To the Editor:
I am a true Wiscasset native in all senses. I was born just off Water Street over 60 years ago, and the Wiscasset Public Library soon became my favorite place to visit. The library has been a vital part of the town for over 200 years, so I cannot understand why anyone would fail to help fund something that it so important to everyone.
From the smallest child sitting in the Children’s Room listening to the Children’s Librarian read, to the oldest citizen in Wiscasset borrowing large print books, the library is the place to go.
I grew up loving books because the Wiscasset Public Library instilled a thirst for reading from the first time I stepped into the library clutching my small hand into my mother’s larger one. Librarians there introduced me to the wonders of the written word. Like many children today, I joined the summer reading program each year and traveled to exotic and wonderful places. Since then I have been a voracious reader.
It is little wonder that I grew up to become a librarian. From that day in 1980 when I entered the Wiscasset Public Library (they were moving books into the new addition) I became a volunteer. In the following months I was hired to become an assistant, the children’s librarian and then the library director.
The library has grown beyond all my expectations since that day over 35 years ago. They automated and now offer free Internet service and much more than just books to offer. The library has one of the best art collections in the state. They also house local history and genealogy documents for everyone to browse. The library is connected to the world and anything a citizen of Wiscasset wants to know about is available through the good works of Pamela Dunning and her staff.
To consider not funding the Wiscasset Public Library is as inconceivable as not giving money to educate our children. Where do they keep up their reading skills after schools closes in June? The Wiscasset Public Library is that place.
Janet Morgan
Wiscasset
