A Waldoboro woman who has volunteered at the Waldoboro library for the last six years received the Exemplary Service Award from the Maine Commission for Community Service at a ceremony on April 22 at the State House Hall of Flags in Augusta.
The award went to Connie Hammermeister who is in her second term on the library board of trustees. Hammermeister also serves as co-chair of the friends of the library, spends time each week putting plastic dust covers on new books, maintains the gardens, and is “Miss Connie” every Wednesday at story hour for preschool kids.
The Exemplary Service Award is a runner-up award for Volunteer of the Year. More than 50 people from around the state were nominated in that category said Rochelle Runge, spokeswoman for the Commission for Community Service.
“It was a very proud and humbling moment,” Hammermeister said. She was sitting in children’s room at the Waldoboro Public Library one afternoon after she received the award.
“This is my ‘Miss Connie’ chair,” she said smiling, referring to the dark leather armchair in the corner. Although she is obviously and deservedly proud of all the work she does at the library, she speaks most fondly of the weekly story hours.
“I love the little children,” she said. “I feel like they’re a family.”
She’s been leading the story time for two years. When they started the program, it met twice each month. Very quickly, Hammermeister had mothers asking if she could come in every week. The number of kids that come in continues to grow, Hammermeister said.
She was nominated for the service award by officials from the library, including Library Director Tim McFadden.
“It was an easy choice,” McFadden said. “She made it possible for the library to be built.”
Several years ago, when the Waldoboro Library was trying to raise funds to rebuild, many of the people involved became discouraged when it appeared there wasn’t going to be enough money.
“Connie stepped up and said, ‘That won’t stand.’ She spearheaded the fundraising campaign from there out,” McFadden said. “When Connie says something is going to get done, it gets done, and it gets done right.”
Her work at the library totals thousands of hours of volunteer time, McFadden said. For Hammermeister, who joined the library board of trustees shortly after moving to Waldoboro in 2003, all that time isn’t given out of generosity so much as duty.
“You don’t just go to meetings when you’re on a board,” she said. “If you’re a willing volunteer, you get called to help out.”
Volunteering at the library was a way to give back to the community and to meet people when she first moved here, she said.
One of her favorite parts of her work is the gardening. “You get your fingers and hands dirty, but it’s rewarding,” she said. “If I’m out weeding on a Saturday morning, everybody who comes into town to check their mail or to visit the library always comes up to compliment the gardens.”
Like the rest of the building, McFadden credits Hammermeister with being responsible for the garden’s existence.
“She makes my job a whole lot easier,” McFadden said. “We’re all very grateful and happy that she’s here. She’s really done a lot for Waldoboro, and I think it’s a great thing that the state is doing, honoring people who give their time.”
