An amazing diversity of people and events takes place every week at the Topsham Public Library. This is truly a community center for people of all ages, backgrounds and interests. The Topsham Library is made up of many volunteers led by a visionary team of people who apply the new rules of service, support and community everyday. Online for information, access of place for face to face gatherings where real community exists. For more information: contact Executive Director Susan Preece or Development coordinator Bernardo Feliciano at 207-725-1727 or email development@topshamlibrary.org

John Larson was named the Topsham Pulbic Library's 2021 Sarah Whitten Community Award winner for his, and truly the whole Larson family's, support of Topsham and the library. John, his wife June and son Jeff are deeply committed to the community. John has been the owner and manager of the Topsham Fair Mall for the past 18 years. They have enriched the community with Maine owned businesses in their mall and John and June have passed along their love of reading to their children and grandchildren. After receiving the award from library director Susan Preece and the Topsham Public Library Board of Trustees, John took to the podium to share his joy in books and the wonder of libraries as repositories of physical documents that you can see, touch and experience. He passes along this excitement to everyone but especially to children. You can hear his comments about Why Libraries are Important at this link: https://youtu.be/0raQmROeEqg Learn more about the Sarah Whitten award here: https://topshamlibrary.org/support/the-whitten-society/sarah-whitten-community-award-recipients/

One of the most poweful presentations at the Artist Talk was Mary Becker Weiss' sharing that the piece she is holding was nearly 65 years in the making. The Joy of Art is our annual juried art exhibit which features original artwork by year-round Maine residents, both amateur and professional. Each year the work can be viewed in the Crooker Gallery. Prizes are awarded in categories including mixed media, oil/acrylic, other media, pastels, and watercolor. Applications for the next Joy of Art will be available in November. Congratulations to the 2017 winners! Patricia Norzow for “Piper, Australian Shepard”, oil/acrylic Nancy Lovely for “Precious”, pastel Donna Coffin for “The Kid”, watercolor Natasha Kempers-Cullen for “Dance”, mixed media Emily Hollister for “Snowball”, other media Howard Soloman for “Drawing Breath”, 3-dimensional Patricia Norzow for “Summer”, Peoples’ Choice Award

JOY OF THE LENS 2019 Topsham Public Library's 10th Annual Photography Exhibit Co-sponsored by the Trustees and the Friends of the Topsham Public Library Exhibit dates: April 2, 2019 through May 4, 2019 Excited to share these photos during National Library Week April 7-13, 2019. Libraries = Strong Communities!

The Topsham Public Library's annual Joy of the Pen reception and awards. See all the winning entries at the Topsham Library Online literary Journal here https://joyofthepen.topshamlibrary.org/

The Joy of Topsham, is photographer Keith Spiro's homage to Topsham Maine, a community that makes a difference and has positive impact on its residents, visitors and neighbors. Taken freely from the Joy of series that the Topsham Library created, I had a 2014 year end show called, precisely this, The Joy of Topsham. Welcome.

On Saturday, June 17, 2017 from 8:00AM–11:00AM, the Topsham Public Library, Topsham Parks and Recreation Department and the Topsham Solid Waste Facility heldTopsham’s Annual Fishing Rally. Gorgeous weather all morning at “the Ponds” behind the Solid Waste Facility on Foreside Road. We learned why the names Big Eddie & Little Eddie ponds couldn't go on the map. This is the one time you didn't need a license and there were prizes awarded! Topsham Public Library provided fishing poles and bait and Dale and a whole bunch of other people were happy to bait your hook. Coffee and refreshments provided by the Friends of the Topsham Public Library and the local McDonalds. This program was free and open to the public. The Topsham Public Library is located at 25 Foreside Road in Topsham. For more information, contact the library at 725-1727 or at www.topshamlibrary.org.

Topsham Public Library, a community center for all. Collected here are images from a wide range of events that have taken place at the library in FY 2015-2016. Diversity is visible everywhere as is the overwhelmingly public support and attendance at events.

Big Truck Day is a BIG DEAL at the Topsham Library. Big Trucks and Little Kids turn out in force to share in the joy of safe and fun opportunities to climb aboard the town's heavy equipment including loaders, snow plows, the street sweeper and oh the joy of sitting in a fire engine or town ambulance - just for fun! You can share around your favorite images by highlighting an individual image and clicking on the share icon to easily share on facebook, twitter or pinterest! If you want to own a print copy - you can purchase a professionally finished print which will be direct shipped to you. If you want a digital download (JPG) I have made them available at a very low price. FOR ALL PURCHASES - I will be donating most of the proceeds back to 'The Topsham Library. Love your library. I do!

