McArthur Public Library, Biddeford
The trustees of the McArthur Library have named Vicky Smith as the new Library Director, effective immediately. Before serving as Acting Director for the past three weeks since Bob Filgate's retirement, Vicky has been Assistant Director, as well as Children's Librarian here since 1995. You probably know Vicky from her participation in many state and national library forums, including the SMLD Executive Board, Maine SCOOP, Cream of the Crop, and committees for the Newbery Award, the Boston Globe/Hornbook Award, and the Notable Children's Books List.

Waterville Public Library
Richard Sibley and his wife Janet Sibley, will retire this December after more than two decades of working at the Waterville Public Library and the Kennebec Valley Community College Library, respectively. They will move to Arizona, where their children reside. Dick had fun in Waterville and says of the Maine library community that librarians tend to be supportive and to favor win-win solutions, and working with them has almost always been fun and has never been trying.
The Maine library community and the Waterville Public Library are fortunate to have Sarah Sugden to replace him. Sarah worked at the Waterville Library from 1989 to 1992 while she attended Waterville High School. She graduated from Dartmouth College and got her MLS at Simmons. Sarah is 30 years old, married to Matthew Hankey, and has a son named Jack. Sarah has held two positions in the Children's and YA Departments in the Phoenix Public Library system, has worked as a school librarian in North Carolina, and will soon leave her job as head of Children's Services at the Cambridge Public Library in Massachusetts. Dick says that Sarah is very intelligent and energetic. She played varsity soccer while in high school, and intramural rugby while at Dartmouth.

Lewiston Public Library
Rick Speer was the recipient of a national award for quality library service in the United States. The New York Times Librarian Awards program is in its fourth year. It was created to support and recognize public librarians "whose exemplary performance and outstanding community service have made their libraries friendlier and more accessible institutions."--New York Times website. The program honors 27 public librarians (12 from across the country and 15 from New York State, New Jersey, and Connecticut). In 2003 there were approximately 2,000 nominations for this award from 46 states. Rick will be traveling to NY City on December 15th to receive his award. We here at the library and the city, as well, are very proud of Rick for his accomplishments and excited that he is being recognized in such a grand way!

South Portland Public Library
December 6, 7:00PM-8:00PM - The Author Speaks series...Gerard Bianco will be discussing his new book, Dying for Deception.
December 14, 7:00PM-8:00PM - The Author Speaks series...Janice Parkinson-Tucker will be discussing her new book, A Maine Woman's Travel Letters.

Springvale Public Library
Jump on the Polar Express! On Monday, Dec. 6 from 6:30pm-7:30pm, Springvale Public Library will be hosting a very unique holiday story time featuring The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Mario Mauro, a deaf storyteller, will be signing holiday stories for families in American Sign Language (ASL). Everyone is welcome. The stories will be translated into English from ASL for the hearing audience. Mario will teach how to sign a few Traditional Carols and Holiday refreshments will be served.

Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick
The year-long 100th anniversary celebrations at the Curtis Memorial Library will culminate in December. There will be a gala event for people of all ages on December 8 beginning at 7 pm which will include music, poetry, theatre, local celebrities and delicious refreshments. The final children's event will be on December 15 when science writer Mary Cerullo will talk about ocean creatures. Everyone is welcome!

Rockland Public Library, Children’s Room
Ongoing are Storytimes every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30
MSBA Book Club 4th to 8th graders every 3rd Tues. at 6PM.
Teen Night books and snacks every 4th Tues. at 6:30PM.
12/4 at 4:00 PM Tree Lighting with carols and cookies
12/8 at 3:30 PM “Finnish-American Show and Tell” stories and crafts

Auburn Public Library
Michael Jordan, a local comic book writer and illustrator who is currently working on an eight part series of comics set in medieval times in the land of Parveria will be appearing at the Book Burrow and Cafe located at 1B Great Falls Plaza in Auburn. Michael will be speaking about the comic writing process and encourages teens to bring their own comic book ideas to share. Afterwards Michael will have his signed comic books available for purchase. Refreshments will be provided. Door prize.

Ellsworth Public Library
Performance by Acadia Handbell Choir at the library on Thursday, December 2 at 6 p.m.

Portland Public Library
** Brown Bag Lecture, Wednesday, December 1, 12 - 1 - Lisa Jahn-Clough, local children's & young adult author of Country Girl City Girl
** Let's Talk America, Thursday, December 2, 7 - 8:30 pm - a dialogue between citizens of opposing views, bridging the divisions.
** A Greek Odyssey: Athens 2004 the Summer Olympics, Wednesday, December 8, 12-1pm - TV and documentary producer Andrea Sarris presents her documentary and discusses the first women Olympians from Afganastan, Portland's Sister City, and the competitive world of sports media.

