offering a free belly dancing series with instructor Lenora Dome, geared toward teens. The classes will run every Thursday, for four weeks, through February 16.

“We’ve had her here before. She really draws in a nice crowd,” Library Program Director Kathleen Johnson said during a telephone interview last week. “Before, it was more of an adult program, but we had so many teens coming in that it made us rethink this. Now, it’s a neat mother-daughter thing.”

All levels are welcome, Ms. Dome said during a telephone interview last week. Comfortable clothes are key, as well as non-slip socks or slippers.

“I teach this class to make women feel better,” she said. “It’s beneficial not only to the female body, but mind and spirit as well. They obtain more femininity, confidence. It’s a beautiful dance form and you don’t need to be pre-trained at all.”

Ms. Dome works around the class, usually beginning with a demonstration and then she teaches various dances, Ms. Johnson explained.

“It’s great exercise,” Ms. Johnson said. “I think it’s an alternative to regular exercise. It’s something you don’t think of. To me, it’s the same idea as Zumba: the idea of exercising and having a good time. And that’s what I love.”

While none of the other East End libraries are offering belly dancing, the Amagansett Free Library, Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton, Hampton Bays Public Library and the Westhampton Beach Free Library have also jumped on the Zumba bandwagon. The latter has started teaching Zumba Gold, which is geared toward seniors.

“When we have the regular Zumba, you’ll hear them,” Westhampton Beach Free Library Head of Reference Jay Janoski said at the library last week. “You can hear the music and hear the people yelling. That’s definitely a young group.”

Zumba is catching on at the Hampton Bays Public Library, but Yoga with Peter Ames is easily the center’s most popular and long-standing class, according to Nancy Cariello. Mr. Ames has taught a multi-level class there for four years and is still going strong, Ms. Cariello, who is head of circulation, said last week.

“People are asking for these classes,” she said. “I think it’s a good way to promote physical fitness. Plus, it’s very cheap and very simple. It’s better than a gym in many respects and fits into people’s busy lives.”

Though costs vary from library to library, most fitness class rates range from $5 to $10 each session. Some programs are more expensive, such as the Wellness Challenge run by the Wellness Foundation at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, which costs $50.

Hampton Library Director Kelly Harris said she has found that the community responds well to healthy lifestyle programs. On Saturday, January 14, nutritionist-dietitian Janet O’Grady will hold the talk, “The New You In 2012: How To Cultivate New Health In Weeks, Not Years,” at the library.

“We have requests from our patrons. I’m a big fan of ‘Let’s try something once,’ and if it flies, great,” Ms. Harris said. “You want your library to reflect you. And that’s what we’re here to do for you. So if you want to do Pilates in your library, then we will ‘Pilate,’ if that’s a verb,” she laughed, “which I don’t think it is.”

Other libraries are following a low-impact track. Amagansett Free Library offers Abs Plus, a core-strengthening class with fitness balls, small hand weights and mats, librarian Jeanne McDermott said last week. Montauk Public Library and Rogers Memorial Library hold tai chi and yoga sessions, respectively, to improve balance and mind.

It’s no surprise to Rogers Memorial Library Director Elizabeth Burns that fitness classes at libraries are the new norm, she said last week.

“I know when I first started in the profession, I remember circulating video tapes and DVDs on yoga and exercise, and they were extremely popular,” she said. “So when someone years ago came up with the suggestion, ‘Would you ever think about offering a class?’ it was an easy answer.

“We offer classes on all sorts of different things,” she continued. “This is just another type of thing we’re teaching. And people love it. They absolutely love it. They can’t get enough and we can’t offer enough.”

For complete lists of each library’s fitness offerings, call for more information, visit their websites or check out 27east.com’s calendar listings. East Hampton Library and the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor, which is currently in a temporary space, do not offer exercise classes at this time.