Jesup Memorial Library

We have an announcement for Libby app users! As of today, October 1st, Libby users will be required to input their PIN to access their account. This is the same credential that you use to access the online catalog. Please don't hesitate to call the circulation desk if you have questions -- we're here to help!

This Thursday, October 1st at 5:30pm, don't miss our next author talk: Douglas Rooks will present "Transformational: Ken Curtis, Maine's Reform Governor." We can't wait!

When elected in 1966 at age 35, Ken Curtis was the nation’s youngest Governor. He served eight years through war and social upheaval, a liberal Democrat who nonetheless transformed state government and put it on a sound financial footing – all while working with a Republican Legislature. Creation of the University of Maine System, vastly expanding public educational opportunities, conserving wilderness and adopting landmark environmental legislation were only the beginning of his numerous successes. Sixty years later, the breadth and durability of these landmarks achieved amid daunting trials offers profound lessons from his time for our own.

Douglas Rooks, Maine historian and biographer, is also a lifelong journalist. He’s edited daily and weekly newspapers in Maine and New Hampshire, and has written a weekly opinion column for more than 45 years, winning state, regional and national awards.

Registration is encouraged at www.jesuplibrary.org/events

Less than one week until Strengthening Community: Forging Connections Through Art takes place at the Jesup on Sunday, Oct 4th! We can't wait to host eight artists for an afternoon of art, music, and community conversation. There's still space at this free event - register before Thurs. September 30th to save your seat! Visit www.jesuplibrary.org/events for more information.

Thanks, Bar Harbor Story, for this great writeup of the free artistic workshops that will take place at the Jesup on Sunday, October 4th from 4 - 6pm. Registration is open until Oct. 1st on our website. Join us for a fun afternoon in creative community!

What If Community Begins With Making Something Together? In Bar Harbor, artists are creating a space for movement, music, collage, and play—an experiment in connection at a time when politics and the news can leave people feeling increasingly divided.

Tomorrow (9/24) at 5:30pm, we're pleased to present a program with the Mount Desert Island Historical Society featuring Durlin Lunt, entitled "Otter Creek's Lost Waterfront."

Based on his 2026 Chebacco article, Durlin will explore how land acquisitions by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the expansion of Acadia National Park systematically isolated the village from its ancestral shores and will advocate for a modern restoration of the village’s working maritime identity to remedy nearly a century of disenfranchisement.

As a lifelong resident and former Town Manager of Mount Desert, Lunt will examine the power dynamics between this small community and federal agencies, illustrating how unrecorded agreements transformed a thriving maritime hub into an "island within an island." The program will highlight efforts to reclaim the village’s ancestral shores and recent legislative efforts, such as the 2024 Waterfront Resolution, to reconcile generations of community isolation.

This program is available in-person and online. Register to attend at www.jesuplibrary.org/events

Get to know the artists at the upcoming forum, "Strengthening Community: Forging Connections Through Art," on Sunday, Oct. 4th from 4:00 - 6:00pm. Liz Cutler, founder of ArtWaves, will lead a candle-dipping adventure using beeswax and simple invitations to conversation.

"Candle-making is like building connection. The process of applying to a simple wick layer after layer of clean wax, warmed to the right temperature, is similar to the process of making a warm and sustainable connection. With us humans, bringing a lively curiosity and a bit of compassion to the encounter are like bringing a strong clean wick – they are foundational to forging connection. And then the patience of building layer upon layer.

As a landscape painter, I find the most satisfaction in that feeling of “being there.” I want to capture that moment and then share my love of these special places. Additionally, I get the delicious pleasure of hanging my creations, so I can return to these scenes at will until I can return in person. My joy in my still-life work comes from collecting and capturing the everyday belongings of my family members who have already left us. In preparing to paint, I construct an arrangement of their keepsakes, while in my mind the image becomes an assembly of departed family members. The resulting paintings capture the sweet moments with these dear ones. It’s as if the painting experience and the resulting canvases heal whatever ruptures may have existed while these folks were living. It is a very lively and restorative endeavor for me.

I think that creating art in all its expressions is a way for people to express themselves beyond words and gives us all the power to muster through difficult times. Part of the creative process is in our capacity to create human connection. We aren’t meant to be solitary, but do we have the curiosity and patience for the layers of effort to make connection?"

Register to attend at www.jesuplibrary.org/events. Space is limited!

Heads up! This Saturday, September 19th, is "Take Your Library Card outdoors" day! Enjoy a free day at Maine State Parks in honor of National Library Card Sign-Up Month. Simply show your library card at the entrance to any participating Maine state park, and enjoy a day outdoors at no cost.

We're open today from 10 - 5pm, if you want to swing by and sign up for your card in advance. 😉

Image: Lamoine State Park, "Visit Maine"

Tonight at 5:30pm, come to the library for a presentation on the Amphibians of Acadia National Park with Sheridan Todd! Learn how to identify amphibians in Acadia National Park and about how volunteers are contributing to amphibian conservation efforts through the Acadia Amphibian Project.

Get to know the artists involved in October 4th's forum at the Jesup: Strengthening Community: Forging Connections Through Art. Molly Dillon is an actor currently pursuing her degree at College of the Atlantic, where her concentration is theatre and performance. Molly will be leading the workshop, 'Masks and Trust'.

"My workshop is an exploration of our humanness. The masks remove our indicators for making assessments about each other and allow us to explore the strangeness of being freed from those judgements. In that exploration we learn to enjoy freedom and find community. We discover that there is value in not knowing lots about the stranger both in front of us and inside us.

What I find most satisfying in my development as an actor is the conviction that each audience member, and even each cast member, has their own interpretation and conclusions about their performance experience. For me this reinforces my sense of freedom; I am not trying to control the audience. I can immerse myself in my own interpretation and performative experience. When I am acting, I am doing what brings me joy and liberation.

I feel strongly that art heals us by offering a way to process our feelings – whether that is through a performance or an image viewed or something that we create. For example, during this forum we will have opportunities to focus our attention in many ways. In sharing these different experiences together we will create community and built strength to weather the difficulties we are living through."

Register online at www.jesuplibrary.org/events. Space is limited!

It's ! If you recently turned 18, changed residences, became a citizen, or changed your name, it's time to update your registration. Pick up a mail-in form at the library today, or submit the form online before Oct. 13th to complete your registration ahead of time.

https://registertovote.sos.maine.gov/