467 Wells Public Library, Wells, Maine

I've been staying with family in York, Maine; this is my last day. Beach-sitting isn't my style, so I decided to head up the road to Wells and have a look at their library. I was a little nervous because the library website mentioned limited parking due to long-awaited construction, but no fear: there was plenty of parking along the side, and in a parking lot shared with the junior high school.

 You know some serious construction is coming when you see a full-sized Tonka Toy like this!

The present library was built in 1978 and dedicated to Miss Ethel M. Weymouth. Literature racks in the lobby hold community information and tourist brochures.

The Information Desk seemed like a good place to start. I was welcomed warmly by the staff person there, and she introduced me to the Director, who gave permission for interior pictures.

A library book sale is underway on shelves to the right (if you enter from the street side). A completed jigsaw puzzle was on one table, and this one in the earliest stages was nearby. There's another jigsaw that I'll show and mention later.

An art gallery and "living room" area for browsing are to the left as you enter. No picture, as it was occupied by two or three men catching up on their reading. Back issues of periodicals are shelved nearby.

This looks like a poster about birds. A close look reveals it to be a jigsaw puzzle with the pieces glued in place. It's certainly a nice puzzle to put on display.

This isn't the first library where I've seen the Library Bill of Rights displayed, but unfortunately it's not common. I think this is important enough that I'm going to copy it in here. You'll find it at the end of the post.

You can see here that the new addition (in green) will significantly increase the size of the library.

These blue chairs along a window wall provide a convenient place to browse the A-frame shelves of fiction, non-fiction, large print, and biographies. This library seems to have an especially large collection of large print books.

Teens have a corner of the library to themselves, though when I visited a person far beyond his teen years had found a comfortable place here. The shelves of /DVDs, music CDs, and books on CD are close by.

This is another view of the Teen area. I sometimes choose an upholstered chair with a desk arm when I need to study at the University of Minnesota; I think they are a wonderful invention. The library is next door to a junior high school, and I expect this area sees a lot of use when school gets out for the day. I certainly hope so!

As readers of this blog know, I'm always on the lookout for anything I haven't seen in another library. Here, a large rock with a petroglyph certainly fills the bill. A brochure about this petroglyph explains how to interpret it. I was surprised to read that this was found on a rock ledge in this area.

How's this for putting "messy activity" needs right in the children's area? I like the use of bold blue. The vertical yellow and green "sticks" slide down through the handles of the drawers to prevent unauthorized opening. Did someone get this idea from file cabinets in military or industrial secured areas?

Art work abounds in this library. Wells, Maine, is not far from Ogunquit, Maine, and both are known for active art communities. I like this playful stain-glass window in the children's area.

The framework of the puppet theater is made of PVC pipe, which makes a simple and sturdy play space. Just a couple of rules: only three people behind the curtain at one time, and put the puppets away in their bins when you are done. If you're looking for something more high-tech after your puppet show, there are four computers for kids nearby.

I can easily imagine this space filled with toddlers and toys, with carers watching from the side. Or a gaggle of youngsters sitting "criss-cross-applesauce" (at least briefly) to listen to a story.'

Not all art is by adult professionals. One row of J bookshelves holds pictures created by young patrons.

 The open girders provide a lower place to attach lights and other fixtures, while still giving the spacious feeling of the high ceiling. Painting the girders blue helps pull the whole library together

This shelf unit holds books from the Bill Ryan Memorial Children's Book Art Collection. These books do not circulate, but the librarian can help you find a circulating copy.

Now for a bit of serendipity. I mentioned in the library that I had adopted a cat from a shelter in Wells, about 25 years ago. I named her Wellsie Berwick, combining the location of the shelter and the place where she was found. 'She was about three years old and had been in shelter for a year and a half! I subjected her to a sequence  of car, plane, van, and car rides to get to my home in Minnesota. She lived to be about 15 years old and was a wonderful cat.

The serendipity? I mentioned this feline adoption to staff at the library, and they pointed out a cat rescue shelter next door to the library. I visited the shelter and learned that it is not related to the one I adopted from. However, I met the current person in charge and discovered that she once worked at the shelter where I adopted Wellsie. That was a wonderful end to two great visits, library and shelter.

8/23/2017

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 Library Bill of Rights 

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

 II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. 

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment. 

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas. 

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views. 

VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use. 

Adopted June 19, 1939. Amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; and January 23, 1980; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996, by the ALA Council.