Written by Bob Jørgensen | 03 March 2010

In this corner, wearing purple trunks and weighing in at...well, no, it isn't exactly like that, but the Town Meeting on March 20 is certainly going to pit two different views of library funding against each other in a secret ballot to decide whether to continue funding the Curtis Memorial Library (CML) in Brunswick at the present level of $113,538 for the year, reduce the contribution to a lower amount or eliminate the annual contribution from the Town of Harpswell to the CML entirely.
On one side, we have those who agree with Marc Wallace that very few people use the Brunswick facility, that libraries are a thing of the past because of internet access to virtually everything we want, and that the money would be better spent, if it is to be spent at all, on our local libraries on Orr's Island and Cundy's Harbor. As the cost of library operation increases, like everything else, the annual assessment by CML has increased by two or three thousand dollars in each recent year. This, Wallace denounces as simply another case of "Government gouging the working poor."
Former Selectman, Lee Theberge, has also been a long term opponent of funding CML. "I believe that anyone who wishes to use the library in Brunswick should pay to do so, just as I pay to send my children to school. I find it difficult to justify Harpswell's paying nearly $120,000 so that roughly half of its residents can use that facility." Theberge went on to describe how a hardcover book entitled, Voyage of the Oregon, about an American battleship that traveled around the Horn of Africa, recently came into his possession through an estate sale. When he looked the book up on the internet, he was surprised to find it there, especially since only a total of 25 copies were printed and subsequently distributed by the captain to key crew members. Moreover, the complete, unabridged text of this rare book was also reproduced in its entirety. "If even a limited edition volume like this can be found, read and printed out at home with a few mouse clicks, why would anyone want to waste the time and fuel to drive to and from Brunswick for their books?" Theberge also cast doubts on the actual number of households claimed by CML as having cards, suggesting that several members of some such families may each hold individual membership cards. In any case, roughly half of the people in Harpswell use the library. "If the town bought each of them an annual library card at $64, it would come out to roughly $84,000, a savings of around $26,000. Harpswell taxpayers could be saved even more if the town made no contribution to the library, but instead set aside, say, $40,000 in a fund to which lower income residents could apply to have $64 sent to CML on their behalf for a membership. In either case, the difference, up to the full amount of the share currently requested of Harpswell could then be used to finance the completion of additions at Harpswell's own small libraries on Orr's Island and Cundy's Harbor."
Jim Henderson doesn't agree. He notes that the relationship between Harpswell and the CML goes back about 15 years and that, "While the town pays only 8.7% of the cost of operating the facility, Harpswell residents comprise 13.8% of the users of the library, a bargain any way you look at it." He went on to mention that inter-library loan capability allows Harpswell residents to access material from the big library in Brunswick through our local libraries and to return borrowed books and documents by means of a town office book-drop.
While Wallace insists that, "We shouldn't support the Brunswick library because anyone who really wants to use the facility can buy a library card from them for $65," Henderson suggests, "The cost of an individual membership is beyond the reach of many of the 1,788 Harpswell residents who are regular users of this wonderful resource and who are better served by the town becoming a contributing part of the library's operation instead."
The office of CML director Elisabeth Doucett reported that the daily average number of visitors increased by 5.5% this year as additional people came to the facility in large numbers to get help with job hunting, resume writing, and financial management as consequences of the national economic downturn, as well as to take advantage of the benefits of enjoying various free forms of entertainment, education and relaxation including books, periodicals, CDs, DVDs and videotapes. The library is connected to an inter-library system that allows the sharing of books, documents and resources statewide and with several out of state libraries. Usage of this network increased by 12.6% last year. Nearly 19,000 people attended a wide variety of programs at CML in 2009, including those for everyone from toddlers to adults including special presentations, book discussions and community read programs. CML also offers free internet access vial the library's 53 public use computers and trained personnel to assist users in conduction web searches and other activities. CML is located at 23 Pleasant St., opposite the Brunswick Post Office and has ample parking in the rear.
Of course, Harpswell has two libraries of its own, one in Cundy's Harbor and the other on Orr's Island. The librarian at the former, Sam Schwartz, who explained that his library has as "cordial and supportive" inter-library relationship with CML that expands its own collection of 5,000 books and other materials exponentially. He noted that, "Our close relationship with CML is a critical part of our service and a most valuable resource." Using something called interlibrary loan, or ILL, the Cundy's Harbor Library can email CML for books or documents that are sought by local patrons with the Brunswick institution mailing the requested items to Cundy's Harbor. Schwartz visits Brunswick frequently and uses those trips to pick up and even return books personally to the big regional library, although CML has a convenient drop box for returning books at the Town Office. Using another interlibrary connection called the Minerva System, the Cundy's Harbor Library has complete computer access to all the books, magazines, tapes and documents in the CML collection so that they can be ordered on behalf of local patrons. CML also makes books available, free of charge, to the libraries in Harpswell as part of the Community Read series and provides funds from a grant program promoting health under the Community Health Information Partnership (CHIP) in collaboration with Parkview and Mid Coast Hospitals.