Groups’ efforts get new library for school

OLD TOWN – In September 2003, when Tracy O’Connell, 47, a counselor at Leonard Middle School in Old Town, outlined to Altrusa International of Greater Bangor the need for books at the Airline Community School in Aurora, the group eagerly adopted the project. O’Connell, an Altrusa member and an Airline School graduate in 1971, worked at the school for six years.

“I love supporting the Airline School,” she said. “I got a really good start in my education there. It was a one-room school then, and most of the other students were my brothers and cousins.”

O’Connell said that the library project began in 2000 when she took a job in Old Town to be closer to home. To say goodbye to her pupils, she decided to make a video.

“We were looking for a community service project and the kids suggested that the school needed a library and new books,” she said. She and the class decided to apply to the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation for a grant for a school library. They used the video as part of the application.

“The kids wrote the script,” she added.

Recently, O’Connell received a $50,000 grant from the King Foundation to construct a library addition to the school.

“The four communities [Aurora, Amherst, Great Pond and Osborn] raised $5,000 for the library doing bottle drives and raffles,” she said. “The towns are very supportive of education.”

In addition, she said, The Briar Patch bookstore in Bangor and provided approximately $2,000 worth of books to the school.

The Airline Community School provides education to 48 pupils, from preschool to eighth-grade, who live in Aurora, Amherst, Great Pond and Osborn. The population in those towns ranges from 47 to 230. The Aurora school is 25 miles away from the nearest public libraries in Bangor and Ellsworth. The average income in Aurora is $26,000.

“The school,” O’Connell said, “is the hub of the region.”

O’Connell said an architect has been hired, a plan for the library has been produced and she hopes to break ground for the library in June. The towns are still in the process of fund-raising, she said. She estimates another $20,000 is needed to complete the library.

Altrusa International raised $500 to purchase 50 books for the new library. The Airline school librarian developed a list of books for Altrusa to purchase. Titles include current nonfiction, Maine books, Newbery Medal winners and Brian Jacques’ “Redwall” series.

The 50 Altrusa members participated in fund-raising activities, which included bake sales, a quilt and afghan raffle and a yard sale. Magazines Inc. of Bangor, formerly owned by a deceased Altrusa member and currently managed by that member’s daughter, Pam Williams, purchased the books at a significant discount for the club.

Club officials say that such projects may help avoid school dropout, a penalty of poor literacy skills.

Altrusa also provided books this year to every school in Bangor, Brewer, Eddington, Glenburn, Hampden, Hermon, Old Town, Orono, Orrington and Veazie.

“The program [of giving books to schools] gets bigger and bigger every year,” said Altrusa member Margaret Brown of Orrington.

Providing books to area schools was the brainchild of Edith Beauchamp of Brewer, chairwoman of Altrusa’s literacy committee, who joined the group in 1991.

“It’s a very rewarding project,” she said. “[Altrusa] does a tremendous amount of work to promote literacy.”