About
Who We Are
The Cary Memorial Library, serving the public free of charge, is operated by the Wayne Library Association, a private 501(C)3 incorporated association. Anyone wishing to become a voting member of the library has the option of paying $5.00 annual dues. The library is staffed by a professional librarian, assisted by many volunteers. It is open 27 hrs a week in the winter and 31 hrs in the summer. Approximately 1,000 people are regular patrons, and the library averages 8,000 items in circulation each year.
The library is a very important public space in our, small rural town. In addition to books and other lending materials, the library offers free public access to FIVE computers and the use of a printer and a copy machine. The library provides high-speed wireless internet in an area where many have no other access to it. Due to the strength of the wireless signal, when the library is closed, many people park outside to access the Internet. The library hosts an occasional children’s storytime, a summer children’s reading program, art and historical exhibits, poetry readings, and author events. Small organizations and book groups hold meetings here.
Librarian: Janet Adelberg
Phone: 207-685-3612
| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| Treasurer | Dawn Brooks |
| Treasurer | Kevin Brooks |
| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| Chair | Don Welsh |
| Vice Chair | vacant |
| Finance Chair | Judy Danielson |
| Recording Secretary | Mary Jean Cowing |
| Corresponding Secretary | Jeannie Burnett |
| Member | Grace Drown |
| Member | Andrew Gorrill |
| Member | Frank Smith |
| Member | Angie Harris |
| Member | Parker Peltzer |
Friends of the Library
Co-Chairs: MT Clark and Jo Moore
Secretary:
Treasurer: Kim King
Collection
The Cary Memorial Library has a cataloged collection of over 12,000 items, including current and classic fiction, a Maine Collection, a children’s collection, non-fiction, a teen collection, large print books, Audiobooks on CD, DVDs, magazines, and local history materials. The Librarian welcomes suggestions about new titles you would like to see us acquire. See the online catalog.
Come visit Blue Moon Jungle by Dahlov Ipcar. The freewheeling mixture of geometric abstraction, fanciful subject matter, and a saturated palette print is a welcome addition to the Children’s Space in the library.
A Short History of the Cary Memorial Library
The Wayne Library Association was organized on August 11, 1885, under the name of “The Alonzo Wing Library Ass” for the purpose of providing for the circulation of about 160 books, the gift of Alonzo Wing, Esq., of Jefferson, Wisconsin, a native of Wayne. The name was changed on November 30, 1895, to the “Wayne Library Association” and incorporated on March 3, 1909.
At first, the books were kept in various stores in the village until, in 1904, Joshua Millett of Maldon, Massachusetts, a former resident of Wayne, leased the building, now known as the Masonic Hall, to the Association. Four years later Mr. Millett presented the property to the Association as a contribution toward the establishment of a free public library.
Bookplates Honor Annie Louise Cary
View a new online exhibit of a selection of the Cary Memorial Library’s BOOKPLATES, through the Maine Memory Network, which is part of the Maine Historical Society. The library received a small grant with which we bought a good scanner, and Jane Davis digitized some of the bookplates.
There are 38 bookplates in the exhibit, with text that elaborates on the owner or artist, or a local connection if there is one. There is also a brief piece on Annie Louise Cary. We’re very excited about the project because, for the first time, people far and wide can enjoy some of the wonderful bookplates, which are stored in the vault and not often seen.
The Maine Historical Society’s e-mail newsletter describes the exhibit as follows:
“Internationally-known opera singer Annie Louise Cary was born in Wayne, Maine, and kept ties to the town throughout her life. To honor Cary, Wayne summer resident Elizabeth Mast Hyatt began collecting bookplates in the 1920s and ’30s from important figures of the day. Eventually, that collection grew to some 3,600 plates, now owned by the Cary Memorial Library in Wayne. A selection of some of the bookplates, many of them artistically significant and with ties to Maine, are featured in this exhibit, which also includes a narrative on Cary’s career.”