New Shelves Provide Needed Space

By Nancy K. Crevier

A new tier of shelving in the Large Print Room of the C.H. Booth Library, designed, donated, and installed by local expert trim carpenter Paul Morin in late November, has made it possible for the library to decrease crowding on shelves and increase the number of books available to sight impaired patrons, said Janet Woycik, director of the library.

The top shelves have given the Large Print Rom close to an additional 50 linear feet of storage space.

Mr Morin was in the library one evening bringing tea to his wife, Mimi Morin, a children’s librarian, and overheard another staff member lamenting the lack of space in the Large Print Room. “He just offered to do it,” said Ms Woycik. “It’s incredibly generous.”

“We were getting to the point that we would have had to get rid of some of our older volumes in order to have new books,” said librarian Judy Craven. The collection of large print books at C.H. Booth Library attracts readers from several other area towns, she added, whose libraries do not carry such an extensive line. Readers of the large print editions appreciate, too, said Ms Craven, that the library tries to carry complete series by popular authors.

“Paul donated the shelves, and they are beautifully matched to the existing shelves,” said Ms Woycik. “The library will reimburse him for supplies, but Paul donated all of the labor involved,” she said. The finished shelving was painted by library custodian Ralph Scogno, who donated his time to do so.

Mr Morin also refinished the top of the large conference table located in the John Angel Art Collection Room on the third floor, Ms Woycik said, and he has repaired numerous other damaged pieces throughout the library. The tabletop had been marred by random carvings, some inadvertent, some purposefully etched into the wooden top. “It was a mess, and now it is lovely,” said Ms Woycik. “Paul sanded out all of the inscriptions that have been engraved there over the years.”