Bass Harbor Memorial Library

Celebrate Our Community with Books!

Bass Harbor Memorial Library
89 Bernard Road, PO Box 99
Bernard, Maine 04612

Voice & Fax (207) 244-3798

Panel Discussion

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Women’s History Month : Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we want to celebrate the voices of these notable women. The women here are changing our world for the better with their storytelling prowess. From them, we can learn many lessons about storytelling.

Come listen and talk to these women from our community that are working to make contributions to society in countless ways, including through the power of storytelling. 

Please join us on Thursday, March 23rd at 6 PM at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library, 89 Bernard Road, Bass Harbor. Our panelists will include:

Sara Trunzo is a songwriter, curator, and community organizer (Veggies For All, Waldo County Bounty) who delivers songs with, what Adobe and Teardrops describe as, “a sense of empathy that few songwriters can attain.” Lonesome Highway says her latest EP, Cabin Fever Dream, is “loaded with truly touching lyrics and provide[s] a glimpse of an unquestionably talented artist.” Her 2019 LP Dirigo Attitude reached #22 on the Folk Alliance International chart and featured Darrell Scott and Mary Gauthier. The lead single “Food and Medicine” reached #3 on the Folk Alliance International chart, won 1st prize at the 2018 Maine Songwriters Association contest, and was a runner-up in the 2023 International Acoustic Music Awards. Sara is the host of ‘Country & Northeastern’ on WERU Community Radio. FMI: www.saratrunzo.com and socials @saratrunzomusic.

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Kristen Britain grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where she started her first novel – an undersea fantasy featuring herself and her friends – at the age of nine. She published her first book, a cartoon collection called, Horses and Horsepeople, at the age of thirteen. In 1987 she completed a degree in film production, with a minor in writing, at Ithaca College. After graduation, travel beckoned and she began a career as a ranger with the National Park Service, enabling her to work in a variety of natural and historical settings, from 300 feet below the surface of the Earth to 13,000 feet above sea level on the Continental Divide; and from the textile mills of the American Industrial Revolution to the homes of Americans who changed the course of history. Her first published epic fantasy novel, Green Rider, the story of a runaway school girl who finds herself in deep peril when she agrees to bear a message for a dying Green Rider (king’s messenger), was released in 1998.

She lives in the woods of Maine with two cats, and a West Highland White Terrier (who cosplays as a Hillander Terrier).

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Sarah Hinckley is a two-time Islander reporter who grew up in western Maine and first made her way to Mount Desert Island for a summer job 30 years ago. While working as a journalist in Maine and Vermont, she reported on town and capital politics, education policy, and news, as well as everyday happenings like seeping lobsters in THC and Christmas bird counts. Capturing the stories of now and highlighting the characters who make them history is a great responsibility, which Hinckley doesn’t take lightly. Currently, she is working as the director of a nursery school, capturing her own story of raising two small children.

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Weslea Sidon is a poet and musician who lives in Seal Cove, Maine, on Mt. Desert Island, with her husband, cats, and big plans to finish the garden and the kitchen.

Her poems have appeared in several anthologies and literary magazines, including, most recently, Paumonok, Poems and Pictures of Long Island, and Still on the Island, as well as Two With Water, Wolf Moon, and Off the Coast Food Issue: Tounge & Taste. A column, “Permanently From Away,” appeared regularly in Face Magazine for two years, and reviews, mostly music, have appeared in the Mt. Desert Islander, Bar Harbor Times, Off the Coast, and High-Performance Magazine. Her favorite prose work was for the late, lamented Squash.

Weslea teaches guitar privately and has taught poetry and creative writing to children aged 10–16 at the Summer Festival of the Arts since 1989. She was awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship in Poetry in 2002.

On Our Walls

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Image: “Soundings,” a mixed media collage on paper by Kathie Pratt, Dawn Nuding, and Michele Marks

The Bass Harbor Memorial Library joins with other island libraries to celebrate Women’s History Month, March 2023. This year’s theme, “Women Who Tell Our Stories,” will bring together island artists to honor women storytellers. The exhibition will feature artworks in a range of mediums from watercolor to hooked rugs, knit banners, screenprints, and more. The library will host a reception for the exhibit on Thursday, March 9th from 5-7 PM. The show will be up for the month of March, and can be viewed during regular library hours.

 

Building Solutions for Tremont

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Join A Climate to Thrive and the Town of Tremont at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library at 5:30 on Monday, March 13 to learn about key technologies like heat pumps, weatherization, solar, electric appliances, and more, as well as information on financing opportunities to help make these home-improving technologies accessible.

