ALLAGASH (AP) – The public library in the remote northern Maine town of Allagash has been given new life thanks to a donation from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.

Library supporter Faye Hafford feared that the two-room library would have to close because of the high cost of fuel and an aging furnace that might not make it through the winter.

The King Foundation heard about the library’s plight and asked Hafford for an estimate on the price of a new furnace.

She said the cost was just over $20,000, and the foundation responded by sending a check for $25,000, telling Hafford to use the remainder to buy fuel. A new furnace will be installed once the winter is over if the old furnace makes it through the cold season, she said.

Hafford said she received more than $4,000 in additional donations from across the country after the library’s problems were publicized.

The Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, named for the best-selling author and his wife, is a nonprofit organization that supports community-based initiatives, especially in Maine.

The Allagash library opened seven years ago in the former Allagash Consolidated School after the school closed down.