Thompson Free Library to kick off Read and Feed Program
By Director Jon Knepp
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Thompson Free Library is happy to announce the launch of our Read and Feed Program on June 5. The Read and Feed Program will be a combination of bookmobile and mobile food distribution, which was made possible through funding from Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Community Driven Strategies to End Hunger Initiative. TFL is also partnering with Rowell’s Garage, who will rent us a van, and Piscataquis Regional Food Center, who will provide us with produce to distribute for the program.
Michelle Fagan, our youth services librarian, will travel around the area distributing free books and produce at designated stops once a week on Wednesdays from June 5 until Sept. 25. At each stop, visitors can select produce sourced from many of PRFC’s partner organizations, including local farms. They will also be able to choose from books for all ages with the understanding that if you love a book, keep it, if not, bring it back so others can enjoy it. Visitors will also be able to connect to the internet thanks to our mobile hotspot, and meet and interact with some of their neighbors and learn more about what the library offers.
The Read and Feed Program will alternate between two routes, beginning with the Monson-Dover route on June 5, visiting the Monson town office from 9-10:15 a.m., followed by visits in Dover-Foxcroft: corner of Morton and Autumn avenues from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Country Meadows Apartments on Pine Street from 1-2:15 p.m., North View Apartments on Summer Street from 2:45-4 p.m., and Thayer Parkway on Park Street from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
On June 12, Michelle will visit our neighbors to the east, stopping at the Charleston Church on Main Road in Charleston from 9-10:30 a.m., Sebec Corner Grange Shop at the corner of Milo Road and Sebec Village Road in Sebec from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Elaine’s Bakery on Main Street in Milo from 1:30-3 p.m., and the Sebec Reading Room on Moulton Hill Road in Sebec from 3:30-5 p.m.
The CDS Strategies to End Hunger Initiative has three main goals for the charitable food network: reaching people where they are, reducing stigma around using the resources in your community, and addressing transportation barriers. All of these are major issues in our area, and the Read and Feed Program addresses all of them by bringing fresh produce into new communities and areas. It also allows us to fulfill one of our major dreams: to bring a bookmobile to the county!
We hope to see you out on the road this year! Thanks again to all our partners, funders, and patrons who have made this project possible. For more information and schedules, head to www.thompsonfreelibrary.com/readandfeed, call us at 207-564-3350, or stop in at 186 East Main Street in Dover-Foxcroft.
Thompson Free Library is the public library for the town of Dover-Foxcroft, the county seat of Piscataquis County. Founded in 1898 by Dr. E.A. Thompson, the library has been a central hub for the town, following its mission to strengthen and serve our community. inspire learning, advance and create knowledge, and to promote the spirit of human experiences and personal relationships. Recently, thanks to a generous donation from the estate of Paula Willoughby, the library has created a fund to allow residents of Piscataquis and Penobscot counties who could not afford a non-resident card previously to receive their own library card. The library provides books, DVDs, audiobooks, electronic resources, internet connectivity, wireless hotspots, meeting and coworking spaces, children’s and adult programming and much more to its community.
As the largest hunger-relief organization in Maine, Good Shepherd Food Bank supports Mainers facing hunger by sourcing nutritious, culturally relevant food and distributing it to more than 600 partner organizations across the state, including food pantries, meal sites, schools, health care centers, and senior programs. The Food Bank also supports the network of partners with capacity-building and innovation grants that improve and promote equitable and dignified access to nutritious food across the state. The Food Bank leads a statewide effort to combat the root causes of hunger by engaging in advocacy, nutrition education, and strategic partnerships.