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Casco Bay Lines deckhand unloads library materials bound for the Peaks Island Branch Library.

Peaks Island Community Building, built in 1979, houses the Peaks Island Branch Library, the Fire Department, Public Safety, and a community meeting room.

A grandfather reads to his grandson in the library’s children’s area.

Peaks Island Library, a Branch of Portland Public Library

Three miles from the Portland peninsula, Peaks Island is the only Maine island that has a branch Peaks Island Library, of a mainland library system, the Portland Public Library.

An Island Library with Great Connections

A supply chain that includes the ferries of Casco Bay Lines routinely moves substantial numbers of books and audiovisual materials between Peaks and five other locations of the Portland Public Library system throughout the week. On a recent Friday there were seven shipping totes of library materials arriving, and six totes going back to the mainland.

Islanders can request materials from the other five branches of the Portland Public Library system, and from the libraries of the Maine Infonet cooperative, either by coming in to the branch or electronically from home or work. Islanders who use other mainland branches can also return those materials at the Peaks Island branch. Borrowers at Peaks are issued standard Portland Public Library cards that are honored throughout the PPL system. Materials from the Peaks Island branch collection are loaned via other branches throughout the city, and throughout the state via interlibrary loan.

While the Peaks Island branch has its own permanent collection of print, audio and visual materials, patrons also benefit from rotating collections of music, audiobooks, movies, and large print books, which gives them more variety than a stand-alone collection could offer. A leasing program for new releases satisfies the need for bestsellers. Six computers are available for public use, and the library’s wi-fi connection is popular when the library is closed, as well as when it’s open.

Facilities and Programs

The Peaks Island library reflects the community it serves – a small community atmosphere with services of the City of Portland of which Peaks is a part. Following several years in the seventies when island readers were served by a Portland Public Library book van, a formal branch of the Portland library was created in 1978. Housed for a year in the American Legion Hall, it moved to its present location along with the Fire Department and Public Safety when the Peaks Island Community Building was built in 1979.

The library is open twenty hours a week on a four-day schedule. Circulation is about 35,000 items a year, up from about 16,000 in the late eighties. Weekly programs include an infant and toddler nursery-rhyme time, a preschool story time, and a film program with a family film at 6 pm and a feature film for adults at 8 pm each Saturday. The kindergarten class from the school visits the library for a read-aloud and activity program each month, and there is a monthly Book Discussion for adults. Special programs are offered for adults and children throughout the year.

Friends of the Peaks Island Branch Library

The Friends of the Peaks Island Branch Library play an important role in the life of the library. They sponsor the monthly Book Discussion, purchasing extra copies of the featured books, and they sponsor a weekly film program on Saturday evenings; they welcome newborn babies with a specially designed book bag complete with board books and an invitation to library programs for infants; they give each elementary school-aged child a birthday book, and each fifth grader receives a dictionary at graduation. The Friends also sponsor special programs, such as writing workshops and author visits, and provide extra financial support for regular library programs such as Summer Reading. While Portland Public Library provides basic needs, the Friends provide the extras that enrich the user experience.

Authors and Illustrators Shelf

For a community with a year round population that hovers around a thousand, Peaks claims a remarkable number of authors and illustrators, as reflected in the Peaks Island Authors and Illustrators Shelf, housed on the library balcony. The collection, which is maintained by the Friends of the Library, includes works by summer residents as well as year-round islanders.

The Peaks Island Star

Island non-profits and service agencies submit articles to the Peaks Island Star, a free monthly newsletter produced at the library by staff and volunteers. The cost is underwritten by the proceeds of the photocopier, the library Friends group, and Portland Public Library. The free newsletter is distributed at the library and at Hannigan’s Island Market and is mailed to subscribers, most of whom are seasonal residents. This is its twenty-ninth year.