Waldoboro Public Library Fundraisers
A tea party and book signing event held on Saturday, Nov. 20th, was a festive and lucrative happening for the Waldoboro Public Library. At the party featuring edibles created from the recipes in her cookbook, Gertrude Hoffses signed and sold 50 of her cookbook/memoirs entitled "Culinary Memories". Many thanks to the Waldoboro Public Library trustees and other volunteers who either baked the donated goodies or helped out at the event.
More of Hoffses' cookbooks, which are packed with local lore and delicious recipes, are on sale at the Library. They are available for $10 per copy, plus shipping and handling, if mailed. All proceeds from the cookbook sales are to benefit the Library's budget to purchase books and other materials.
The trustees are also raffling off a homemade goodies basket, just in time to win for the holidays. Contents include a copy of Hoffses' cookbook, homemade jams and jellies, relishes, dried herbs and handcrafted dishcloths. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. The drawing will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3rd.

Hartland Public Library
Kerry Baldwin, the new librarian, is pleased to announce that the library's holdings have been added to SOLAR. As soon as the records are fine-tuned and request/lend training is completed, the holdings will be available both in SOLAR and Maine Infonet. The library will join the Maine Delivery Service for one stop per week once requesting has been activated.
Three public-access computers have been added and the library is working on transitioning from the FRAD to DSL so patrons can have faster internet access. Another project in the works is renovation of one room in the library to a YA reading room, and she welcomes ideas from other YA librarians who have 'been there, done that'.

Pittsfield Public Library
“Winter Tales” - Wednesday, December 29, 10:30 – 11:30. This program for 4th – 8th graders will feature local storyteller Clum Spencer. He will tell a short story to the children and will talk about good storytelling techniques. The children will then tell their own stories and make up a round-robin style stsory together.
The library has received four new computers from the JTG Foundation and is upgrading to a T1 line for faster connectivity. These will be greatly enjoyed by library patrons.

Rangeley Public Library
Dec. 15: Final session of Let's Talk About It book group. The last book in our series "The Mirror of Maine" will be Empire Falls by Richard Russo. 10am - 12pm

Topsham Public Library
** BookLook Book Discussion - Tuesday, December 7th, at 11:00 at the Highland's Main Building in the Library. Dow Mossman's novel "The Stones of Summer".
** Special Solstice Crafts with Kate - Saturday, December 18th, at 10:30 for a special craft celebrating the Solstice. Designed for ages 4 & up.
** December 30 - Northern Star Traveling Planetarium - Three shows, 11:00-3:00pm - ABC's of the Sky--PreK-2--11:00 am, "Sandy, Pepper, and the Eclipse," and "Moon Witch!"--2nd-4th grade--1:30 pm, A Ride on the Space Shuttle--3rd-6th grade--3pm.
The following activities are sponsored by the Topsham Public Library and the Topsham Parks and Recreation Department.
** Holiday Crafts - Saturday, December 4th, at 10:30 am - Join in a mixture of multi-cultured crafts. Build a Gingerbread House, a Star of David for display, or a Kwanzaa wreath.
** Tea with Santa - Wednesday, December 15th at 10:30 am at the Topsham Public Library. Preschoolers come join Santa for "Tea", cookies and some of his very favorite Holiday Stories. Children 3 to 6 years.
** Movies - Held at the Topsham Public Library in the Highland Community Meeting Room, enjoy these old and new full screen movie offerings with popcorn!!
Friday, December 10th, 1:00 pm "Hoilday Inn", Saturday, December 11th, 10:30 am "Rugrats Holiday Special", Friday December 17th, 1:00 pm "White Christmas, Thursday, December 23rd, 1:00 pm - "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", 2:00 pm - "Frosty the Snowman", 3:00 pm - "Santa Clause is Coming to Town"

