PRESQUE ISLE – More than 200 titles written by Maine authors are being added to the holdings of the E. Perrin Edmunds Library at Northern Maine Community College through a $6,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.
“Our goal is to establish a Maine collection for the library, which will serve to encourage reading of Maine authors, study of Maine history and culture, and interest in Maine’s Native American cultures,” said Gail Roy, NMCC assistant dean of learning resources.
Since she was notified by the King Foundation several weeks ago that the grant application she submitted late last year had been funded, Roy and her staff have been following through with the purchase of dozens of books, with more currently on order and to be ordered in the coming weeks. Titles by Maine authors have been purchased from a number of publishers including University of Maine Press, Maine Historical Society, Maine Folklife Center, among others.
“The addition of Maine children’s books, Maine history, Maine literature and poetry, and Maine Native American and Acadian titles in this new collection will support the curricula in history, English, and early childhood education programs at the college. This collection will also be available to members of our community and to local schools,” said Roy. “We are extremely grateful for the generosity of the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation in supporting our request for funds to establish a Maine collection in the library.”
According to Roy, many of the books that comprise the Edmunds Library’s growing Maine collection speak to the experience of several different cultures that comprise the state and Aroostook County’s people, including Irish, Native American, Franco-American, Acadian and Swedish. Among the most recently published books included in the new collection is a Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Dictionary, published in 2008 by University of Maine Press.
Roy is currently planning public readings for the fall in the NMCC library by a number of Maine authors included in the collection. She is also working with several of her NMCC colleagues to plan events and activities on campus to celebrate different Maine cultures and the state’s natural resources during the fall semester. A number of the events will feature guest speakers and presenters, and all will be open to the community.
Photo courtesy of Northern Maine Community College
GAIL ROY, assistant dean of learning resources at Northern Maine Community College, holds a Stephen King book while standing in front of the new and growing collection of books by Maine authors in the E. Perrin Edmunds Library at NMCC made possible through a $6,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.
