LIBRARIAN'S PAGE
I’m Peg Susbury, the volunteer librarian at GRML. This has been an adventure for me. You see, about the time I was going to retire after teaching 1st graders for many years, this little library was about to be moved to a more visible location in Hanover. That first Fall came with no school schedule and I needed to be ‘involved’. So I was given the key to the ‘old fire station’ which housed even older books than this little 1888 library. Clem Worcester talked with me about cataloging those books to return to this library, box by box, the library with no heat, electricity or furniture. I well remember putting those books on a spreadsheet on my laptop and no electricity to stay charged. So it was running out of power - save work on a thumb drive - drive to our cabin (up the mountain to Howard Pond) -grab my husband’s laptop (go down the mountain) - and continue where I left off. I won’t forget the day Clem put an extension cord out the window at the Town Office nearby and in the window at the library…talk about luxury!
This is a wonderful venture and we certainly have earned our nickname, ‘The Gathering Place’. People gather for coffee and snacks, visitors to the area stop by for travel information…there are so many wonderful stories left with me, even an annual postcard from Hawaii wishing us well for another year.
A Note from Peggy ~ Imagine, the first day I opened the door (after 40+ years closed), one person stopped by…what wonderful memories were shared. Then two came the following day and even more memories were shared. Now the ‘door’ is seldom closed and we continue to make memories. We have heat and electricity, funded by grants and donations, and yes, open year round. We have up-to-date books, DVDs and free WiFi. All is very exciting and certainly more than I had originally planned. Yes, I am still there and here is the rest of the story………
It might be noted that GRML is a private library. We depend on many fund raising events and donations to operate our library. The largest event is our annual Celebration of Fall. Yes, it is a grand place.
We have a Craft Corner. If you are looking for a special and unusual gift, it is worth stopping by. Crafts are made by the local ladies, The Bees. Again, all profits go to the library.
There is a fine group of volunteers...on Wednesdays and Saturdays: Lynne, Jo-Anne, MaryAnne, Amy, Gail and the list goes on. It’s sort of ‘tradition’ that if my Highlander is parked by the library, we are ‘open’, any day-any time…just stop by. On Tuesday afternoons, several of us known as ‘The Bees’ drop by to work on crafts or just to chat.
In short, we welcome everyone and hope that you will stop-by and enjoy this unique building. Sit a bit, have a snack and ‘make’ a memory.
The Gardner Roberts Memorial Library is a privately-held, independent, 501(c) 3 non-profit organization located in Hanover, Maine. The Library collection includes recent releases, best sellers, a children’s section, books about Maine, antique volumes andthe latest DVDs.
