The Rangeley Public Library Summer Celebration, on Thursday, Aug. 14, is the 20th year of this wonderful fundraising event. Begun in 2005 to fund a remodel of the Children’s Rooms this event has been a major funding source for the library ever since. The first celebration was spearheaded by Board President Linda Caspar and Co-chaired by Janice Adler and Joanne Dunlap. The celebration began as a Literary Gala, held at the Rangeley Inn, honoring authors connected to the Rangeley region. The first gala in 2005 coincided with the Town of Rangeley’s 150th anniversary and honored Rangeley historians.
In subsequent years the gala was held at Saddleback Mountain. Since 2012 it has been hosted at the library to honor and celebrate a wide range of authors with ties to Rangeley. Among the honorees are local celebrities in poetry, children’s literature, science, adult fiction, journalism, photography, and a Nobel Prize winner.
The 2025 Summer Celebration will honor a donation made to our endowment by the McDavitt Family in memory of Katherine McDavitt. The donation will fund a new youth after-school program for local students and further our community mission. In 20 years, with help from our generous donors, we have come full circle from the first gala held to fund improvements to our Children’s Rooms to this year’s expanding our youth programs.
Come celebrate our wonderful Rangeley Public Library with live music, drinks and food by Classic Provisions and desserts by Katie Bakes. Buy a ticket for our Dine-Around raffle and get a chance to win gift cards from 18 local restaurants. Silent and live auctions will be held. The live auction, with auctioneer Chris Farmer, includes two days of guided fly fishing on the Magalloway; Portland Loft; original sketch by Chris Van Dusan (signed and framed); and a Zoom book talk with author Monica Wood.
Please join us at the Library for the Summer Celebration on Thursday, Aug. 14, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., to help further the goals of the library. Tickets can be purchased online at rangeleylibrary.org, by calling 864- 5529, or by visiting the library. Tickets are limitied