Skidompha Library - Director's Message

This note was recently published in Skidompha’s weekly e-newsletter.

Dear readers,

Many readers of this newsletter are well acquainted with Skidompha’s Secondhand Book Shop. It’s a mainstay in our community, and a great resource for scholars, readers, and book collectors alike. 

Our book shop was founded in 1968 as the brainchild of Mary Wallace Smith, a longtime volunteer with Skidompha Library. The book shop has gone through several iterations and locations, starting first in the carriage house of the old Skidompha Library Building at 170 Main, moving over to Elm Street, and our most recent move in 2017 to Backstreet Landing. We continue to be patronized by visitors and locals alike, who seek “good books for a great cause.”

Over time, our shop has grown into a significant source of funding for the library. One hundred percent of the money you spend at the Book Shop supports Skidompha Library to bring you the programming you love.

If you haven’t visited lately, please consider paying us a visit. The shop is located at 17 Backstreet Landing (behind the Elm Street Plaza building) and is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursdays open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. We have rotating sales, a friendly, all-volunteer staff, and hot coffee. 

Thank you for your enduring support, and we hope to see you at the Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop soon. 

Take care,

Matthew Graff

Executive Director

Skidompha Library

The Book Shop is Open on Labor Day!

We’re open on Labor Day!

The Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop in downtown Damariscotta will be open on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, from 10 to 2 p.m.

The shop’s  co-manager Rosie Bensen explained that normally the shop is closed on the holiday, but “one of our generous volunteer shopkeepers offered to keep it open.”

She added that during the holiday week, books in the Self-Help section will be on sale at half price.

The book shop, located on the river at 17 Backstreet Landing, is a major fundraiser for Skidompha Public Library. All items are donated, all staff members are volunteers, and all proceeds support the library’s programs and collections.

For more information, call the book shop at 207-563-7807.

Spring for Books on Saturday, March 30th, 2019!

Spring for Books - Join the Party

When:    Saturday, March 30, 2019 - 9am to 4pm

Where:   Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop - 17 Backstreet Landing, Damariscotta

·    Good Books for a Great Cause

·    Free Food and Drink

·    Live Music: Ukulele Band at 11:00

·    Special Sales

17 Backstreet Landing, Damariscotta

563-7807 / www.skidomphabookshop.org

Back to School: Skidompha Style

“With every book, you go back to school. You become a student. You become an investigative reporter. You spend a little time learning what it’s like to live in someone else’s shoes.”

— John Irving

Coffee table books: We have a collection of gorgeous and informative books, all on sale at half price until Friday (8/31/18) afternoon.

This Sunday, September 2, will be our last “summer Sunday.” After that, we’ll be closed on Sundays until next summer. Our other hours remain the same all year.

Our hours:

Monday through Saturday 9 to 4

Thursdays open until 6

Open this Sunday 10 to 2

50 years of Secondhand Books!

Have you seen our new sign? Installed in February, 2018, this sign was made possible by an anonymous donor and the talented hands of renowned sculptor Jacques Vesery.

Thank you to our many customers and community supporters who stopped at the shop on Saturday to help us celebrate our 50th anniversary. We were also celebrating the addition of the beautiful book carving over our door, and our new outside sign, both created by Damariscotta artist and sculptor Jacques Vesery and given to us by an anonymous donor.

Special thanks to Priscilla Smith, for sharing her observations about her mother-in-law, Mary Wallace Smith, the library volunteer who founded the shop in 1968; to Sumner Richards, who parked his vintage VW camper outside our door for visitors to enjoy; and to Barn Door Baking Co. for their beautifully decorated, delicious cake.

This week’s half-price sales are in Self Help, which includes Alternative Healing, Mental and Emotional Wellbeing, Diet, Exercise, Massage, Childbirth, Parenting, and Aging. (These sales run until Friday, July 27th!) 

Our summer hours:
Monday through Saturday, 9 to 4
Thursdays until 6
Sundays 10 to 2

Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop's 50th Anniversary Cake (inspired by the new sign by Jacques Vesery) by Barn Door Baking Co.

Children’s Nature and Science - 1/2 Price!

This week’s half-price sale is in the Children’s Nature and Science section. This is a perfect time of year to encourage children to explore the world around us.

Chapman & Chapman Insurance at 27 Main St., Damariscotta, graciously offers us their storefront window for a display of books available at the shop. We hope people will stop by and view the current display. Thank you, Chapman & Chapman.

Our summer hours:
Monday through Saturday 9 to 4.
Open Thursdays until 6.
Sunday 10 to 2.

“When you read a classic you do not see in the book more than you did before. You see more in you than you did before.”

— Clifton Fadiman

Memoir and Bibliography Section - 1/2 Price Sale!

Are you curious about the lives of others? This week, the books in our Memoir and Bibliography section are on sale at half price.

Also — when you’re in the new Main Street Grocer, look for the book shop's ever-changing display of good books taken from our extensive collection. Pay at check-out. All proceeds support the library.

Shop hours:
Monday through Saturday, 9 to 4
Thursdays until 6.
Sundays 10 to 2.

“Just the knowledge that a good book is waiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier.”

— Kathleen Norris

Great American Read and 1/2 Price Sci-Fi and Fantasy!

Events in the Great American Read were kicked off this week by PBS to “spark a national conversation about reading and books that have inspired, moved, and shaped us.” They’ve published a list of 100 books, from which readers will be invited to pick their favorites. We have their list at the shop in a special display, along with many of the books on the list. How many of the 100 have you read?

Our half-price sale this weeks is in Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Hours:
Monday through Saturday, 9 to 4
Thursdays open until 6
Closed Sundays

“Read authors who allow you to hold a mirror up to yourself and give you ideas on who you mgiht become…Books are a medium for hearing voices that have much to teach us.”

— Thomas Moore, Ageless Soul

Writer's Resource Center - 1/2 OFF!

Our half-price sale continues in the Writer’s Resource Center, which you’ll find in the Classics Room.

Every day, generous donors give us books. We very much appreciate these donations. But we have to ask that donors bring them only when the shop is open, and not leave them outside. Even a few hours outside can damage books so badly that we can’t sell them. If the shop is closed when you bring books, and the library is open, you may leave them at the library.

Thank you!

Shop hours:
Monday through Saturday, 9 to 4
Thursdays open until 6
Closed Sundays

“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?”

— Oscar Wilde

On Sale: April 3 to April 9

This week, the half-price sale at the shop continues in our new Writer’s Resource Center, located in the Classics Room where you can find the words of great writers while you learn how to create your own best work.

When you do your grocery shopping at Main Street Grocery, peruse the book shop’s display there. We offer some great reads, and there’s always something new. Pay for books at the checkout counter. All proceeds go to the library. And thank you, Maine Street Grocery, for your support.

Book shop hours:
Monday through Saturday 9 to 4
Thursdays open until 6
Closed Sundays

“A novel is the chance to try on a different life for size.” -- Marion C. Garretty