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Senter Fund grant awarded to PFL |
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BATH - Patten Free Library recently received a $1,500 grant from the Alfred M. Senter Fund in Brunswick towards the purchase of books for this winter’s Community Read of Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Additional funding for the Community Read has been provided by The Friends of Patten Free Library and First Federal Savings Institution.
Distribution of the books is the most important aspect of the execution and success of this program. Getting books in the hands of readers as easily and efficiently as possible is the goal. To this end Patten Free buys 400 copies of the adult title and twenty of each of the companion books for younger ages. Thirty-five of the adult books are cataloged in the circulation system for borrowing. The other 365 are distributed on an honor system. Inside the cover is a label reading “Pass on to a friend or return to the Library” instead of a due date slip. This allows readers to easily circulate books for more to enjoy.
These honor system books go out in a flurry of activity within the first week of the reading period in January. After seven years of the program, patrons are clamoring for the books to be ready and the reading period to start.
As patrons pick up their copies of Shadow Divers, they are welcomed by Scuba Barbie who has surfaced from the depths of the ocean.
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