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Selections from the
September 2002 Library Lookout

From the Library Director

Finally, a let-up in library work. Jim Foster’s insistance that I write something for the newsletter also helped. The time seems to fly from one month to another. I wonder if age or being busy has anything to do with it!!

Beginning Sept. 3 (Tues.) we will be welcoming a new staff person, Katherine Connell, to the Skowhegan Free Public Library. Katherine will be the Children’s Librarian and will be working 30 hours per week.

Also, beginning Sept. 3 (Tues.) we will have new library hours:

Monday 10:00am-6:00pm
Tuesday 10:00am-6:00pm
Wednesday 10:00am-6:00pm
Thursday 10:00am-7:00pm
Friday 10:00am-6:00pm
Saturday 10:00am-2:00pm

Sept. 14th (Sat.) 11:00am-2:00pm, we will be hosting a book signing–Robert Hunnewell from Bingham, ME will be having a book signing for the book he published this spring, Pleasant Ridge Plantation: The way Life Used To Be. Books will be for sale and autographs will be available. Sept. 19th and Sept. 20th, we will be having a book sale. It will be outdoors (weather permitting).

By the middle of September, we will resume ordering books for the adult section, as the amount of monies available will be clarified.

Francoise LaBonte, Assistant Librarian, will begin a course, “Cataloging Online”, Sept 11, readying us to begin our online cataloging.

Oct. 1, 2002, we will be opening our Geneology Room. Ruth Blood, retired education, has been organizing our geneology materials. She will be available this fall and winter to start you on your way to family history. See you next month.

LATEST NEWS
Compiled by Jim Foster

Book Sale

September 19-20 We will be holding our largest ever book sale on September 19th and 20th from noon to 6 p.m. Didn’t we just have our largest book sale ever in July? Yes, but with the ongoing weeding and an increase in donated books, we have another 3000 or so books to add to the best of the unsold books from July. So those of you who missed the last one, here’s another chance.

First Friends Meeting of the Year September 25

The first membership meeting of the Friends of the Skowhegan Free Public Library after the summer break will be held the evening of September 25, 7:00 p.m. at the Library. Since our last meeting much has happened: we have a new Director, a new Children’s Librarian, and a very different look to the Library. New LibraryDirector Blynn Currier will be our speaker, outlining his plans for the future of the Library and where we as Friends can fit in. We hope that as many of our members as possible will turn out and that we can begin the year with a reinvigorated Friends organization.

NEWS FLASH!

What was found in the hand of Edith Stone when she died on the night of June 5th? Will her unscrupulous son, Jeffrey, be declared the legal heir of her estate? What will happen to the Ebenezer Stone Library? Will the First Coast Breeze Bank move its headquarters out of the Town of Hillock and down east to Clambake?

These questions and more will be answered at the Skowhegan Friends of the Library benefit performance of The Trouble With Books, a play written and directed specifically for the occasion by Anna Freeman. As the FOL’s 4th year of such readings, this year’s play revolves around a court hearing on the authenticity of a will, and the fate of a three generational family library. According to Freeman, the play addresses the concerns of many small towns in Maine where commercial enterprise competes with historical legacy.

“Although I definately have an opinion about the respect for the past, I wrote the play in such a way that every character in the Town of Hillock presents a perfectly reasonable point of view. It’s not an easy problem. And there is no easy solution.”

The cast includes Rick Bonneau, Carla Burnham, Iver Lofving, Herb Paradis, Jan and Mickey Powers and Mary Stuart along with several others. The Trouble With Books will be held on the night of October 11 at the Centenary United Methodist Church. The performance starts at 7:00 p.m. and the ticket price is $7.50 Seating is limited so please buy your tickets early. They go on sale September 9th at the Blueberry Cupboard, Boynton’s Greenhouse, The Library and the Skowhegan Town Office. Or you may buy them from any cast member.

SUMMER READING CLUB 2002

On August 9 members of the Friends held a party on the Library lawn for children who had earned 150 or more points on their summer reading charts. Christine Smith was in charge of games, and Kathy and Corrilla dished out the ingredients for ice cream sundaes “with all the trimmings”! Each child chose a new paperback book to take home. Twenty-eight readers completed the program with a grand winner, Ryley Burkhart, who accumulated more than 300 points.

Congratulations to Briana Herr, Elijah Herr, Ellen Small, Markayla Golden, Jimmie Shanahan, Bobby Shanahan, Kate Milligan, Krysti Moulton, Shelby Watson, Sasha Bradford, Ryley Burkhart, Steven Ek, Olivia Brown, John Layman, Lennie Shanahan, Erin MacLean, Megan MacLean, Rachel Steward, Matthew Steward, Logan Merrill, Zachery Witham, Brenna Merrill, Michael Berry, Isaac Dorko, Hunter Smith, TuckerWatson, Caleb Morin and Cody Morin. FOML

CONFERENCE SEPTEMBER 27

The Friends of Maine Libraries will be holding its State Conference at the Senator Inn in Augusta on Friday, September 27 from 9-3. The theme is Our Children, Our Future.

Keynote Speakers will be author Margy Burns Knight and illustrator Leane Morin.

In addition the program has six workshops:

  • Libraries & Civil Liberties: Balancing Civility & Freedom – Speaker: Jay Sherma, Director, Thomas Memorial Library, Cape Elizabeth
  • How to Build a Friends Group – Speaker – Celeste Shinay, Board member, Friends of Scarborough Public Library Book
  • Discussion Panel
    • “Bangor Reads” – a “one book-one city” program begun this year with Killer Angels. Speaker – Barbara McDade, Director, Bangor Public Library
    • “Let’s Talk About It” – A reading and discussion program for adults offered by Maine Humanities Council and Maine State Library. Speaker – Elizabeth Sinclair, Coordinator,
    • Let’s Talk About It, Me. Humanities Council
    • A Girl’s Point of View – Book club formed last year on Vinlhaven Island Speaker – Mary Orear, Mainly Girls
  • Marketing Your Library Programs – Speaker – Anastasia S. Weigle, Director, Warren Memorial Library, Westbrook.
  • Success of a Small Island Friends Group – Speaker – Marilyn Wimmergren, Friends of Vinalhaven Library and FOML Board Member 2001
  • FOML Grant Recipients
    • Your Library – A Happening Place to Be – Anna Field Memorial Library
    • Teen Night at the Library – Rice Public Library
    • Story Time on the GO – Scarborough Public Library
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Award of the 2002 FOML Grants – This year’s Grant Recipients will be announced at 2.45 PM at a general session.

If you are interested in attending, contact Jim Foster at 474-2589 or jfoster@airolink.net.

Note: If you are not from Skowhegan, contact Jane Gillis, 34 Stratton Road, Scarborough, ME 04074, jgillis@gwi.net or telephone (207) 883-5205 for more information.