Lawrence House, left, and Laverna House are shown signing up for their first-ever library card with librarian Vicki Varney.

Downturn is upturn for Turner Public Library

TURNER – The downturn in the economy has been an upturn for libraries, and the Turner Public Library is no exception. Lawrence “Punk” House and his wife, Laverna, are lifelong residents of Turner and Lawrence is a selectman.

After hearing a budget presentation by the Turner Public Library and being impressed, Lawrence felt he needed to support it by getting his own library card.

Residents can receive a library card free; cost for non-residents is $5 a year.

The benefits of having a card include access to a selection of books for adults and children, audio CDs and cassettes, DVDs, videos, computers for public use, passes for the USM planetarium and state parks, Books for Babes, story hour for kids and a home delivery service for those who can’t get to the library.

There are other services and events that contribute to the people of Turner as well as surrounding towns.

Library hours are noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturday.