Events

Thursday, November 20th, 2025 @ 6:00 PM

Join us for author chat with Michael Burke on The Art of the Myth

What is it like to train as a whitewater guide? What special skills do you need to forage for fiddlehead ferns? What do a handful of Maine auction houses have in common? Why did a village suddenly form on a frozen lake? What is it like to devote a summer to attending county fairs?
The Art of the Myth answers questions like these, and others, about life in Maine. A collection of essays on topics from sea kayaking to maple sugaring, from rural auctioneering to the “tallest lady in the world,” from the lost trains of the Allagash to winter camping, petroglyphs, and the history of hand-colored photographs, it is a work whose subject is whatever caught Michael Burke’s attention over a 35 year career of living in and writing about Maine.

About the Author

Michael D. Burke’s publications include the memoir/adventure, The Same River Twice (University of Arizona Press) and feature nonfiction and essays in Down East, Yankee, Islands, Outside, Boston Globe, The New York Times, Maine Décor, AMC Outdoors, The Sunday Times (South Africa), and other national publications. He is also a playwright, having won the 2018 Maine Literary Arts Award for “The Town Meets.” For more than 30 years he was a whitewater and wilderness river guide in Idaho, Alaska, Oregon, California, Arizona and Mexico, having made several first-descents by raft. He holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing and English at Colby College in Maine.

Thursday, December 18th, 2025 @ 6:00 PM

Book Club Holiday & Planning Party

Previous Book Club Chats

Thursday, October 23rd, 2025 @ 6:00 PM

Join us for the October Book Club Chat about Don’t Drop Dad with author Dena Polko. Books will be available for purchase at $20, with $3 of the cost being donated to the Library.

Angie Donatello, a wife and busy mom of two small children, is about to realize her dream of opening an Italian bakery in her quaint coastal village in Maine when her widowed father receives a life-altering diagnosis. She is determined to care for her dad and keep her opening on schedule, but even with the help of her supportive husband and two older sisters—a social-working nun and a corporate ladder climber—there just doesn’t seem to be enough time, wine, or cannoli to manage the competing demands and the emotional tsunamis threatening to pull her under.

Equipment delays, a kitchen fire, and an over-the-top class mom all further complicate Angie’s life, but she still seems to be holding things together…until she hosts her loud and lovable extended family for Christmas. During the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, somewhere between the calamari and the sfogliatella, her father’s very new and much younger girlfriend makes a startling announcement. Now, Angie not only needs to help her dad cope with his declining health but also needs to find a way to protect his heart—and his pockets—without losing her own shot at a lifelong dream.

About the Author

Dena Polko retired from her work as a speech-language pathologist when the pandemic hit to help take care of her grandchildren. When not rocking, feeding, chasing, or playing under blanket tents with her three grands, she writes, reads, and loves exploring Maine with her husband. Dena and Tom live on the coast of Maine and also enjoy time at “camp” (the Mainers’ term for a cottage on a lake) in the western Maine mountains.