Boothbay Public Library

A great library! The porch is the best WiFi reception in downtown BBH. The children’s room is wonderful and there are often readings, check the schedule. They have free internet access but you have to sign up and it may be a wait even though they have half-​a-​dozen computers. They have an extensive selection. There is a Reading Room with daily papers and magazines.
The Used Book Store is great and always appreciates donations. we have started to clean out our old CDs, DVDs and books and bring them up on vacation or send them up afterwards. The store supports the Library so it is all for a good cause. Check out all the rooms, the prices are wonderful. There is also an Honor System on the Porch, I think all books are a dime.
If you like the Used Book Store be sure to visit Damirscotta, up the coast, there is the Skidompa Library Second Hand Book Shop (115 Elm street it is a separate building away from the library). They are just up the street from King Eiders pub which is where you should eat, try the baked brie! The Second Hand Book Shop is similar but not identical to the BBH one with an extensive and inexpensively priced selection. You really have to visit both. They appreciate donations as well.

I’m a regular visitor to BBH (my parents live there) and I love this library and it’s used bookstore. The prices are very reasonable, and I can drop off donations while I shop. The library itself has a decent children’s room and collection of eBooks and contemporary reads. We stop by every time we go up and can’t say enough about it. Truly, this is a gem for BBH visitors.

I visit Boothbay Harbor with my family at least twice a year (my parents have a house there), and visiting the library is always the top item on my list of things to do.
Why? The library porch. Actually, it’s the porch on the building next to the library itself. It has a large selection of hardcover and paperback books available for sale to support the library — and they cost ten cents per book. At that price, I can try all sorts of books that I might never have dreamed of picking up otherwise — and some of them always turn out to be surprisingly good.
There’s also always the chance of finding buried treasure. In fact, I almost ALWAYS make one or two real finds. This summer, I found a hardcover copy of «The Bridge of Birds» in excellent condition; a simply wonderful book, and a fabulous bargain.
The porch works on the honor system. You pick out your books and put the money through a slot in the (always-​locked) side door. I always put in some extra cash, if I have any, to support the library. As far as I know, the porch is always open all hours, every day of the week; there isn’t any way to actually *close* it, after all (I imagine that they don’t leave the books out during the winter, though). There are usually some plastic grocery bags hung on one of the shelves for your books.
The rest of the building is a regular used book shop. It also supports the library, and is run by volunteers. Prices used to be a little bit on the high side, but they’ve come way down; most books are $ 0.50 — $ 1. The selection is large and quite good. Between the porch and the shop, I recently picked up over 30 books for under $ 15. The space in the shop is a bit cramped, but I’ve seen worse. Look for the children’s nook; lots of good stuff there.
And now, the library itself: it’s a typical small New England library, packed with books and character. There’s wifi internet access (the previous librarian arranged that, I believe; she was a real treasure), as well as several computers that can be used for internet access. You need to sign up in advance for half-​hour increments of computer use.
The children’s room is particularly nice. There are a lot of books packed into a relatively small and cosy space, as well as toys, videos, a comfy couch that’s very good for quietly reading books aloud to children, and an odd barn-​setting on one wall that almost seems to be a sort of staging area for plays (or just to play with). It’s a very popular destination for my seven-​year-​old son whenever we visit Boothbay Harbor.