LIVERMORE FALLS — The Livermore Falls Library Association, family, friends and employees of the Treat Memorial Library dedicated the Doris DeMillo Memorial Garden Tuesday night in memory of a woman who volunteered thousand of hours there.

DeMillo of Livermore Falls died of cancer at 84 in June 2009.

She volunteered for 22 years at the library and also became a library aide during that time, being paid for some of her hours. She spent many hours processing books, gluing card holders into them and helping out people.

Library Director Elaine Smith showed those present exactly which table DeMillo could be found at when she was at the library.

The dedication went outside, where people fondly remembered the woman who loved books, loved to garden, loved to read and loved the library, association President Pat Allen said.

DeMillo’s daughter, Sharon LaBrecque of Jay joked about how her family had to always work around her mother’s volunteer schedule at the library so she didn’t miss her time there.

DeMillo lived in a nearby housing complex and often could be seen when she was alive walking along Depot Street to Main Street to the library in downtown Livermore Falls.

Smith explained the fluffy, stuffed bunny she had set on granite bench outside the library. The bunny was donated to the library years ago, she said.

“Doris got a hold of it,” she said, and she always had it on her cart. No one could touch it, she said.

She put a bow on it for each holiday. The bunny still rests at the library and every time she looks at it, Smith said she remembers DeMillo.

The memorial garden was made possible from donations that were made in DeMillo’s memory when she died. Allen thanked everyone involved, including those who came up with the idea and volunteered to create it.

LaBrecque and her brothers, Tim and Tony DeMillo, unveiled the plaque during the dedication. It read, “This garden is in memory of Doris DeMillo. Dedicated library volunteer. Believer in the power of books.”

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