BATH — The Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation awarded the Patten Free Library $10,000 for the Teen Space and Reference Renovation campaign, meaning the Library has exceeded their fundraising goal of $332,000 for renovations.

This multi-year campaign has come to a successful close just in time for the grand opening of the new spaces.

As a result of the multi-year fundraising campaign, the reference area has been completed and re-opened to the public on Sept. 11. The renovations included adding the Bath Savings Group Study Room that seats up to six people and is available for meetings and group study.

The final piece of the renovations is a new state-of-the art Teen Space that should be completed by the end of the month.

“The current teen space is a small, open, oblong area outside the non-fiction stacks, said Library Director Lesley Dolinger. “It has one power outlet, no technology, and limited seating.  It gets crowded and noisy as soon as more than one or two teens congregate.  Given the growth of the teen presence and programs in the Library in recent years, we knew it is time to give this age group a room in the Library to call its own.”

A Teen Library Council, founded in 2013, meets twice a month during the school year, and has helped develop and launch an annual cycle of young adult events, including an annual teen writing contest, an annual student art show, and a Halloween event called Haunted Patten.

In 2014, the group designed, built, and installed Bath’s first “Little Free Library” at the local YMCA. For the last three years, it has entered a young adult library float in the annual Heritage Days Parade. The Council has also organized small fundraisers, such as a bottle drive, to support the new teen space construction.

The Library also received donations from Bath Savings Institution, First Federal Savings, The Alfred Senter Foundation, the Davis Family Foundation, the Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust, Cosmopolitan Club, Bath Subaru, KM Robbins Construction, Margaret Burnham Charitable Trust, and the Davenport Trust Fund, along with dozens of individuals and businesses. Scattergood Design architectural firm did the design for the renovations, with construction by Wright-Ryan contractors.

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