There’s no greater resource in the lower Kennebec Valley than the Gardiner Public Library.

Serving Pittston, Randolph, Gardiner, West Gardiner, Litchfield and Farmingdale, the library has a large array of printed, electronic and digital resources, and community programs. You also can borrow things like tablets, mobile internet hotspots, a state park family pass, and even a pruning pole to remove browntail moth nests.

During the challenging times of the past two years, the library has been a steadfast resource to the communities within its service area. And, it’s a bargain for all of us. The city of Gardiner provides strong annual financial support for the library. The library also benefits from annual funding through grants, fundraising and an endowment from the Gardiner Library Association, the private nonprofit organization that owns and maintains the library building for the benefit of everyone in its service area.

Great things are happening at the library under the leadership of its new director, Justin Hoenke, and assistant director, Dawn Thistle. The library’s new website is a great resource: gardinerpubliclibrary.org/. Through the Gardiner Digital Library, you can access resources such as the Hoopla streaming service, ebooks and eAudiobooks.

Stop by the library at 152 Water St., Gardiner. Check out its book, CD and DVD collections, the Hazzard Reading Room, the Children’s Room and the Special Collections. The library staff can help with access to online resources; call 582-3312.

For all of those reasons and more, I’m supporting the library at Pittston’s town meeting at 9:45 a.m. March 19 at Pittston-Randolph Consolidated School. I encourage everyone in the library’s service area to also vote at their respective town meetings in support of continuing our community partnerships with the Gardiner Public Library.

Tom Farkas

Pittston