Cliff Island’s library: The Stone Library

Cliff Island’s library is probably the only official library in Casco Bay that is housed in a classic turn-of-the-century cottage, built in 1907. Perched on a hillside, just beyond the community hall, which houses the post office and historical society, this beautiful library was named after Floraetta Stone (The Stone Library), a co-founder of the library (1907) and the Cliff Island Library Club which still operates the library. The library offers services in the summer only (although has been known to be open in the winter in the past). The paid librarian, Amy Lent, is also the postmaster (a true Mainer!). Although the library is technically a membership library, it balances being a public library by offering services to anyone who needs it. Books, books-on-tape, CDs, DVDs are offered, as well as classic Maine books – all of which can be accessed through the Cliff Island Stone Librarylibrary’s automated catalog. There is even a teen room. Best of all is a wonderful porch where one can sit and enjoy reading, while gazing between the trees at the water. What more could one want!

LibraryThing

Ever thought about cataloging your home library? I haven’t – too much like my day job. But for those of you who are looking for a winter project, there is an online solution! “LibraryThing” is available to help people catalog their books easily. Tim Spaulding, a web developer and web publisher based in Portland, Maine, is on Tancook Island Library 2the cutting edge of cyberspace, allowing people to maintain access to their own book collections, and then share the information online, sometimes described as “Facebook for books.” LibraryThing has over 44 million books available, and over a million users. You can access your catalog from anywhere—even on your mobile phone. Because everyone catalogs together, LibraryThing also connects people with the same books, comes up with suggestions for what to read next, and so forth. A free account allows you to catalog up to 200 books – over that there is a small fee ($10 a year or $25 for a lifetime).

For more information see www.librarything.com