BHML has a copy of the Route 1 Corridor Study for the Wiscasset bypass. There will be a public comment period so if you are interested in seeing the proposed bypass alternatives, the study can be look-ed at in our Reading Room.

The holiday season is fast approaching. Mary has been decorating the children's room, not because we want to rush things but because she has some time off coming up and the library needs to be ready for our open house during the Harbor Lights Festival on December 1.

The library will close at 2 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving so the staff can get home and start cooking for the big feast. Normally we are open until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. We are naturally closed on Thanksgiving Day, but will be open again our usual hours on Friday and Saturday. The Used Bookstore will also be open that Friday and Saturday.

For many years the library has received audiobooks through the generosity of David Rapkin, an audiobook producer who lives in New York and loves to vacation here. Recently David was able to get his colleagues at Random House to donate several cartons of audios to us. As a result we have added about three dozen new titles on CD and cassette. Some duplicates have gone over to the Used Bookstore. There are many titles by Danielle Steel and Iris Johansen, and we even got a copy of Tess Gerritson's newest, "The Bone Garden." We don't really have space for all these, but they were too good to pass up! The solution is to have many people come in and check lots of them out so we have room on the shelves!

Right after Thanksgiving we will post our Christmas Angel Tree list. It is a tradition for the staff to compile a list of books and other items that we would like to have at the library. Choose a book from the list, give us the amount needed to purchase it, and we'll order it through our regular sources. We will place a bookplate with the donor's name in the front of the book. There are fiction and non-fiction titles with various prices, and all children's books are $20. Sometimes the list includes items like movies or equipment. In the past we have gotten our digital camera and DVD player through the generosity of Christmas Angels. Several families have a yearly tradition of buying a children's title in the names of their kids. What a great way to teach the art of giving!

Jim Taliana, Corinne McIntyre, and Mark Mellor donated their talents and designed new notecards for the library that would make terrific holiday cards. We also have cards previously done by Linda Yarmosh and Jim Taliana. A description here would not do them justice, so come in and see them for yourself. They can easily be run through a printer so you can add your own greeting. We even have some left unfolded to make that easy if you want to use them as Christmas cards! They also make wonderful gifts. Pick some up at the library table we'll have out front during Early Bird Sale!