Coming soon: Summer Reading 2023!

We’re getting things ready for you for a spectacular Summer Reading season! 

Sign up for a dedicated Summer Reading eNews edition, so you won’t miss a single event or announcement!

 

Summer Reading eNews

Museum & Parks Pass @ PFL

Summer is coming! Warm days and blue skies beckon, and it is time to take advantage of all Maine has to offer. At Patten Free Library you’ll find free or reduced rate passes to the museums and Maine State parks. Visit the Library or call 443-5141 x1011 for more information or to reserve a pass.

 

 

Harmful and Shifting Species with UMaine Extension 4-H

Wednesday Afternoons  in May 10-June 14 @ 3:30-4:00 pm

In this series of hands-on activities youth learn about harmful and shifting species in the Gulf of Maine. Using native and invasive crab species as a case study, youth engage in games, simulations, and scientific observations. Through these activities they get to know the importance of food webs and the impacts of invasive species and a changing environment on ecosystems. For grades 4-5.

To register email childrenscirc@patten.lib.me.us or call 207-443-5141 x1016.

Week 1: All about ecosystems!
Week 2: Invasive species: How did they get here?
Week 3: Meet the crabs: Native vs Invasive
Week 4: Invasion of the European Green Crab game
Week 5: Warming ocean, shifting species
Week 6: Harmful and shifting species, pass it on

Come and join the fun in learning together! 

History Room: Spring & Summer Hours

Bath Daily Times exhibition
To celebrate reaching our $10,000 goal for our Bath Daily Times microfilm digitization project, we have a small exhibit on the publication in the case outside the History Room on the second floor. Come learn about the project and see some highlighted collection items! Stay tuned for updates and the first batch of digitized issues in July!
 
2023 Spring and Summer History Room Hours
(April 24 – September 5)
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 12-4
Wednesday: 12-4
Thursday: 12-4
Friday: 12-4
Saturday: 12-4 (10-1 Memorial Day to Labor Day)

Town History Series 2023

The Sagadahoc History and Genealogy Room announces the nineteenth annual Town History Series!

The Town History Series is a long-standing Patten Free Library tradition that brings together Patten Free Library’s member communities to learn about and celebrate each town’s local history.  The town of Arrowsic, Bath Historical Society, Georgetown Historical Society, West Bath Historical Society, and Woolwich Historical Society each select a speaker to present on an aspect of their local history.  All programs take place at 10:30 a.m. and will be presented in person, live on Zoom, and recorded and streamed on BCTV.

Click on the individual listing below to learn more and register online. Recordings will become available below and on the Town History Series playlist the week after they are live.

 

Saturday, January 28: West Bath

Sabino: An Historic Overview with Jay E. Paris Jr.

 

Saturday, February 4: Bath

Oak Grove Cemetery: A History, with Stories with Joe Minott

 

Saturday, February 11: Georgetown

Tide Mills of Georgetown with Harry Hopcroft

 

Saturday, February 18: Woolwich

“Good Health, Good Morals, and Training:” Summer Camps in Woolwich with Allison Hepler

 

This year’s Town History Series is dedicated to Sheila Spear. Sheila volunteered for the History Room, indexing obituaries for our Memory database, and she was the first Town Administrator of Arrowsic until her retirement in 2022. At last year’s Town History Series, Sheila represented Arrowsic and presented Gift or Purchase? Relation to the Land, Arrowsic 1717. Sheila is greatly missed.

Camden Conference

We are excited to be part of the 2023 Camden Conference!  For the first time this year we are part of a collaborative programming partnership with Kennebunk Free LibraryPatten Free LibraryScarborough Public Library, and Prince Memorial Library.  This partnership allows us to offer even more great Camden Conference events throughout January and February.  Click the link to each program below for more information and to register.

 

Gold and Global Politics with Mike Lynch

January 5 at 2 p.m.

Zoom

 

Immigration to America: 1800 – 1924 with John Sutherland

January 10 at 6:30 p.m.

Zoom

 

21st Century Human Migration and Global Trade with Kathleen Sullivan

January 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Zoom

 

Bilateral Trade: The Canadian Perspective with Rodger Cuzner, Consul General of Canada in Boston

January 23 at 6:30 p.m.

