Have you tried one of our Time Machines?

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Gardiner was a robust printing center throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century, producing, in addition to books and pamphlets, several newspapers over the decades.  From the Eastern Chronicle (1824-1826) and Cold Water Fountain (1844-1848) to the Gardiner Home Journal (1858-1892) and Reporter Journal (1893-1913) (and many others in between and after), Gardiner steadily chronicled local goings on and kept up with the news of the state and nation. We are incredibly lucky to have the majority of Gardiner’s historic periodicals preserved on over 100 reels of microfilm here in the library’s Community Archives Room and available for research.  We …

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Fall Events at the Library!

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We still have a few more events associated with the Voices Of The Kennebec grant.  Deb Gould will be here on Tuesday, October 11th from 7:00pm – 8:30pm to discuss her historical novel The Eastern, set in Pittston, Maine.  Gay Grant will be here on Tuesday, October 25th from 7:00pm – 8:30pm to discuss her book Destination Unknown, a biography of a World War II evacuee. There is still room available in the Writing Workshop with Brian Evans-Jones, to be held on Saturday, October 22nd from 10:00am – 4:00pm.  Call the library – 207.582.3312 – if you have any interest …

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A 1 Diner

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In 2006 a local publisher, Tilbury House, published a book by Sarah Rolph that celebrated a local diner, the A 1 Diner.  The book gives a history of the diner featuring both those who work behind the counter and those in the kitchen.  Many recipes that have become customer favorites are revealed in the book.  Below is one of them.  For more of these wonderful recipes and to enjoy the history of this local institution, visit the library to borrow the book, A 1 Diner: real food, recipes, and recollections by Sarah Rolph. Hazel Newell’s Squash Custard Pie: This pie …

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Got Non-Fiction

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As a teacher, I am always encouraging my students to read more non-fiction. Recently, I decided I ought to take my own advice and move away from my go-to mysteries. As I pondered what non-fiction area to delve into, I thought back to my childhood and remembered the times spent at camp making terrariums with my aunt. She patiently and carefully showed me what to do and we got busy collecting items for our terrariums. These fond memories sparked my interest and I decided to do some research into terrariums. I started looking on Minerva, the electronic “card catalog” and …

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New Children’s Books for September

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Picture books The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles by Michelle Cuevas. Illustrated by Erin E. Stead. The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles has a job of the utmost importance. It is his task to open any bottle found at sea and make sure that the message is delivered. He loves his job, although he always wishes that one of the letters would someday be addressed to him. Then one day he finds a bottle with the most intriguing note inside, and no name attached. As he devotes himself to solving the mystery, he ends up finding what his heart wanted all along. …

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One hundred years ago, a letter arrived in Gardiner….

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Written from Columbia University, the letter congratulated a Gardiner author on winning the Pulitzer Prize for biography.  The author, who compiled scrapbooks of her family life and day-to-day goings on, dutifully pasted the letter on the next available page in her Family Log and moved right along…. Neither she nor the letter made note of the fact that that she and her sister were the first women to win a Pulitzer.  In fact, as 1917 was the inaugural year of the most celebrated prize for literature, the event made little more than a tiny ripple in Laura E. Richard’s daily life. …

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