A granite “book bench” created by artist Craig Gray adorns the Jay-Niles Memorial Library in Jay. The bench, featuring Maine titles and a Stephen King quote, is the first of its kind in the state. (Courtesy photo)

JAY — Jay-Niles Memorial Library is home to the first Novel Idea bench by Florida artist Craig Gray to be installed in Maine, a project library Director Tamara Hoke said was years in the making.

“A few years ago, the mom of a friend of mine tagged me on Facebook and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have one of these at the Jay Library?’” Hoke said. “I liked the post and liked (Craig Gray’s) Facebook page but thought it would be impossible to have one of his benches in Maine as he lives in Key West, Florida.”

Hoke said she followed Gray’s work online and admired the benches from afar.

“I continued to see his posts from time to time and would like them and feel a sense of envy every time I saw a new installation of his Novel Idea bench,” she said.

Determined to bring a book bench to Jay, Hoke first pursued other options.

“I started to research different benches with book designs and found a Maine artist willing to do a book bench for our library, but the bench that he wanted to install, while totally amazing was more than we could afford to pay, even with the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation grant that we received,” she said. “We could have purchased it but there wouldn’t have been much of anything else we could do.”

Even after turning down the project, the artist tried to help.

“Once we told the artist we couldn’t afford his project, he was still very wonderful about connecting us with someone else who was able to do something on a smaller scale,” Hoke said. “I started the discussion with them, but at some point, they stopped communicating with us, but it was still my dream to have a book bench.”

The dream revived when she saw another of Gray’s posts online.

“I started to research other possibilities and once again, CR Gray posted one of his Novel Idea benches on Facebook that he had just installed,” she said. “Not believing it would be possible for him to install one here, I still made a comment along the lines of how great it would be to have one at the library where I am director. We started a conversation.

“I found out that Craig had a connection to Maine and his wife has family here and they would be coming to Maine this summer.”

Granite blocks engraved with classic titles, including “Charlotte’s Web” and “A Year in the Maine Woods,” were prepared for assembly into the Jay-Niles Memorial Library’s new book bench. (Courtesy photo)

That chance connection led to Jay becoming the first community in the state to have one of Gray’s benches.

“Come to find out, he was really excited to do a bench here. He’s never installed one in Maine. We are the first,” Hoke said.

The library chose a design featuring engraved granite blocks, customized with book titles reflecting the state and its literary heritage.

The new bench sits alongside newly installed steps made from North Jay granite, part of a broader restoration effort supported by the $50,000 King Foundation grant.

Together, the additions highlight both the library’s history and its role as a place to celebrate Maine’s literary culture.

“The way his benches work is you choose between the design that we have or an open book design and you choose the titles of the books that will be engraved on the granite books,” Hoke said. “I wanted some quintessential Maine books on ours and also wanted to give a nod to Stephen King, without whom the project out front of the library would not be possible.”

The bench has a Stephen King quote: “Books are uniquely portable magic.”

For Hoke, the bench is more than a piece of art. “I also love that quote,” she said. “(It) encapsulates how I feel about books and reading.”