By Jon Knepp, Maine Library Association vice president
Maine’s 257 public libraries along with its academic, school and special libraries open doors for every Mainer to free print and digital collections, libraries of things containing everything from apple slicers to xylophones and inspire creativity, inspiration and lifelong learning. For these reasons and more every September we observe Library Card Sign-Up Month, a way to celebrate the doors opened by simply having a card at any of our Maine libraries. To share the power of Maine libraries, the Maine Library Association and Maine State Library will be holding a Library Passport Contest statewide starting Sept. 1 and continuing through the end of the year.
Each library in the state is special and unique in its own way, and MLA and MSL would love for Mainers to experience as many libraries as possible before the end of the year. By downloading a library passport brochure at mainelibraries.org/passport, or visiting a local participating library and asking for one, contestants can visit at least one library in each of the 16 counties in the state and collect either stamps or signatures to verify their visit. Completed entries can either be mailed to the Maine Library Association at P.O. Box 1993, Portland, ME 04104 or photos of the completed signatures can be emailed to vicepresident@mainelibraries.org. Post photos of your experience on social media with #melibrarypassport.
Completed entries will be entered into a drawing for fabulous gift cards and prize packages from our sponsors: L.L.Bean, Briar Patch Books, Shaws, Hannaford, the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival and other sponsors to be announced. We also hope to collect and distribute merchandise from libraries around the state. The contest will run through Dec. 31. Winners will be determined by random drawing at the beginning of January and prizes will be mailed out soon afterwards.
For more contest information or to learn more about Library Card Sign-Up Month, head to mainelibraries.org/passport or reach out to Jon Knepp, vice president of MLA, (vicepresident@mainelibraries.org) or Beth Crist, director of special projects at MSL (Beth.Crist@maine.gov). We hope to see you out there, enjoying everything our state (and its libraries) has to offer!
Knepp is director of the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft.
