NEW GLOUCESTER — Michael S. Graham, longtime curator of the Shaker Museum and Library, is the new director of Shaker Village at Sabbathday Lake.

“We needed someone with an innate sense of the past and present and hope for the future,” said Brother Arnold Hadd, one of three members of the United Society of Shakers at Sabbathday Lake who unanimously named Graham to the position July 1. “We felt the natural choice was for Michael and it took a lot for him to understand that this is where he should be.”

Graham succeeds Leonard Brooks, who retired from the post after 25 years.

“My teachers first and foremost have been the Shakers,” Graham said. “Sister Francis (Carr) has a lifelong experience in this community and Brother Arnold is the leading historian of this life. They shaped my knowledge.”

He added, “At one time I considered joining the community. The human experience drew me to this place. Shaker life is for those who hold above all Shaker faith and spirituality. This comes absolutely first.”

After his graduation from Bates College in 1992, Graham took on the position of curator under the mentorship of Brooks and Hadd. Growing up in Lee, Mass., Graham was within easy distance to Hancock Shaker Museum and the Old Chatham Shaker Museum and New Lebanon, New York’s former Shaker Village.

“The most challenging thing is walking the line of sensitivity to Shaker life,” Graham said. “Every way we interpret reflects on the Shaker members who live here. When we are interpreting in behalf of the living Shakers, their history of accuracy is key.”

He credits Brooks for setting the bar professionally for careful and deliberate plans for incremental progress.

Among the goals are preservation and stabilization of buildings, a new storage vault for the library and improving building interiors.

Brooks will remain an integral part of the village’s vision for the future, taking on other activities.

“The Shakers offered me a new job like the old job of outreach,” he said. “I will work here letting people know about Shaker heritage. A lot has happened in the past 25 years, but really, a significant part of that is the support we’ve had from all sorts of people in all sorts of way.”

The village includes 18 buildings that date from 1780 to the 1950s. Its 1,800 acres include a tree farm, apple orchard, vegetable gardens, a commercial herb garden, hayfields, sheep and livestock.

The museum was organized in 1931 and is open to the public. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.

The village is open from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. Tours and workshops fill the summer season, as well as specialized programs. The Maine Festival of American Music in June under the Portland String Quartet is an annual feature. The Maine Native American Summer Market and Demonstration will be held Aug. 24 for the fifth consecutive year.

For more information on the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village call 926 4597 or refer to the website.