6/13/10 Microwave, donated to the Casco Public Library; computer printer/scanner, given awayOne of the great joys of my life in Casco -- which ends in about thirty-six hours -- has been my involvement with the Casco Public Library. Like so many libraries across the country, the Casco Library is a true gem. Classic building, wonderful collection, and the two best librarians in Maine.
I've had the great honor, since February of 2006, to serve on the Board of Trustees, this last year as Vice President. I've been proud to do my part to help strengthen this crucial institution. Hopefully, some of my efforts, especially on library policies, will continue to be felt long after I've departed.
It's fitting, therefore, that we had a Trustees meeting scheduled today, my last full day in the Lakes Region. The meeting was a toughie, however, as we're grappling with incredibly difficult budget matters.
How bad is it?
Halfway through the meeting, our Library Director suggested that perhaps she could give up her health insurance in order to save the library money. Dear Readers, what have we come to?!?
I fear my donation of a microwave, to be sold at an upcoming community sale, won't go far in trying to bridge our budget gap.
What will save the library is the continued support of community members. Three of those community members are the Hayden ladies. Beth does our accounting for us, and her two teenage daughters, Heather and Heidi, volunteer and bring a heck of a lot of energy and sunshine to the building.
The also bring some serious writing skills. You may know that I once wrote a novel in a month -- Go ahead, click the link on the left side of the blog and buy a copy. I dare you. -- but I've got nothing on these teenagers.
Fifty thousand words in a month? Ha, that's child's play. According to Heather, she's topped 100,000 words in a month. That girl can write.
When Heidi told me she was working on a graphic novel (for the uninitiated, that's fancy talk for comic book) and needed a way to scan her illustrations, I knew I'd found a home for my computer printer/scanner.
As compensation for it, Heidi and Heather have enthusiastically -- heck, these girls do everything enthusiastically -- tackled the challenge of reading and editing my second novel, which I drafted two years ago and have been trying to forget ever since. They've promised to tear it to shreds and send me the remains for possible revisions.
Yes, I'm worried about the library, and that feeling is magnified by the fact that I won't be around to be part of the solution. But, with all these great people still keeping it going, I know I should be feeling nothing but hope.
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