STEUBEN – From Jeanne Benedict’s perspective in Washington County – at her librarian’s desk in Steuben – the county’s libraries are few and far between.

There are a mere 18 public libraries serving the county’s population of 33,000, and resources can stretch only so far across the communities.

That’s why the Washington County Public Library Consortium is suddenly a wonderful idea.

“Washington County libraries have always felt a little outside the norm in the library world,” said Benedict, the librarian for the Henry D. Moore Library in Steuben.

“We are often much smaller and don’t have the same problems that bigger libraries in Maine do.”

Instead, they have their own, unique problems, such as the library in East Machias that gets by on just a single electrical outlet.

The consortium formed in July when the librarians learned there was $26,000 available for Washington County libraries from the state’s New Century grant for cultural and educational programs.

All but one of the libraries will receive $1,000 of that money, with the rest going into the pot for common projects. The tiny Mayhew Library in Addison is the only one that did not submit an application for its $1,000 share.

The money, which is filtering through the Northeast Maine Library District, should be in librarians’ hands by the end of this week.

“Everybody seems excited about getting on board with this,” said Benedict, who is coordinating the consortium and overseeing the grant process.

“As a group we are already communicating more with each other, networking and sharing ideas. Most of us are so small that when we do go to state or regional meetings, we feel that ‘small’ to other libraries isn’t even the small that we are.

“Some of us are open only six or seven hours a week, and that’s with volunteers,” she said.

The Florence Sturdivant Public Library in East Machias – the one with the single socket – will use its $1,000 toward an electrical upgrade.

Other libraries have specified needs for more shelving, new computers and even new copying machines. One library, Benedict said, hasn’t had new shelving in 30 years.

In Steuben, Benedict will purchase shelving and the paper stock she needs to start issuing library cards for the first time.

The Milbridge Public Library will buy foreign language tapes with its $1,000 check.

The tapes could be used by residents of area towns whose librarians will know that the resource is available in Milbridge.

“We just felt this consortium was needed, and we want to keep it ongoing, beyond the grant,” said Milbridge’s Morna Bell. “This will also give us a bigger voice in the state meetings.”

The group’s next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 16, at the Porter Memorial Library in Machias.