Community Supporters of Wareham Plan 1000 mile Paddlethon to raise awareness and funds for the Wareham Free Library
Beginning on October 11th, two days after his 78th birthday, Wareham resident Dick Wheeler is planning to paddle a thousand miles of Wareham and Cape Cod coastline in his kayak in order to raise awareness and funds in support of the Wareham Free Library.
Although he is best known for a 1500 mile environmental awareness trip by kayak from Newfoundland to Cape Cod in 1991 that resulted in an award winning NOVA documentary and “Hero for the Planet” selection by Time Magazine, Dick has done several other “epic” paddles in support of institutions where he was either director or trustee.
Dick Wheeler states “Each one of them was for an important cause, but the one I have been asked to do for the Wareham Free Library seems to me to be the most important one of them all. We are asking for pledges on a per mile basis from a penny per mile on up. In order to make those pennies really count I am willing to paddle a thousand miles back and forth along our noted”50 mile” coastline for ten weeks. With ‘small change’ people can make a big change”. A group of concerned library patrons working to restore the library services were thrilled to enlist Dick’s help in their effort.
“We knew that we had to do something”, community supporter, Marilyn Donahue said. “A group of us met to discuss what we could do to show our support and help the library. We are so excited by Dick’s plan.”
Recently the Wareham Free Library suffered a 47% budget cut and was forced to reduce its hours to 25 hours a week. A number of staff were let go or had hours severely cut. The reduction in staff and hours has resulted in many programs being cut, including the loss of story hour, the displacement of tutoring and GED programs and dismay among patrons who have come to depend upon the library for services raging from computer access to access to books, videos and other materials.
Community Supporters of Wareham formed in reaction to the cuts. Its members include a wide variety of people from mothers of young children to students, working professionals and senior citizens who all feel that the library is an essential part of the community. Library services are always necessary but they are especially important in tough economic times and in a community where a significant number of residents have no other computer access and may not otherwise be able to afford books.
“The town and the library need our help now.” says Marilyn “It is critical to not only restore services to what they were but to increase our support for the library and make sure every resident in town realizes what a tremendous resource we have.” Libraries in towns the size of Wareham are expected to be open at least 50 hours a week, and in order to remain certified, the Wareham library must be open to the public for at least 40 hours. A waiver has been granted in the past by the Board of Library Commissioners but they rarely do this for more than a few years and will absolutely not grant a waiver for 25 hours a week. Decertification will jeopardize state aid and the ability of the citizens of Wareham to borrow from other libraries.
“We still need to get a commitment from the Town to restore some funding to the library, since our donations can’t pay for salaries,” but we hope to raise enough to supplement the library’s budget and restore some of the essential programs.”
Look for signs and blue ribbons around town in support of the library.
Please join us on Saturday morning October 11th at 10:00 am at Besse Park in Wareham Center to wish Dick well on his journey. Dick is willing to stop in at any house or school along the way to talk about his trip and the group’s efforts to support the library.
Sometimes it only takes pennies to solve great problems says Dick. He’s seen it work before.