Are you interested in learning more about how to make your home energy efficient, transition to technologies like heat pumps, or explore the benefits of solar ownership? Join us for “Building Solutions for Tremont” on March 13th at 5:30 at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library, a partnership between A Climate to Thrive & the town of Tremont. This free event will feature free food, information on practical benefits and financing options for key technologies (heat pumps, solar, weatherization, and appliance electrification) and stories from residents who have implemented one or more technologies in their own homes. Following the event, residents can have casual one-on-one conversations with speakers and sign up to receive individualized support through A Climate to Thrive’s Building Solutions Program.

Travel Talk // February 2 @ 6pm // Arctic Twilight: Travels in Iceland and Greenland

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February 2 @ 6 pm

Join us for the first Travel Talk of 2023!

Register Here

Raney Bench
Arctic Twilight: Travels in Iceland and Greenland

From the moment Raney Bench saw her first iceberg and glacier outside of Anchorage, Alaska, she has been fascinated with ice and its future on our planet. In the summer of 2022 Bench, her parents, and oldest son had the opportunity to explore southern Greenland through a small ship expedition. Traveling through isolated fjords to the base of several glaciers, the impacts of climate change were immediately clear. The trip also offered the unique opportunity to camp with Greenlandic natives, learn to forage and cook traditional recipes, and to spend an afternoon on the ice sheet. Bookending the trip to Greenland were several days spent exploring Iceland, with its dramatically different landscapes and culture. Bench will share her photos, impressions, and lessons learned from this rapidly changing region. 

Raney Bench is the Executive Director of the Mount Desert Island Historical Society and lives in Southwest Harbor with her husband, two sons, and several furry companions. She believes that history is vital to understanding our lives today, and in envisioning the future we want. She has been fortunate to travel with her family to several countries, always keen to learn first hand about the impacts of climate change on the ecosystems and cultures she visits. 

Register Here

Food Waste Challenge

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The Food Waste team at the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions is launching a month-long food waste challenge, beginning Jan. 9.

Did you know…

  • 30-40% of the food that we produce is never eaten – and that the average family of four wastes almost $2000 per year on food that we throw away?
  • And in Maine, while our food prices are skyrocketing, food is still the single largest part of our trash!

Make a difference today…

  • Save nearly $24/person per week.
  • Save valuable fresh water, energy, and labor used to produce food that is thrown out.
  • Donations to food banks could triple and help end hunger in Maine.
  • Food trash would not go to landfills where it produces methane gas– a leading contributor to climate change.

Just take the Maine Home Food Waste Challenge 2023– and reduce your food waste for 30 days…

Collect and weigh your wasted food each week for four weeks starting Jan. 9, 2023.

We’ll send and share easy tips and resources to help you use every bit of your food – and reduce the waste each week.

We’ll track your progress – and your friends, family, and community – just check our MHFW Challenge Leaderboard right here each week!

For extra help, join our Facebook support page, or a local library group, or form your own Challenge group and share ideas, recipes, and help with reducing food waste.

Keep up the good work for 4 weeks and watch your food waste disappear – and of course, earn lots of online and real world recognition each week!

Sign up to participate in the challenge here.

Creating Future Gardeners on MDI

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(Left to Right) Westside Summer Gardening Club participants: Oliver Presa-Guzman, Delfina Presa-Guzman, and Maddy Wedge with the program’s co-lead Linda Woolley of the Bar Harbor Garden Club, cutting zinnias at their plot at the Kelley Farm Preserve. Photograph courtesy of the Bar Harbor Garden Club.

This summer the Bar Harbor Garden Club (BHGC) and the Bass Harbor Memorial Library (BHML) launched the Westside Summer Garden Club, a first-time program designed to foster a life-long interest in gardening and horticulture among youth between ages 8 and 14. The program, which began in June and ended this fall, was co-led by BHGC members Douglas Heden and Linda Wooley with support from BHML librarian Lisa Murray. Read the full article here.

Gift of Art Holiday Marketplace

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Support local artists this season!

This December, the Bass Harbor Memorial Library will host a holiday marketplace featuring artwork and handmade items from local artists, priced for holiday gift giving. All pieces will be priced under $250 and a portion of all sales will be donated to library programming.

The Marketplace will be open during Library hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 10-5, Thursday 10-8, and Saturday 10-2 with a special shopping evening with refreshments on Thursday December 8, from 6-8pm.

More details to follow!

