Some of you know how much I enjoy discovering “hidden” libraries in Portland, so here’s another fun find – the library at the Portland Seafarer’s Friend! The Seafarer’s Friend is a ministry committed to meeting the spiritual, social, practical and emotional needs of the New England maritime community, and serves the ports of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. The Portland Seafarer’s Friend is located on Commercial Street, across from the Portland Fish Pier. They offer support to international mariners, commercial crews, and cruise ship personnel, including hospitality, advocacy, and spiritual pastoral care. More specifically, for us book lovers, they offer a library!
Entering into their space one can find a gift shop, and comfortable seating area with a jigsaw puzzle in process. On Mondays they welcome knitters into this space, as one of their services is to provide warm hand made hats for seafarers, many of whom are from warmer climates and not acclimated to northern weather. There’s also coffee and tea available.
Downstairs there’s a ping pong table, another lounge area, and the library. While there are nautical and spiritual books, as one would expect in a seafarer’s library, there is also a good supply of fiction and non-fiction, old books and new books. Popular fiction is the most plentiful, in a nice variety of paperback and hard covers. There’s a small selection of books in other languages, as well as some DVDs.
The library functions as a “Little Free Library” for seafarers: “Please help yourself to whatever you would like to read on your voyage! You are welcome to keep the book or DVD, give it to a friend, or return it here when you pick up another.” Of course there are reference books that stay in the library, but the majority of books can be borrowed.
On a side note, one of the surprising things about the Portland Seafarer’s Friend is that it contains an authentic Titanic life vest, one of only about 12 still in existence worldwide, which was acquired by Seafarer’s Friend in the 1960s from a seafarer involved in the disaster’s aftermath. This object alone, is worth a visit to the Portland Seafarer’s Friend.
While the library is for mariners to use, the center is open to the public for a visit, generally from 10-5. The chaplains, Jasper and Kali, are happy to show visitors around, share their ministry goals, and point out the library. And for those who believe in the power of books to challenge, comfort, and connect, here’s a lovely “little free library” that extends beyond the neighborhood and out into the world at large, to do what all libraries attempt to do, to bring the written word to all, without cost or barriers.
(The Portland Seafarer’s Friend will be moving their center next spring, to a location closer to the cruise ships – and to Casco Bay Lines – so stay tuned for this exciting new possibility in outreach to mariners).