This year the New Portland Community Library will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. Once a small, tworoom annex at the old schoolhouse at the North Village, the library on Route 146 at the East Village houses a beautiful facility of which the town can be proud, said treasurer Deborah Clague. In fact, added Deborah, the library was a model project featured in the Rural Development Calendar the year after it opened in 2006.

The new library houses five computer terminals with wireless broadband access and is currently moving toward online cataloguing. At present, the entire fiction collection can be viewed through the library Web site.

Our librarian, Jill Lattin, is the prime mover in these technological improvements and brings professionalism and expertise to the job, not to mention a warm smile and engaging personality, said Deborah.

The library is hoping to provide after-school programs and tutoring as well as computer and internet access especially with the closing of the Central School in June, said Deborah.

The Friends of the Library are developing a schedule of educational and entertaining programs for the community without focusing on fund raising and will be offered free of charge. In the past the library has been financed primarily through community fund raising activities run by the Board of Directors and the Friends of the Library. The library belongs to the community "but we need your help once again, requesting monies at the annual town meeting in March, with this funding we can continue our commitment to excellence and expand the services for the citizens of New Portland," said Deborah.

My prayers go out to Howard's classmates, Donald Murray and Arlene Murray. I spoke with Donald this week who is now home from the hospital, although Arlene had come home after spending several days in the hospital, she was taken back again on Friday ... get better soon Arlene. Howard and I are also keeping Fred Niidas in our prayers. When we went back to the Harold Alfond Cancer Center this past week, Fred was just starting his radiation treatments. Continued prayers go out to Sandy Bestwick in New Vineyard and Fulton Ryan.

Pete and Lorraine Ristano have had as guests. Their son, Jimmy, and his friend Richard Baumel of Long Island New York. Jimmy brought the Ristano's grandson, Dillon, for a week's visit that will keep Grammie and Grampa busy snowmobiling and sliding.

Now after 73 years I had a real earth-shattering experience last week. My dear sister-in-law Florence Hall called me and said I needed to come right up to her apartment as her glass eye had come out. Now I knew I was going to be sick (Dr. Jacobs would have been proud of me) I thought positively and went quickly to see what I could do ... it was no easy job and I really don't want the profession, but I got it back in and when Florence said, "Dr. Laura you did a good job," it was all worth while. I'm just not ready to hang out my shingle yet.

The Central Girls will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at the Golden Eagle Restaurant at noon in Skowhegan. As it happens, the Red Hat group will also meet that Wednesday night and are asked to meet at the Herbert Grand Hotel at 5 p.m. to carpool.

I was pleased this past week to learn that the article I had written about Howard's experience at the Harold Alfond Cancer Center had been selected along with his photo with his "harem" for the annual report in the Maine General Health publication featuring the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston and the Harold Alfond Cancer Center.

While in Augusta this past week we came through Waterville and had lunch with Nick Nickerson, a former longtime resident of Carrabassett Valley, and his friend, Jerry.

My love and prayers go out to the Maurice and Dot Lambert family with the death of Maurice's dad, Richard. I so enjoyed visiting with Richard on his 100th birthday and when he came to our senior citizen gatherings... he will be missed.