York Town News
OYHS Research Library is Library of the Month
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK VILLAGE - It's a place where Old York Historical Society staff and volunteers have helped hundreds of people to discover their roots each year.It is the Old York Historical Society Research Library, a place Old York Director Scott Stevens has praised for its importance to residents of York and beyond.
And this month, the library is being recognized by the Southern Maine Library District as the recipient of the Library of the Month Award.
"This honor is a welcome recognition of our library's importance not only to our community, but to the whole state and to anyone anywhere with roots in Maine," Stevens said Monday.
The Research Library is located on the lower level of Old York's Administration Building on York Street.
Old York estimates the library contains some 5,500 books on the decorative arts, genealogy and local history, plus 3,000 photographs and 1,200 linear feet of manuscripts.
"Each year, Virginia Spiller and a dedicated group of volunteers help hundreds of people make discoveries about their family histories, their homes and their neighborhoods in our rich, diverse library collections," Stevens said.
A major source for family research is the library's collection of local unpublished genealogies, explained Cheryl Farley of Old York Community Relations in an announcement of this month's special award.
Among other special items housed in the library are local school meeting and tax records, ship logs, diaries and letters involving local families, as well as thousands of photographs, church and census records, and York newspapers from 1875 to the present.
The library is open to OYHS members free of charge and to the public for a daily fee of $5. Its hours are Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information call Old York at 207-363-4974 or visit the Southern Maine Library District Website www.maine.gov/msl/libmonth/august06/htm or www.oldyork.org.
The Southern Maine Library District is one of three districts in the Maine Regional Library System, a program of the Maine State Library created to improve library service for all Maine residents. It selects one library each month based on merit and service to the public.
