March, 2010

Written by Mary R. Braley

Hello from your library.  Small signs of spring are showing themselves. Our garden near the back door is full of early shoots of crocuses, daffodils, and maybe more. If they don’t get completely covered by snow, we could see a few crocus blossoms by the middle of the month. Hooray! The days are getting longer. Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead on Sat. night, the 13th for the beginning of Daylight Savings Time. Soon we will be seeing maple trees being tapped, and smell syrup being boiled down. Makes you think of pancakes, doesn’t it? The earliest “spring signs” are already with us, the frost heaves & potholes that make driving around here in the spring such an adventure!

We were glad to welcome our librarian, Kay, back to work on Feb. 25th. She had been gone for 4 weeks to deal with some very serious health problems in elderly family members in Oklahoma. It was an extremely busy and stressful trip for her and her husband, and she’s glad to be back home. She really appreciates all the goodwill, concern, kind thoughts and prayers of her friends who come in to the library. It was all a real comfort to her. Heidi & Mary covered the hours that Kay usually works, and Gemma Huntress came to help us on Thursdays when the 5th grade comes to the library, and when extra help was needed as well. We had other people offer their help if it was needed, too. We have some truly wonderful patrons! Thank you all.

While Kay was in Oklahoma City, spending some time in a bookstore, (of course) an older couple asked her if she could help them get online with their laptop computer. Naturally she did, and learned that they were looking for the Bangor Daily News website.  It turned out that they were from Bridgton, ME, just about 30-35 miles from here! As Kay said, “The world just got a little smaller”.

Our library trustees will meet this month on Thursday, the 11th at 7pm at the library. They now meet 5 times a year instead of monthly, and their meetings are always open to interested members of the public.

We still have our Food for Fines basket on our big table, and for the months of March & April there is an extra incentive to drop off non-perishable food items here. During these 2 months, a charitable organization will give them $1 for every food item they collect. When the food pantry spends those dollars at the Good Shepard Food Bank, which supplies food pantries all over the state, they get $4 worth of food for every $1 they spend! A person dropping off 5 food items in our basket, is not only providing that food, but actually giving an additional $20 worth of food to local folks in need of help. Talk about maximizing your investment! So far this season, our library patrons & staff have been incredibly generous to our Food for Fines program, but a little more in March & April will translate to a lot more for those who need it. Even though the name of our program is Food for Fines, you don’t have to have overdue books to bring in some food for our basket. All donations are welcome.

In about 3 months we will be putting up 2010’s selection of the 101 Best Summer Reads.  As of late Feb., we had just 33 titles on the list. We depend on our patrons to recommend books for the list.  Please tell us about any books you have especially enjoyed so we can add them to the list. The more people who have a say in it, the better the 101 list is, and the wider range of people it will appeal to. Teens, this means you as well. Many young adult books have been real favorites on our 101s display over the years.

Our book display this month is of Irish books, that is, books about Irish & Celtic history and culture, plus some great fiction by Irish authors. Since St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish day celebrated by “Irishmen of all nationalities” is the 17th of this month; an Irish book display seems like a good idea. Take some out and see if you agree.

Our re-formulated Friends of the Library Group is having its spring meeting on Tuesday, April 13th at 7pm at the library. Anyone interested in this group is more than welcome to attend. This group exists to help the library, and because they have a non-profit status, they can accept tax-free donations for the library. They meet just 5 times a year, so the investment of time and effort is minimal.

We have recently bought 3 classic Disney movies on DVD: “Sleeping Beauty”, “The Aristocats” and “The Sword in the Stone”. We have a few other “new to us” DVD movies that have been donated recently, as well. They will be processed as soon as a new shipment of DVD cases arrives. They are promised to be here by mid-March. Once they arrive we will get these movies ready to circulate as soon as possible.

Quote of the Month: “These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.” Gilbert Highet, 1906-1978.