Join Us to Preserve & Enhance
A Library for Us All
In the heart of Brooklin, Maine, Friend Memorial Public Library is an important architectural structure and a central institution in our lives. We need your help!
Our goal is to raise a minimum of $2.5 million:
at least $1.5 million for building maintenance, renovations and expansion
at least $1 million for the endowment to cover operations expenses
Our capital campaign goals are based on three important aspects that need our attention:
Maintenance and renovation efforts will revitalize our library’s existing structure and grounds.
Additional physical space will enhance and double the size of this community space so critical to the life of our town.
Increasing the endowment will provide long-term financial stability to sustain operations, services and staffing.
Preliminary rendering by Elliott Architects
Join us in creating the
Maritime Research Center
at Friend Memorial Public Library
The town of Brooklin is known throughout the western world for designing and building both pleasure and commercial vessels.
The Maritime Research Center will be one of the nation’s most important private collections of materials and photographs related to wooden boat and ship design, construction operation, and history.
Housed in a multi-use space within the new Annex, the center will include the rare and extensive maritime research library donated by Jon Wilson, founder and former owner of the renowned WoodenBoat magazine and WoodenBoat School, and more than 155,000 images from award-winning maritime photographer Benjamin Mendlowitz.
The Maritime Research Center will enhance Friend Memorial Public Library’s role in supporting the very traditions that have bolstered the economy of the town for generations.
“This extraordinary maritime collection will extend Friend Memorial Public Library’s reach to serve students, authors, researchers, visiting boat owners, and enthusiasts from around the world, and to position the library as a leading center for maritime research in the country. ”
— Maynard Bray, Brooklin resident, author and maritime historian