Topsham Library welcomed Lindsay and her puppet pals to a warm family outing that filled the room with gleeful laughter. Meryl Sheep was not to be missed and we all agree with Lindsay that "the experience of shared joy and laughter can strengthen a community!" Thanks for coming and bringing all your friends! https://topshamlibrary.org/about-us/ http://www.lindsayspuppetpals.com/about/

16th Annual Topsham Library Fishing Rally. An annual event that delivers an unusual collection of awards. Oldest, youngest, first fish, most unusual catch. This year the most unusual category yielded a clam on a fishing hook and bass rather than catfish. All ages attended at “the Ponds” behind the Solid Waste Facility for our 16th annual Fishing Rally. As always there were poles and bait for those who needed them along with prizes and trophies. Hosted by the library, the Topsham Recreation Department, and the Topsham Solid Waste Facility.

This is the ninth annual edition of the Topsham Public Libary's JOY OF THE LENS juried photography exhibit. Consuelo Bailey, Topsham Library's longtime Gallery Coordinator and her team continue to deliver outstanding shows and an excellent smooth process from submission to exhibition and gallery talks. Co-sponsored by the Trustees of the Topsham Public Library and Friends of the Topsham Public Library, the "Joy of..." series is a wonderful exhibition of local hobbiest and professional talent. Congrats to all who participated.

Santa Reads was sponsored by Priority Real Estate Group LLC. Santa came to the library, read a couple of favorite stories, listened to child and parent requests for Christmas and gave out award wining children's books. Keith Spiro Media and the Topsham Library have made these images available for free download for personal/family use. Just contact Dave Mosley for the password. If you haven't donated to the annual appeal, please consider making a small donation to the Library, particularly as I note Development Coordinator's Dave Mosley comment "What you can donate is not as important as that you donate" https://topshamlibrary.org/information/year-end-thank-you/ and please do give copyright credit KeithSpiro on any public posting. Thank you and Enjoy!

The big question - Should I stay or should I go? Well it really didn't matter. Topsham Library staycation was a full day of coming and goings with guest readers and surprises throughout the library grounds. Guest Community Celebrity readers kept the kids and their parents entertained. Who ever knew what was the favorite children's book of Rich Roedner, town manager. Attendees now do! Special talks by Carol Birch, storyteller; Gary Rainford Maine poet and Paul Doiron Maine author filled out the adult part of the program.

Then and Now is the title of the Topsham Library's recent show of work by six Maine fiber artists. The show at the library's Crooker Gallery was curated by Natasha Kempers- Cullen. This was the first time founding volunteer gallery coordinator Connie Bailey, selected an artist to both exhibit and curate the entire show. Kempers-Cullen, brought together Susan Mills, Arlene Morris, Kathleen Bird, Kirsti Sandoy and Jill Venditouli and encouraged each artist to explore and display their own early works and more recent pieces. Their show bios are an interesting discussion of motivation and growth in their medium of choice. From Jill Vendituoli's observation that "the needle has long been a part of a woman's work" and "escape from the mundane activities of daily life" to Arlene Morris' willingness to following art where it takes you "trusting you shall discover something" each artist had a strong statement of worth, of exploration and the fearlessness of an entrepreneur to just put it out there for the world to see. These thoughts fit well in keeping with my long standing business theme that Art Makes a Difference. The show was just too powerful to let it slip away. Here are some enduring images from the reception event as well as brief background on each of the six participating artists. Natasha Kempers-Cullen states that color play and symbolism are the constants in her work. From art quilts to 3-D constructions to collages on canvas, the painted fabric she creates is the medium that holds it all together. Susan Mills‘ work is about her spiritual practice of shamanic journeys and meditations. She uses felted fibers and natural materials to create her art. Arlene Morris creates assemblages from stream of consciousness pieces she wrote about growing up. Made with kozo and cotton papers, they are painted, deconstructed, molded and hand stitched in her words. Kathleen Bird makes hand hooked rugs using natural fibers, including wool, mohair, alpaca, silk and bamboo. She is inspired by the Maine island landscapes and seascapes. Kirsti Sandoy also finds her inspiration in natural places like forests and the sea. Expressing her vision she makes felt pieces using wool, silk, and other fibers. Jill Venditouli specializes in 2 and 3 dimensional needlepoint tapestries. She is focused on transforming needlepoint, a traditional women’s craft into a 21st century fiber art medium.

