BUCKFIELD — The Zadoc Long Free Library Board of Trustees awarded Everett Tilton a plaque commemorating his long service to the library. Tilton, who has served the library in one capacity or another since his junior high days, retired as director of the library.

Under Tilton’s leadership, the library has continued to grow in its collection and in its use.

The library is free to residents of Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner. It was donated to Buckfield by John D. Long and named for his father, Zadoc Long. The building was designed by John Calvin Stevens and built in 1900.

J.D. Long was secretary of the Navy under President McKinley during the Spanish American War. Teddy Roosevelt was his assistant. Long was also governor of Massachusetts and a member of Congress. He died in 1915, leaving a trust fund for the library. The library has many interesting volumes from Long’s personal collection.

Ann Varney of Turner is the new director. In the fall there will be a children’s reading program, a monthly book club and the Wednesday evening knitting group. Varney intends to make the library catalog available on the Internet in a few months so patrons can search it from their computers.

The library collection includes books for all ages, magazines, audio books and movies. It has four public- access computers and walk-in-wireless is also available.

The library mostly operates on funds from the trust and fundraising, although it does receive small amounts from the towns they serve. Their major fundraiser is the annual book sale held on Labor Day Weekend. They are now accepting gifts of gently used books, audio books, CDs, and DVDs for the book sale. The library can be contacted at 336-2171 or [email protected].

The library hours are Monday and Wednesday 1 to 7 p.m., Tuesday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.