From a Drug Store Shelf to More Than 130 Years of Stories: Southwest Harbor Officially Celebrates its Library

Library Week Proclaimed for Southwest Harbor’s Library's 130th

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Links Pub.

SOUTHWEST HARBOR—Sometimes a library begins with an idea and a woman with a passion for writing and reading and learning. And sometimes . . . sometimes it even begins in a drug store.

That’s how it was with Southwest Harbor’s Public Library.

The story goes that the library truly began long before its walls went up. And it began because of writer, author, and lecturer, Annie Sawyer Downs.

Downs was not originally from the island, but from Manchester, New Hampshire, and then Massachusetts. But with her husband, she came here and she cared about here, living in Southwest Harbor in the summers.

She gathered cast-off books from the hotels that were only open in summer. Then, she took over a corner of R.J. Lemont’s store and left them there.

Viola!

A library.

She collected more books. More space was needed. People donated money and then Eleazer Bartlett Homer designed the library.

According to Maine Memory Net, “The new library was dedicated on October 31, 1895.”

It’s 130 years later, and the library is still here, hosting lectures and book talks, events, and sharing stories and information and books to the people of Southwest Harbor and those who visit. This entire year, the library celebrates the 130-year-plus legacy that Downs and others built.

According to the library’s website, “The anniversary celebration recognizes the construction and opening of the library’s brick building at 338 Main Street, built to house a growing collection that began in 1884 when resident Annie Sawyer Downs gathered cast-off books from the summer hotels and placed them on a shelf in a local drug store. Funded by donations from year-round and summer residents, the building was constructed over the summer of 1895 and was officially dedicated on October 31.”

Women starting libraries on Mount Desert Island isn’t uncommon. According to the Bass Harbor Memorial Library in Tremont, its history “begins with a private collection of books made available by Mrs. Vesta McRae, probably from her own home in Bernard. This collection grew to about 1200 volumes by 1920. The 1922 portion of the present building was designed by an unknown architect and was funded by Rhoda M. Watson, a Tremont native who was memorializing her late husband Edwin.”

And while George Dorr is considered the founder of the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, it was Miss Maria Hunington who donated first, the amount of $20, to its creation. The Somesville Library was formed in 1884 by the Ladies Aid Association.

The island is full of libraries (and little free libraries) because of the passion and dedication and persistence of women like Annie Sawyer Downs, who was also a writer, lecturer, and botanist.

As of July 8, it’s going to officially be Library Week in Southwest Harbor, July 21-27, to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Southwest Harbor Public Library.

The Southwest Harbor Select Board made it official during its Tuesday meeting.

“We were hoping you’d be supportive of the library,” Town Manager Karen Reddersen said to the select board via Zoom when talking about the proclamation.

Reddersen was ill and didn’t attend the meeting in person.

Select board member Natasha Johnson asked if it was an annual week to honor the library or a one-time event.

A library board member said it’s an odd number to celebrate, but “it’s basically COVID plus five.” He specified the proclamation is only for this year.

Johnson said she’d like to see it be an annual thing though it is just specified for the 130th anniversary.

The proclamation will be read at a July 21 kick-off event. There will also be cake.

That kick-off is just one part of a full week of events at the library. Those events have already featured Empire Falls screenings and book club events. There’s a July exhibit of historic images of the library.

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Celebration Week Events – July 21-27

Monday, July 21 – Town Proclamation and Cake, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 22 – McCue Lecture with Lincoln Caplan, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Lecture “”Does the Supreme Court have too much power — or not enough?”
Wednesday, July 23– Children’s Celebration and Cookie Decorating, time to be determined.
Children’s activities and library cookie decorating.
Thursday, July 24 – Author Talk with Richard Russo, 5:30-6:30 p.m., on the lawn of St. John Church across from the library.
Friday, July 25 – Open House and Oral History Booth, time to be determined.
Saturday, July 26 – Front Lawn Read-a-Thon, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Bring your favorite passage or poem to read to an eager audience on the Front Lawn.
Sunday, July 27 – Pig Roast Plus!, 5:00-7:00 p.m. on the Lawn of St. John Church across from the Library. Rain or shine.
Pig Roast Plus! with Pitmaster Seth Mclain, catered by Clark Point Cafe with live music by J.B. Harrison and the Seal Harbor Boys.

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