O! Call back yesterday, bid time return

-Salisbury, from The Tragedy of King Richard the Second by William Shakespeare

Sometimes life brings strange coincidences. On the first weekend in March, my husband, Clif, and I went to New York City to visit our daughter Dee. While we were there, we saw an excellent production of The Winter’s Tale, and before the play started, the above quotation was projected on a screen at the back of the stage. Even though it comes from a different play, the quotation is an apt reflection of the remorse King Leontes feels when his irrational jealousy turns him from a king to a tyrant and brings terrible tragedy to his family. If only Leontes could call back yesterday and reverse the damage he has done. But, of course, such a thing is impossible.

I thought of this when we came home to discover that there had been a fire in our town library, a fire deliberately started by a sixteen-year-old boy who broke in late at night. (According to the local paper, the boy turned himself in and is now being held in detention.) O! Bid time return and see that boy tucked safely in bed, where he belonged, rather than starting a fire in one of the best places in town. But time can no more turn back for the Charles M. Bailey Public Library in Winthrop, Maine, than it could for Leontes. The fire was started, it caught and burned, and the library is now closed.

The library did have a bit of luck. Not long after the boy started the fire, a police officer on patrol went by and saw flames coming out of a library window. Had the police officer gone by ten or fifteen minutes later, the fire would have been out of control, and the whole building would have burned down. As it was, with the fire station just around the corner, firefighters came quickly and saved the library, a lovely stone building built in 1916.

Naturally, there is extensive damage, caused by smoke and water as well as the fire. But the assistant fire marshal has asserted that “Structurally, though, the building is in fine shape. It certainly can be repaired.”

On Monday, three days after the fire, Clif and I went to a library meeting, where we were relieved to find that plans were afoot to keep the library going, albeit at a modest, reduced level. At the meeting, no one knew for sure how long it would take to clean the books, repair the library, and assess computer damage. However, we learned space had been found at the town office for Colleen Crowley, the head librarian, and it was suggested that there would be room for the rest of the staff, for some desks, phones, computers, and perhaps even some books, when they were cleaned. We learned that the interlibrary loan system, which is statewide, could continue at the town office, and for Wolf Moon Journal, as well as for the rest of the town, this was very good news indeed. A lot of the books I read are borrowed through interlibrary loan, and it has become a sort of literary lifeline for me. When I heard about the fire, I was wondering what in the world I was going to do without this wonderful service, a real benefit to a literary magazine on a slim budget. Clif and I also learned, from one of the school librarians, that the town schools would be willing to share their space, and there was a general feeling that the school libraries might potentially be good places for the children’s programs, especially at the grade school. Finally, Winthrop residents would be allowed to borrow books at libraries in either Augusta or Gardiner, two cities not far away.

At the meeting, one of the trustees mentioned how many, many people had called to express their support and volunteer their time. There was a definite feeling of gratitude in the room, for the police officer who spotted the fire while there was still time to save the building; for the fire department’s prompt response; for the offers of help; for the realization of how much this library means to the community.

Next week, I plan to visit with Colleen and Ann Darby, an assistant librarian, as well as with the other librarians and bring them some homemade cookies to cheer them up. When tragedy strikes, I like to cook. Perhaps Clif and I will be able to help in other ways. The offer has been made.

But in the end, my thoughts go to that teenager who started the fire. Burning down a place filled with books has an awful symbolism. Was this on his mind as he started the fire? Or was the library just a convenient place to express his anger? Whatever the case, I hope the boy finds the help he needs to deal with the issues he obviously has. He can’t turn back time, but he can look ahead. After all, he is only sixteen, with more tomorrows ahead of him than yesterdays behind him.

Meanwhile, the whole town is looking ahead for Charles M. Bailey Public Library. There is much work to do, but a start has been made.