Tue, 10/31/2023 - 1:30pm

John Nunan

Pam Utley

Pam Utley - A ray of southern sunshine!

“When I was growing up in Louisville, Kentucky we moved a lot and when we got to a new community my daddy would always encourage me to listen before speaking.” Library Volunteer Pam Utley continues, “He’d say, you can share your opinions later, but you’ll learn a lot more by first hearing what other people have to say. That has been good advice for life.

“My husband Tim and I moved up here from Louisville, Kentucky after he retired. I was still teaching pre-school in the Catholic school system there. Both of my parents are from Maine, and I spent every summer up here as a kid with my cousins. I had never heard the term “PFA” (people from away) till we moved to this area. When we would visit Harpswell, we were just summer people. We had relatives that lived in the area, so it never felt strange. I brought my husband up here when I was in college and he fell in love with it too.

“We wanted to find an area where the house prices and taxes were about the same as Louisville. We had been to Boothbay Harbor once before and when we found a house that came with a barn, it was all over! My husband delighted in filling it with items he found at the dump, that he would repair and paint and then sell! He was over the moon happy doing that.

“I didn’t expect that we would be welcomed as quickly as we were. I taught in Catholic school all my life, was involved with my choir, and volunteered so it was great to come here and find a Catholic church and a place where I could continue to do all those things.

“Tim was asked to join the Library board soon after moving and the former director asked me if I would be interested in volunteering too. Mary Pinkham was the children’s librarian at the time and occasionally when she was out, I would fill in for her at story time. Then when she retired, I filled in for about 18 months.

“To me, the Library is the heart of our community, especially here in this town. There is a strong connection between what happens inside and what happens outside. The Halloween Parade, the Plant sale, all the Author Talks, there is always something going on.”

“Pam is such a joy to work with.” says children’s librarian, Jen Betts. “She has been an invaluable help to me and the kids absolutely love her. She helps me with story time and we have fun trading off voices when we read. and she loves to lead singing and is invaluable when we have crafts. Her years of experience as a preschool teacher shines through. ”