New South China library offers unlimited possibilities

South China Library (photo by Roberta Barnes)

by Roberta Barnes

What if there was a place that was full of books to use for research and enjoyable reading in all genres, without price tags? There is, it is a library.

The South China library that has been in the process of changing locations since 2016 is now nearing its finish line. Set in a quiet location at 27 Jones Rd., with ample parking space, this new library is the perfect place to research topics, learn new skills, or enjoy the captivating stories in fiction books. When you walk through the doors, you are met with the freshly painted walls encasing a well-lit bright space filled with books.

Looking at the timeless non-fiction and fiction books organized neatly on shelves you can feel them welcoming you to absorb all the shared knowledge and fantasy tucked within their covers. In addition to the knowledge within the books is the knowledge of the volunteer librarians who will help you to find what you need or want.

While historical buildings are cherished, and the South China library’s history dating back to 1830 is fascinating, the older library was lacking in certain areas. This new library has extra space for a printer, computers, and restrooms.

Books are still being transferred from the old library and things such as Wi-Fi connections are being installed. However, in this transition period, which will soon end, you can enjoy all this new library has to offer on Wednesdays 10 a.m. – 4 p.m, and Saturdays 10 a.m. – noon.

As you scan all the shelves of countless books you might be drawn to the children’s section that includes chairs if needed, or the section filled with books printed in large fonts.

The shelves not only include books in varying genres of fiction and non-fiction, but CDs, and DVDs. Within this newly constructed building to house all these books, and more, you can see the endless possibilities available to you at no cost. Once you have your library card, all that is required is that you return what you borrow in good condition.

The 2018 photograph and article about the groundbreaking for the new South China library shows this has taken a great deal of different volunteers’ time and work, beginning with researching for a suitable location. Other articles in The Town Line have given an outline of all the volunteers’ research in finding possible grants, writing the grant proposals, and the generous donations of time, work, and money by individuals and business for construction of a fully functioning building and its interior.

I am one of Maine’s published authors, who has donated his or her book(s) to the library. My children’s book What Tail?, by R.R. Barnes, is an example of how books can spur the imagination beyond what is found in movies or online. The imagination can be thought of as the workshop that has created much of today’s technology. The main character in What Tail? requires a reader’s imagination. It is an animal that when you are looking at him you know what he looks like. But, when you are not looking at him you forget to remember what he looks like, no one can remember how long his tail is or even if he has a tail. This book, like others within the library, allows the reader’s imagination to see what others cannot.

Albert Einstein, the E = mc2 guy, said, “The imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

You can read more of Einstein’s quotes, and read his history by borrowing various books at the new library quietly located at 27 Jones Rd. A visit to the new South China library can help you find answers that you can fact-check while you are there, and take you on no cost journeys to wonderous, and mysterious places hidden within a book’s pages.

While you might find information on certain subjects in other places, fact-checking is important. In libraries, for free, you can go one step or further to research how authors gained their information. Non-fiction books will list the resources the author used in writing his or her book or article. Having multiple books available to you is extremely helpful in verifying that certain information found in one location is reliable and truthful.

If you cannot find what you were hoping to find on the shelves, the trained volunteer librarians can help you. Even if the South China library does not have a certain book on its shelves, the librarians will search for it in other libraries, have it shipped to the South China library, and you can then read it in the library or borrow it to take home.