Raymond Village Library needs your help more than ever

Did you know you can find yoga classes in Raymond? You can also find a bridge club, free computer access, painting and crafting classes, a book club, monthly meetings where local artists showcase their work, and a very popular playtime for the area’s youngest residents. Oh, and you can borrow books too!

Where? At the Raymond Village Library, of course!

Under the guidance of Director Allison Griffin, the library has expanded their hours to offer Senior

Hours on Tuesday mornings, partnered with the Raymond Arts Alliance to host rotating monthly displays of local artists’ work, hosted successful trips to places like the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens December Gardens Aglow event, and even acquired a robot named Dash to help teach children computer programming.

Right now, Raymond’s public library is in the middle of their biggest fundraiser of the year. The Raymond Village Library is not a town department; public support and generous donations provide almost half of the annual funding for the library.

“We see the future of our library as a welcoming community center for all, a lifelong learning center, and a center for the arts in Raymond,” explains Sheila Bourque, the head of RVL’s Board of Directors. “We strive to provide the Raymond community with unbiased educational, social and artistic opportunities.”

Of course, all of these opportunities accrue costs. The library employs one full-time Director as well as two part-time Librarians, and many library programs rely on the generosity of local volunteers to be successful. The town of Raymond’s financial commitment to the library has remained stable as their programming has expanded and their costs have risen, which means the Raymond Village Library needs community support now more than ever. The library still needs to raise $16,000 to cover their expenses this fiscal year.

If you’ve visited the Raymond Village Library in the past year, please consider a donation to support this local institution. Donations of any amount will help your local library keep the doors open and the yoga classes, book clubs, and toddler story hours running for years to come. Donations can be mailed to Raymond Village Library at PO Box 297, Raymond ME 04071, delivered in person at 3 Meadow Road, or made online at www.raymondvillagelibrary.org/donate.