PRESQUE ISLE – With National Library Week just around the corner, Northern Maine Community College officials accepted a large donation Thursday for the college library from a local family and spread the word about the college’s library growth initiative.

Several members of the Bosse family of Caribou were on hand Thursday to present a $1,000 check to NMCC’s library to support the education of nursing students at the college.

The siblings chose to donate the proceeds from a recent family reunion to help Aroostook County students in achieving a college education, Michael Bosse said Thursday.

Bosse is among nine siblings who received a college education thanks to the hard work of his parents.

Bosse, who owns Marketing Advertising Planning Inc., joined three of his siblings for the check presentation: Philip Bosse, state office representative for U.S. Sen. Susan M. Collins; Nancy Bosse Chandler, supervisor of conservation and educational services at Maine Public Service Co.; and Jackie Bosse Devoe, director of nursing at Cary Medical Center.

After approaching the college about making the donation, Bosse said the family asked if there was a medically related purpose for which the money could be used. The family felt that purchasing library materials for use by nursing students was very appropriate.

“We hope others will follow our lead,” Jackie Bosse Devoe, a nurse herself, said during the presentation of the library donation.

The money will pay for six nursing education videos, averaging about $200 each, which cover topics such as treating children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

“This is a wonderful gift to help us add to our collection,” Peggy O’Kane, assistant dean of learning resources and head of the college’s library, said in a press release.

Standards from the National League for Nursing, through which NMCC’s nursing program is accredited, require that educational literature for nursing be no more than 5 years old.

“It’s critical both from an accreditation standpoint and so that we can provide our students with the best education possible,” O’Kane said.

The college hopes to attract similar gifts, which will help to expand the college library. Through NMCC’s library growth initiative, people can donate funds or materials in memory or in honor of an individual or group, Pat Sutherland, the college director of institutional advancement, said Thursday.

Sutherland said the college will place bookplates indicating who gave the gift and whom it memorializes in each book, video or CD purchased with donated funds. Individuals may select a specific book that they want purchased or may select a topic area, as did the Bosse family, and have the library staff select appropriate titles.

“While the library has always been able to accept gifts, it has never really been promoted and is not a place that people often think of when they want to remember someone,” Sutherland said. “We really want to take advantage of this generous gift to let the community know that donating to the NMCC library is an excellent way to remember a friend or a loved one … or to support education in our community on behalf of your family, as the Bosses have.”