Camden Public Library
** Thursday, December 2, 7:00 pm - Camden Library Coffeehouse, featuring Too Human, a duo from New York, and opening by Ed Geis of Camden. $7 ($5 for students and seniors).
** Friday, December 3, 4:30-6:30 pm - Opening reception for Christmas-by-the-Sea at the Camden Public Library, with music by the school choruses. Bring donations for the Mitten Tree!
** Saturday, December 4, noon - Story Hour with Santa
** Sunday, December 5, 2:00 pm - Holiday matinee showing at the Camden Public Library of "The Santa Clause 2."
** Tuesday, December 7, 6:00-8:00 pm - Reception for Picker gallery artists, Clarity.
** Wednesday, December 8, 2:00-4:00 pm - "A Child's Christmas in Wales" As part of their ongoing Adventures in Living Well series for seniors, Quarry Hill Retirement Community is collaborating with the Camden Library to present this classic work by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Erika Pfander of the Chamber Theatre of Maine and George Sykes will deliver an unforgettable performance reading of this perennial pageant of childhood and Christmas accompanied by live Celtic music. Light seasonal refreshments will be served. This program is for people 55 & over. Admission is free, but reservations are required. Please call Quarry Hill at 230-6114 to register. The performance is at the Camden Public Library.
** Thursday, December 9, 6:30 pm - Author W. H. Bunting will present his new book, Sea Struck
** Tuesday, December 14, 6:00-7:30 - Family gingerbread house decorating -- Join us for a family evening of stories and fun, and decorate a gingerbread house to take home. Graham Crackers and frosting will be provided. Each family is asked to bring a bag of colorful candy for shared decorating supplies.
** Thursday, December 16, 6:30 pm - UMVA (Union of Maine Visual Artists) regular meeting at the Camden Public Library, open to the public. Painter Judy Perry will be making the presentation. Judith Perry is an artist who came to Maine from New York's Hudson River Valley. Her boldly colored semi-abstract oil paintings are based in nature and are a call to honor that relationship. She received her MFA in 1996, and has been exhibiting and selling her paintings for over fifteen years.
Sunday, December 19, 3:00-5:00 pm - Christmas music with Frank Wareham at the piano. Listen and sing along. There will have a fire in the fireplace in the Reading Room.
** Thursday, December 30, 5:30 pm - In celebration of the year's end, a family potluck Redwall Feast will be held.The Jean Picker Room will be transformed into Redwall Abbey for the evening, and after the feast a viewing of Brian Jacques "Redwall: The Adventure Begins" will be shown on the big screen.

Belfast Free Library
The Library has been awarded a grant from the American Library Association and Nextbook to offer a reading and discussion series called "Let's Talk About It: Jewish Literature--Identity and Imagination."
This series explores Jewish literature through scholar-led discussions of contemporary and classic books on a common theme. The five-part series will examine the theme, Between Two Worlds: Stories of Estrangement and Homecoming.
The books in this series, all of which explore the central tension of the Jewish Diaspora and what it means to belong, are Lost in Translation, by Eva Hoffman; Mr. Sammler's Planet, by Saul Bellow; Out of Egypt, by Andre Aciman; The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar; and Kaaterskill Falls, by Allegra Goodman.
The Belfast Free Library is one of 34 libraries nationwide receiving a first round grant to host this series, developed by Nextbook and ALA. Local support for the series also is provided by Senior College at the University of Maine-Hutchinson Center in Belfast and The Book Group of Synagogue Adas Yoshuron in Rockland.
Betty Becker-Theye, a retired professor of Comparative Literature, and Judy Stein will facilitate the discussions. The first discussion will focus on Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman and will be held on Monday February 7, 2005 at 7 pm in the Abbott Room at the Belfast Free Library. Further book discussions will meet at 7 pm on Mondays, March 7 and 21, and April 11 and 25.

Winslow Public Library
** Mary Town Jaqua will be the Artist of the Month for both December and January. She will be displaying her Winslow collection. She will also have digitally-mastered prints of these paintings available for purchase. The library will receive a portion of the price for these prints.
** During the month of December patrons may pay their fines with nonperishable items for the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter.
Fridays - 2:30-3:30 p.m., Chess & Checkers Club for 3rd to 5th graders.
Dec 3 - 6:30-8:00 p.m.- Scrabble Club
Tuesdays - 10:00 a.m - Preschool Story Time
Dec 7 - 6:30-8:00 p.m.- Book Discussion Group - We are reading a collection of O. Henry's short stories, any collection you have will do. Be prepared to discuss your favorite one, besides The Ransom of Red Chief or The Gift of the Magi.

Spaulding Memorial Library
Book Group will be meeting Monday 12/20 at 7 pm at the library. We will be discussing /The Photograph/ by Penelope Lively.
Story Hour is Fridays 9:30 am - 12/3-Get Ready to Count, 12/10-Birds of a Feather, 12/17-Happy Holidays
Friends of Spaulding Memorial Library will be holding their annual Cookie Walk, Sunday 12/12 from 1-3 pm at the library. Come for great treats and raffles drawn every 10 minutes.

Brooksville Elementary School
** Recently purchased several books about kids with disabilities for all levels, mostly for those kids or at the request of their caregivers. They are proving popular.
** Started a (roughly) bi-monthly newsletter to the teaching staff about new books, helpful web sites, new supplemental teaching materials like those being offered in conjunction with January's movie release of Because of Winn-Dixie.
** Have increased library volunteers from two to six to ensure library is open as much as possible. The librarian, Rick Alexander, is in the building full time but also have teaching duties about 40 per cent of the time.

Check the Library District sites for calendars of events, local meetings and training sessions.