November Artist: Katrina Linscott

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During the month of November, the Bass Harbor Memorial Library welcomes artworks created by Katrina Linscott. Dates for a recepetion will be announced.
 
In addition to teaching French at the Tremont School, Katrina enjoys creating art, including jewelry, collage, and watercolors. Seven years ago, she put the those endeavors aside and devoted her creative free time to illustrating and writing a book, “Disco and Me/Disco et moi.”  She saw a need for stories that ignite curiosity about the places, culture, and language of the Francophone world, written at a novice to intermediate level. She has always loved colored pencil, in part because of reading and loving Leo Leoni’s illustrations in “Fish is Fish” as a child.  The illustrations in “Disco et Moi” are done with Prismacolor Soft Core pencils. She lives on Mount Desert Island. Please visit us to see Katrina’s artwork, which will be on display at the library through the end of the month.

 



Donate to the 2022/2023 Annual Appeal

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The Bass Harbor Memorial Library is a tax-exempt organization under the Town of Tremont, EIN # 01-6000399

To donate with a credit card online, click the button above

 

CHECKS
If you would like to make a donation by mail, please make your check out to the Town of Tremont, with Bass Harbor Memorial Library on the memo line, and send to:

Library Director
Bass Harbor Memorial Library
PO Box 99
Bernard, ME 04612

STOCKS
If you would like to donate stocks, please contact the Library Director, at librarian@bassharborlibrary.com  or 207-244-3798 with the name and number of stocks to be donated.

Your broker can contact Ron Hamilton at Bar Harbor Trust Services at rhamilton@infinexgroup.com or 207-667-9963. Our DTC # (0443) and Brokerage Account number NFL066760  Account Name: Town of Tremont/Bass Harbor Memorial Library.

 

Hiring Library Director

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The Bass Harbor Memorial Library, the municipal library for the Town of Tremont, seeks a dynamic and personable Library Director with a passion for literacy and community engagement. The Director will manage the operation, programming, and administration of the library. This is a great opportunity for an individual with library or nonprofit experience to grow into a bigger role in our newly expanded facility in Bernard. The new Director will continue to bring the Library’s mission to life with the support of the Town of Tremont and the Board.

The Bass Harbor Memorial Library is an equal opportunity employer, celebrates diversity, and strives to enrich the lives of the Tremont community by providing access to information, promoting a love of reading, and offering programs that celebrate the resources of our community. 

CLICK HERE FOR FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

Posted: 10/12/22
Position Title: Library Director
Reports to: Chair of the Library Board of Trustees
Supervises: Library Staff
Hours: Part-time, year-round  21-28 hours/weekly (with the possibility of expanded hours);  some evenings, and occasional weekend hours
Pay Rate: $18-$22/hour, depending on experience
Benefits: $4,800 health insurance stipend; $1,000 retirement match; paid sick and vacation time; paid holidays
Start Date: November 2022
To Apply:  Email resume and cover letter to Rachel Kohrman Ramos at leapingliteracy@gmail.com, or mail to: Rachel Kohrman Ramos  Bass Harbor Memorial Library   PO Box 99  Bernard, Maine 04612 Call (207) 244-3798 with questions or for more information

Role and Responsibilities:
The Library Director manages the operation and administration of the Library within policies and guidelines established by the Library Board of Trustees in order to fulfill the mission of the Library and its strategic plan. The Library Director is the advisor on library practices to the Board and is their representative to the staff. The Bass Harbor Memorial Library is a department of the Town of Tremont.

Qualifications: 

  • Passionate about books, libraries, literacy, and enriching the lives of island residents
  • Time management, written/in-person communication, and organizational skills
  • Positive attitude and interpersonal skills
  • Website maintenance (or willingness to learn)
  • Macintosh computer competency, ability to learn new computer skills and applications
  • Comfortable working with, learning about, and troubleshooting technology
  • Familiar with Google Drive and associated applications, and MS Word/Excel
  • Comfortable maintaining and extracting information from databases (or willingness to learn)
  • Comfortable managing staff and volunteers
  • Experience working within a budget
  • Able to work alone, with committees, and in collaboration with other organizations
  • Flexible multitasker willing to learn library-specific skills with the ability to develop creative solutions
  • Lift up to 30 pounds, climb stairs

An Ideal Candidate will also have:

  • Previous experience working in either libraries, leadership or nonprofits 
  • Experience organizing and leading programs, collaborating with community organizations
  • Familiar with: Evergreen Circulation software, Little Green Light fundraising software, web design with WordPress, and email campaigns using Mailchimp 
  • Experience with fundraising campaigns, mailings, and managing databases