Matinicus Rock Light, Penobscot Bay, Matinicus, Maine. Hunting and eating puffins was common practice in Maine over 100 years ago. The first lighthouse keepers on the rock were also wardens, hired by The American Ornithologists Union. They were tasked with protecting The United State's last remaining pair of Atlantic puffins, as well as many other commonly hunted seabird species. Today, Matinicus Rock is owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and is cooperatively managed by the National Audubon Society and MCINWR. Thanks to their work and the work of Project Puffin, there are over 500 pairs of nesting puffins, plus 400 pairs of razorbills, 1,000 pairs of terns, about 700 pairs of laughing gulls, and more.
With a population of only about 100 people, tolerance of others and appreciation for differences matter on Matinicus.
“Located 22 miles out to sea, Maine’s likely smallest library — and one of its newest — is on a mission to fill its shelves with books that other communities are taking off their shelves.
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“I am about to rubber stamp those books and take them down to the library,” she said. “We are buying banned books in order to publicly push back against the impetus to ban books. To say, ‘If you don’t want it in your library, we want it in ours.’”
Taking this kind of stance feels like a good fit for the island, whose residents generally adhere to a live and let live kind of philosophy, she said. It also works well with the grassroots nature of the library, which opened in 2016 after an islander sought to give away an eight-by-ten prefabricated storage shed they no longer needed.
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In 2020, Kristy Rogers McKibben, who grew up on Matinicus and had been one of the teen librarians 40 years ago, applied to the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation for a grant to add a second shed to make a children’s library. The foundation approved the grant, and after the insulated shed was delivered on the ferry, library volunteers again got to work to make it functional.
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And that respect and honor seems to be carrying on into the new books chosen for the shelves. The library’s new emphasis on banned books does not seem to be controversial on Matinicus, the state’s most remote and isolated community.
“We are in a privileged position to say, ‘We don’t ban books,’ and that we welcome people’s suggestions for books,” Murray said. “That’s the thing about starting a library [out here]. You can do good without having to ask for a lot of permissions first.””
Special Marine Warning issued September 6 at 12:47PM EDT expiring September 6 at 1:15PM EDT by NWS Gray ME
Special Marine Warning issued September 6 at 12:47PM EDT expiring September 6 at 1:15PM EDT by NWS Gray ME
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a special marine warning for Coastal Waters from Stonington, ME to Port Clyde, ME out 25 NM; Coastal Waters from Port Clyde, ME to Cape Elizabeth, ME out 25 NM starting on 9/6/2018 9:47:00 AM. NWS estimates this event is ‘likely’ to happen and the event is categorized as ‘severe.’
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