Director’s note
Community Read Announcement of the Week: Break out the pots and pans — we’re gonna have a cooking contest!
Greetings, dear readers,
This week I want to take a moment to highlight yet another upcoming Community Read program. On Thursday, July 19 at 11 a.m., the proof will literally be in the pudding as both amateur and professional chefs compete in their own categories for fabulous prizes, fame, and bragging rights at our Community Cooking Contest. The theme? Italian food, in honor of our Community Read book, “Blood, Bones & Butter,” by Gabrielle Hamilton.
Choose either to enter the “Sweet” competition, judged by Annie Leck from Barn Door Baking Co. and Bernie DeLisle of Osteria Bucci, or the “Savory” selection, with judges Sarah Maurer from King Eider’s Pub and Laura Cabot of Laura Cabot Catering. All judging will be anonymous and in the spirit of good, clean, tasty fun. Was your grandma a manicotti maven? Did you have Italian Wedding Soup at your wedding? Are your cannoli the stuff of cravings? Show us what you’ve got!
To enter, you can sign up starting June 20 by calling Skidompha Library at 563-5513 or visiting our circulation desk. Each participant must make 10 servings of his or her selected recipe and deliver them to the Porter Meeting Hall no later than 11 a.m. on the day of the contest.
A first-place and runner-up winner will be chosen in each category.
“But, Pam,” you may be thinking, “what if I don’t want to cook, but my mouth is watering already just thinking about lasagna?” Not to worry — for folks like you we will have a community lunch starting at noon! Purchase one of our beautiful handmade pottery plates donated by the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts for $25 and you can fill it up with all the handmade goodies you desire while supporting our library.
Have a delicious week,
Pam Gormley
Executive Director
Library happenings
This month, we are honored to host a very special book display from the Maine State Library. The I’m Your Neighbor Welcoming Library is a portable book collection and display of acclaimed picture books featuring the immigrant, refugee, or “new arrival” experience. This pilot traveling library is made possible by the Maine Public Library Fund, and will be traveling to Maine schools and public libraries for the rest of the year.
And this month, you’ll find it at Skidompha for your reading pleasure while at the library.
Given the national conversation about immigration, the I’m Your Neighbor Welcoming Library seeks to raise awareness and build sensitivity for all ages through children’s literature.
Studies have shown that reading builds empathy and that cross-racial scenes in picture books build acceptance. Each book will contain a discussion guide to facilitate engagement in the topics of diversity and welcoming. Whether it is a parent discussing a picture book with a child in a public library children’s room, or a second-grade class gathered for a read-aloud with their teacher, these books will foster crucial discussions of what it means to arrive in a new culture, country, or community. Readers who are “new arrivals” themselves will gain an increased sense of normalcy and acceptance when seeing their stories reflected in the narratives in this collection.
I’m Your Neighbor is a larger literacy movement founded in Maine to draw attention to immigration children’s literature and to its potential to bridge a sometimes difficult conversation about who belongs here, welcoming, assimilation, and celebration of difference.
Check out our Story Times with Mr. Mark over the next three weeks on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10 a.m. for highlights from this collection, and for adult readers, we have featured immigrant stories as our June book displays. Come on in and meet your neighbor!
(Skidompha Library has been supporting our community since 1885 in downtown Damariscotta. You can find us online and view our full calendar at skidompha.org or on our Facebook page.)
