WEST PARIS – The chairman of the Arthur L. Mann Memorial Library trustees has asked selectmen whether nonresidents can legally serve on the board.

“We have been diligent to keep growing and expanding our patronage every month,” Rodney Abbott said, “and we have quite a bit of patronage coming from Woodstock and Greenwood as well as some from the Norway area. We have a full board now, but I would like to be prepared in case we have a vacancy and are unable to fill it from within our own town.

“I think there is a real need for small towns to reach out for all the help they can get, and also there is going to be a lot more regionalization in the near future. We need to be prepared for what may come about down the road. So I am eager to find people who are interested in helping us out,” he added.

Selectmen decided to research the library’s bylaws, and if there is no prohibition they will ask residents’ opinions.

Town Manager Donald Woodbury agreed to begin the search, and Abbott pledged his assistance as well.

“I’d rather see people from our own town on the board,” Selectman Wade Rainey said, “but I guess it would be OK to have someone from outside as long as we keep the majority. Also there is a feeling that there must have been something written at sometime so we should first see about that before we make a decision.”

Before Abbott made his request, he displayed a model of the field stone library, which will be raffled to raise money for a major building expansion.

Selectmen are reminding department heads and social service organizations that 2007 budget requests are due by Dec. 15.