HARPSWELL

The Cundy’s Harbor

Library in Harpswell has hired a new assistant librarian.

David Perrier — a U.S. Army veteran with a master’s degree in library and information science — began work at the library six weeks ago after moving to Maine from Massachusetts. He specializes in archiving, digitizing and database management, and said that it is his wish to bring Cundy’s Harbor closer to its history. The Times Record recently sat down with Perrier to learn about his past and see what else he hopes to bring to the Cundy’s Harbor community.

The Times Record: Tell us how you ended up in Maine.

David Perrier: My wife and I moved up in November of ’16 from Chickopee, Massachusetts, near Springfield. She spent her high school years in Greenville, Maine, and she had always talked about Maine, about how it’s gorgeous and the people are great. We had visited Bar Harbor a few years ago with my nephew, and we did all those fun things you do as a tourist in Maine, like whale watching, which is nice. But I wanted to learn more about the state itself. So I said, “apply for a job up there and we’ll move there, and I’ll look for a job at a library.” So she got a job and we moved to Portland.

TR: Tell us about your history in the Army and how that has influenced your career.

DP: I was in the Army but was injured in training in 2002. I sustained a back injury and a leg injury, and a hip injury. It’s a rough training schedule. So my schooling was through a program called Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans. I couldn’t do physical labor anymore so they paid for my college, everything up through my master’s degree. Because I was injured I was looking for a part time library job, and they wanted a part time librarian’s assistant in Cundy’s Harbor, so it worked out. It was a nice fit for both of us.

TR: What have you learned about the Cundy’s Harbor community so far?

DP: The people I’ve met have all been very nice, and the history is fascinating. I’m huge into local history. You can look around and see all these things 1 million times, but it’s hard to know what you’re looking at without learning about it.

When I first got here I started pulling some things out of the back room, asking myself, “what do we have, and what should we keep?” And I found a lot of stories from when people were children. “This is what it’s like to grow up here,” that sort of thing. This is what you want to find. Nobody tells boring stories when they’re asked to talk about their childhood.

There was one story I found about a person banished to an island offshore. He lived there from 1910- 1930. Locals would bring him food and clothing here and there, check up on him. Every morning they’d see the smoke from his fire and know he was OK, but one day they looked out and didn’t see smoke, and knew he was dead. I also found stories about drug smuggling in the 60s and witches from way back in the day. All kinds of stuff.

We also have some newspapers here that people have donated over the years, and some personal history interviews that were done at the library a few years ago. Those are mostly local residents talking about what their lives were like growing up. I’m going through those DVDs now.

TR: What do you hope to bring to this community?

DP: People are always interested in their town’s history, but it’s hard to find sometimes. I’d like to make the library the center of local history. I’m also big on genealogy mapping. Some families go back forever around here. I’d like to do a lot of the local history research and see how things have changed over time, and give that to the people.

I would like to do more programs for people in the community. Someone donated a telescope the other day — and I love astronomy — so during the summer I would love to do an astronomy program and bring the kids out front. I would think that kids would love it. What kid doesn’t like the planets and the stars? I would also like to do some more technology-based education with kids. We are trying to get a Lego club going, and you can do a lot of electronics with Legos. I’d like to help people in general deal with technology, so every Thursday from 1-3 in the afternoon I run a tech club here where people can come and ask questions about various tech problems they’re having.

I would also like to do more community outreach. This library is a great location. If there’s something that people want to do, they should do it here. I’ve talked about what we’d like to do, but we also want to know what the community wants to do. Is there anything you need space for? Its right here. It’s used on a regular basis, but I’d love to see it used more.

Finally, I would love to reach out at some point to community members who have stories. Come in, tell me the story and I’ll record it and we can archive it. That way these stories aren’t lost. Let’s keep this town’s history alive.

Cundy’s Harbor Library is open Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information visit the Cundy’s Harbor Library Facebook page.