Where else but the Topsham Library could you expect to find Star Wars themed events and Joyful Art and chocolate? February is always filled with fun for all ages at the Topsham Library.

Happy 15th Anniversary to the Topsham Public Library's permanent home. On Saturday June 8, 2019 the library held an amazing birthday party featuring a photo booth, Family tie dye, team scavenger hunt an outdoor concert with the wonderful Matt Loosigian, and of course picnicking cookie decorating and a cake. Here are photos of some of the people who attended. Happy Birthday Topsham Library! See the 10th anniversary song tribute here: https://youtu.be/bkl4ftcabi4

What's your story? A great author event at Topsham Public Library last night with White Mountain author Dan Szczesny. A very lively Q & A too! Lots of good storytelling from Dan as he shared some gems from his full year of exploration in and around the mystery and allure of Mt. Washington but also -as always - with this mountain and with this author, lot's of new stories bubbled up before the night was over...... and now in 2020 Hugh Dunphy emerges as one of those stories in "A historic day on Mount Washington" published by the Appalachian Mountain Club.

The Topsham Library just reopened after a week of being closed to the public while staff caught up on administrative tasks and contractors spruced up the interiors to get us all thinking about SPRING. This collection of photos was inspired by my conversation with library aide Linda Meadows - the only other person I have found who shares my love for cold- subfreezing cold, snowy, very snowy winter days. So while the inside of the building was sprucing up, I turned my photographer's eye toward images of winter around the exterior of our library. Dedicated to Linda Meadows. Here's tribute to the exterior of the Topsham Library in all its winter's glory.

The Topsham Public Library's annual JOY OF ART event with artists talks are looked forward to every year.

One exciting aspect of Topsham Library's Joy of Art is the hands on approach to the artist's talk. Attendees look forward to hearing what motivates the artist but also to see and touch some of the materials while learning what went into the thinking process to end up with the award winning finished pieces.

2018 Joy of Art represents the Tenth Anniversary of this very special friends program. Connie Bailey Curt Neufeld The Hoy Family all received special recognition from the library for their ever present volunteerism that makes the annual program run so smoothly.

Another award winning day with Lindsay and her puppets at the Topsham Public Library.

The wonderful Matt Loosigian brings his family show to Topsham Library August 11, 2017. Everybody is up and jumping, dancing and helping make the morning fun for all ages. Matt created EarthJams and you can learn more about it here http://earthjams.com/

What fun we had on Friday, February 23 from 1pm-2:30pm at Topsham Public Library's 3rd annual Friday of the Force. The event was open to all ages and is one of the big favorites around here. Take a look at the characters walking around the library dressed up as their favorite Star Wars characters. There were Star Wars themed games, Star Wars themed snacks and Star Wars themed activities. The Force was with them. A galactic spectacle for all.

The 2018 Topsham Library Sarah Whitten Award was presented to Don Sanders on Feb. 9, 2018 at a gala event at the library. Sanders is a bus driver for MSAD 75, the President of the Merrymeeting Employees Association, and the originator of the nationally renowned, award-winning Bus Book Bag program. He was awarded the Sarah Whitten Community Award for his efforts to get kids reading while on the bus ride to and from school. In 2015, Topsham Public Library’s Board of Trustees launched the Sarah Whitten Community Award to recognize an outstanding contribution to the library and the community by an individual, group, or business. The award honors the spirit of Sarah Whitten, who donated her family home to the library in 1941.

Charles Crosby is the 8th Honoree of the Sarah Whitten Award at the Topsham Library. Charlie is known for his enthusiastic support of community, of The Cryer and he brings a wide range of skills and interests to work every day. In 2015, the library’s Board of Trustees launched the Sarah Whitten Community Award, which recognizes a community member for their outstanding service to the library and community. The award is given in the spirit of the library’s first donor, Sarah Whitten, who donated her family home in 1941 to serve as Topsham’s first library.