“What’s happening at Whitefield Library?” you ask.
We have been enjoying this month with an abundance of good news and appreciation! We just welcomed five new enthusiastic community members to our Board of Directors (Emma Nelson, Kathy Goetzman, George Fergusson, Shawn Gallagher, and Julie Cowles), and we’re looking forward to the experiences they bring to support the growth of our library, and there’s plenty of work to go around. As Secretary of State Shenna Bellows mentioned in her May 2 “congratulatory” letter to us for being presented with the Maine 2021 Spirit of America Award, “commitment to volunteerism is an excellent example of true Maine spirit in giving back to your community”. We are delighted with Sec. Bellows’ recognition of our award as we continue to reach out for all the support we can get to build our library. Please consider joining our team. Our biggest void right now is having help with librarian duties (assisting patrons, circulating books, shelving); no experience necessary/we’ll train! If available to help out, please contact Julie (our volunteer coordinator) at volunteer-coordinator@whitefieldlibrary.org. We also need someone to coordinate adult programs for us. We would like to offer a few summer programs such as an adult book club, author visits, perhaps a cribbage club or art lessons, and we’re seeking your volunteer help to make these happen.
Another really exciting moment this month was when we received notice that we had been awarded a grant from the Maine Community Foundation for general support towards our renovation project. This grant created from the Lincoln County Fund and the Raymond McKinley Rideout Jr. Marguerite Waterman Rideout Fund will aide us in the work we are doing to make our beautiful 138 year old building adequately and efficiently heated and preserved. We are very proud of our library and the restoration work we have done on this community landmark; keeping its foundation dry while efficiently heated in the winter, is our top priority. We’ll be installing two heat pumps to keep our waterlines from freezing and our main room toasty warm in the winter months ahead. The foundation work we’re completing will keep our floors warm and those old timbers dry for many years to come. We are very grateful for MCF’s financial support to help complete these projects.
If you’ve visited the library or driven by, you can see that our Geezers are getting the piles of dirt and crushed rock cleaned up. Nathan Northrup generously dropped a big load of stones for us to use as foundation drainage and with his backhoe, Chuck Vaughn made trenching all around the building look easy. The intent is to keep our dirt crawl space dry, so our old wooden structure stays secure for years into the future. Thanks to the Geezer gang’s tractor bucket, rakes, and old muscles, the job is nearly complete, and grass seed should be sprouting. You’re welcome to join the Geezers any day. They have a long list of summer renovation work ahead!
Ms Emma has planned many exciting hands on Storytime adventures for our young visitors in June. They will hear stories and make crafts about furry Cats, growing Veggies, honoring Father figures, and Freedom celebrations. On June 28th join in on a fun Strawberry field trip to Sheepscot General. It’s a time for stories, treats, and games! Storytime, every Friday at 10:30, is one of our favorites! Check out our Facebook posts for updates and photos.
Whitefield Lions Club presented the Library with a helpful donation which we will be using to purchase new (that’s correct, “new”) books! Every book on our shelves has been given by generous readers, so that makes them “used” books. This donation will turn that around somewhat, but we still will appreciate your used book donations! Books are expensive, and funds are difficult to raise, so we value our local Lions for the volunteer efforts they do throughout the year to fundraise for others. Our Book Committee is thrilled to be selecting brand new adult books as well as a few children’s selections which we’ll add to our purchase with the money set aside from our Marie’s Fund. New children’s books will make our summer Storytime delightful! Please consider donating to our Marie Fund, and stop by to check a “new” book!
(Whitefield Library, 1 Arlington Lane, Whitefield, ME 04353: Open Fri./Sat. 10-2) Contact us: info@whitefieldlibrary.org or 207-549-0170.)