Zoom

 

The Future of International Trade with Francesco Duina

January 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Zoom

 

International Climate Policy & Trade with Peter Dugas

February 1 at 6:30 p.m.

Zoom

 

 

The Race for the Final Frontier with John Doughty

February 8 at 5:30 p.m.

Zoom and in Person in the Community Room

 

 

Armchair Traveler: Paris and Parisians with Jayne Boisvert

January 11, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.

Zoom

Learn about Paris and some of its famous residents with Cheapo Snob series author Jayne Boisvert.  Jayne will offer information on finding lodging and restaurants to suit just about anyone’s budget, (including a splurge or two), and discuss interesting attractions like the Palais Garnier and the Pantheon as well as the beautiful Château de Fontainebleau outside the city limits. In addition, we will examine the lives of a variety of French residents—from Brigitte Bardot and Coco Chanel to Victor Hugo and Erik Satie.  Register below to enjoy this armchair tour of one of the greatest cities in the world. Presented on Zoom only.

Learn more about Jayne and the Cheapo Snob series here, and purchase her books at Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick or on Amazon.

Register for This Event

Knitting Circle

Monday from 3-5 p.m.

Community Room

Open to all ages and abilities- you don’t even have to be a knitter!  Bring your supplies or use ours.  Drop in every Monday for crafts and conversation.

Winter Sharing Table

Tuesday from 12-2:30 from November to May, in the lobby in the Children’s side entrance. 

The Sharing Table is a table of free produce for all, generously provided by the Merrymeeting Gleaners. There is no income or residency requirement and it is 100% anonymous. The table is stocked with fresh produce as well as some prepared items, processed using any surplus gleaned food. Take what you need and leave the rest for your friends and neighbors. 

For more information visit https://www.mchpp.org/project/merrymeeting-gleaners/.

2022 Annual Writing Contest

1st prize and 2nd prizes will be named in each of six categories:

Grades 7-9: Short Fiction, Non-Fiction
Grades 10-12: Short Fiction, Non-Fiction
Adults: Short Fiction, Non-Fiction

Entries will be judged by a panel of library staff, trustees, local teachers, and Teen Library Council members. First ($100) and second prize ($50) gift certificates will be awarded in each category. Winners will be honored at a reception in January 2023; winning entries will be published on the Library website.  The Writing Contest is made possible with support from the Friends of the Patten Free Library.

Entries accepted September 9 through December 3, 2022.

Guidelines:
• One submission limit per author per category; no co-authors.
• Teen entrants must be in grades 7-12, live in the library service area; or attend an R.S.U. 1 school, Chop Point School, Hyde School, or Chewonki Middle School.
• Adult entrants must be 18 years or older and live in the library service area (Arrowsic, Georgetown, Bath, West Bath, or Woolwich) or hold a valid Patten Free Library card. Library staff are not eligible for consideration.
• Previously published work will not be accepted.
• Entries may be up to 3000 words.
• Include a header on each page with title, category, and page number.
• Submissions will be judged blind. DO NOT include writer’s name anywhere on the submission itself.
• No “fan fiction,” please.

 

Submissions accepted via online submission form or in print.

 

Electronic submission:

  • Fill out the form at the bottom of the page.

 

Print submission:

  • Include the following information on a cover sheet and deliver to the Information Desk, or mail to:

              Writing Contest c/o Patten Free Library

              33 Summer Street

              Bath, ME 04530

  • Writer’s name, address, email, and telephone number
  • Title, word count, and category (short fiction or non-fiction)
  • Age: either Adult, or grade and school name, or note as homeschooled

 

Questions?  Call or email Hannah Lackoff (207-443-5141 x1021, hlackoff@patten.lib.me.us)

The contest is made possible with support from the Friends of the Patten Free Library.

 

2022 Annual Writing Contest

  • Teen entrants must be in grades 7-12, live in the library service area; or attend an R.S.U. 1 school, Chop Point School, Hyde School, or Chewonki Middle School.
    Adult entrants must be 18 years or older and live in the library service area (Arrowsic, Georgetown, Bath, West Bath, or Woolwich) or hold a valid Patten Free Library card
  • Accepted file types: pdf, rtf, word.
    Make sure your name is not listed anywhere on the piece.

News & Updates