My remarks at the grand opening of Square Root Natural Foods

I was asked to speak on behalf of the Ricker Memorial Library at the grand opening of Square Root Natural Foods on Saturday, March 20, 2010. My remarks are below:

When my family moved to Poland 20 years ago, we came from a town with a library that was staffed by a group of committed volunteers, but that was peripheral to the community. It was little more than a place to borrow books. One of the things that stood out the most for my family was how central Ricker Library was to the town of Poland. It was, and continues to be, a bright, cheerful place that is truly the hub of our community and is vital to our town’s prosperity. That’s why I was so excited when Zakk Maher approached the library about Square Root Natural Foods donating a portion of today’s profits to the library and about working with the library to bring programming related to health and natural and organic foods to Poland. Square Root Natural Foods and the library have similar qualities. Both are committed to fostering community here in Poland. While the library provides the community house, with many community events taking place within our building’s walls, and serves as the town’s warming and cooling centers, Square Root Natural Foods provides its community lounge and promotes products grown and created within our community. Also, while Square Root Natural Foods serves our physical needs by providing nutrition for the body, the library provides nutrition for the mind and soul. Now more than ever it is important to support our local economy and that’s what Square Root Natural Foods is dedicated to doing by providing local products. The library is committed to boosting the local economy by providing resources for job seekers and small businesses. As Anne Herbert once said, “Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” We are honored to have the opportunity to work with Square Root Natural Foods to support our local economy and to promote healthy habits and we thank Zakk and Emmy for their support of the library. We look forward to using their donation to improve our ecology and agriculture sections and also look forward to working with them in the future to bring quality programming on related topics to the town. If you would like more information about the Alvan Bolster Ricker Memorial Library and Community House, including our upcoming programs and fundraisers, please come to the library or visit our web site at rickerlibrary.org.