The library is currently open Monday through Friday from 10:00am-5:30pm and Saturday 9:30am-12:30pm. The Children's Room and Archives are open by appointment. Please call for details: 207-582-3312.

Meet The Authors!

Have you had an opportunity to come to any of our local author series?  It is a great way to learn about the process of writing and to discuss the new books being written by very talented authors.  You have only 2 more events to attend before the series ends.

On Tuesday, September 16th at 6PM the staff of the Gardiner Public Library is pleased to host New England author, Chip Bishop, author of Quentin and Flora-A Roosevelt and a Vanderbilt in Love during the Great War.  Copies of the book will be for sale and the author will be available to sign them.
Quentin and Flora is a moving tale of courage, heroism and young love.  Set against the backdrop of Theodore Roosevelt’s lofty expectations for his sons and his own tragic demise, it is a richly-drawn and gripping tale, superbly written and forcefully told.  Just in time for the centennial of the Great War, Quentin and Flora is a classic page-turner with relevance for today. 
On Wednesday, October 15that 7PM novelist Paul Betit will be our final speaker for this series.  Paul Betit is the author of three mystery-suspense novels featuring U.S. Army CID investigator John Murphy.  His books include Phu Bai, Kagnew Station and recently –published The Man In The Canal.
For nearly 40 years, Paul has worked a sportswriter or a general assignment reporter. His newspaper career has included lengthy stints with the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Portland Press Herald and the Maine Sunday Telegram. He continues to cover high school, college and pro sports on a free-lance basis for the two Portland newspapers.
Following his graduation in 1965 from Cony High School in Augusta, Paul served as an intelligence analyst with the United States Army Security Agency. He received letters of commendation for his work in South Vietnam and Ethiopia, the settings for his first two books.  The author will have copies of his book for sale as well.
These programs are free and opened to the public…come spend an evening discovering new authors!

Maine Newsstand

Another wonderful addition to the Marvel Databases is Maine Newsstand.  I must say this one, as a “Maine-I-Ac” is fascinating.

*** Remember, you must have a VALID Maine library card to access this database! ***
When I open this database, it is set for a Basic Search, and the Full Text radio box is unchecked.  I search “Portland Head Light” with 22992 results.  The first link that I see is from the Portland Press Herald, dated Mar. 2, 2005.  Scrolling down the screen I see that the database indexes from 1993 – 2012.  I also see a place to Sort Results By, with choices of Relevance, Publication Date (oldest first), and Publication Date (most recent first).
Other options include
Publication Title – 7 Maine newspapers are included Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News, Lewiston Sun Journal, Waterville Morning Sentinel, Kennebec Journal, Maine Times and Central Maine Morning Sentinel.
                Document Type – including News, FrontPage/Cover Story, Obituary, Article, Feature, Editorial, Commentary, Undefined, Review, Correspondence, Interview, Letter To The Editor and Market Research.
                Subject, Company/Organization and Location all have many, Many, MANY options.
I narrow my search by Document Type and choose to include only Front Page/Cover Story and Obituary.  The search is now only 948 articles.  Hmmm . . .  I sort the search by Publication Date (most recent first).  The first several articles are obituaries.  Out of curiosity I click on one.  I’m not completely sure why this obituary is part of my results.  The search terms are all highlighted in the article, but I only see the words Portland and Light.
                I go back and eliminate Obituary from my search, and now have 661 results.  The most recent article is from the Portland Press Herald, and dated Oct. 21, 2011.  Checking this article, I’m still not sure why my search terms are bringing it up.
(**Picture me smacking myself in the head**)
I fix my search criteria – adding quotation marks around the term “Portland Head Light”, the results are now 814 articles, and all of my filtering has been cleared.  Clicking on the first article, dated July 20, 2012, I find my search term highlighted – PERFECT!!!
Not wanting to bore you, I am having a great time trying several other search terms, as well as names. Sooo . . . Are you interested in a person in the news in Maine? Try a name search.  Are you interested in a specific place or attraction? Try a search.

And ENJOY!!

Ann Russell, Technology Librarian