LEVANT – Actions speak louder than words. What if those actions were combined with words? In Levant, it’s not what might happen, but what has happened: The Levant Heritage Library.

The library officially opened its doors in 2004, but it wasn’t until last June that the building was ready to welcome patrons. Now the library faces the reality of the day-to-day expenses – electricity, telephone and Internet services, among them – to keep the building running.

In the years preceding the opening, the library committee sought grants, held book sales, collected money from the schoolchildren’s bottle returns and published three books. And while the library has long-term goals in mind, such as adding an ell onto the building, the monthly bills require steady funding – not all that easy to come by, said John Chisholm, the library’s treasurer.

“All these services all cost money,” said Chisholm, “and no one’s going to write you a grant for [them].” Big projects, such as an addition to the building, garner the grants.

“What you get the money for is for growing,” he said.

So what is a library in its infancy to do? There’s still the book sale during Levant Olde Home Days, and the money collected from the schoolchildren’s bottle returns.

You can even stop by during library hours and peruse the marked shelves in the back of the library where there are hard-covers on sale for $1 and paperbacks for a mere 50 cents. But other fundraisers are afoot.

Until April 15, you can participate in that tried-and-true moneymaker, a raffle. It’s not just any raffle; this is for a quilt donated by sisters Sherrill Libby of Levant and Anne Freeman of Hermon.

Every year, each sister picks a local group that will receive her gift. Libby chose the library this year, while Freeman decided on Ecotat Gardens and Arboretum in Hermon. Libby was happy to help the library, about 3 miles from her home.

“It’s convenient and it’s something I think every town should have,” she said. It took about two months of working once a week to make the quilt and its three matching pillows.

The sisters call the quilt “Flower Garden,” from a pattern titled “Garden Block Party.” Its colors are a rich green, dotted with blocks of pink, blue and yellow flowers. The quilting of the piece was done on Freeman’s long-arm quilting machine, which she uses in her business, Longears Machine Quilting.

Situated on a 14-foot-wide table is “a really huge sewing machine,” Freeman said. Either a freehand design or a pantograph, a type of quilting pattern, is used to sew the quilt, the batting and the backing together. For the library’s quilt, the pantograph was an “allover meander-type pattern. It was pretty dense.” The result is an intricate design subtly winding across the quilt.

The drawing will be held April 15 – “something to look forward to instead of the IRS,” said Chisholm.

The second fundraiser is another tried-and-true moneymaker. For the fourth time, the library has published a book. This time it’s a novel – “The Considerate Jackass,” by Chisholm, library treasurer.

The first book the library published was “The History of Levant.” Then came “Frost Heaves: A Year of Farming in Levant, Maine,” a compilation of stories Chisholm wrote about life on his farm. “At Play: An Anthology of Maine Drama” is a book of plays by Maine authors that received partial funding from the Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Humanities Council.

“[The books] have kept us in the black,” Chisholm said. The novel by Chisholm is a thriller set in Maine. The plot is full of criminals, murder and the inept title character himself, “The Considerate Jackass,” who finds himself caught in something inexplicable.

The book has been on sale since late last year and is available at BookMarc’s in Bangor, at the Levant town office and at the library for $13.86 plus tax.

Chisholm is pleased to be helping the library again, but he is quick to point out that his is not a singular undertaking. “This is a tremendous community effort from a lot of people trying to get the money,” he said.

Moments later, a resident with four children stepped inside the library to ask if she could get raffle tickets so the family could start stapling them together. The children wandered about, two making a beeline for the kiddy table and the older pair heading for a shiny copy of a collection of “Narnia” stories by C.S. Lewis. This was followed by a spirited discussion of Harry Potter trivia and whether movies are better than books.

“See?” Chisholm asked after they left. “I wasn’t lying when I said there was excitement about a library in Levant.”

Raffle tickets for the quilt are $1 each or six for $5 at the Levant library on Route 222 during library hours: 5-8 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday. The library telephone is 884-8988. Tickets also are available from Tammy Costain, 884-6812, or Suzanne Cole at the town office, 884-7660. For a copy of “The Considerate Jackass,” or information on the other books published by the library, stop by the library or call the library for details. Inquiries also may be sent to Levant Heritage Library, P.O. Box 1, Levant 04456.