When asked, Ann Rothfels told The Record that it is an exaggeration that she has built her own lending library for the community of Sawyerville. The longtime volunteer did admit, however, that she has made significant contributions to the library’s collection out of pocket over the last 37 years. “I find my preference is to go to the Black Cat bookstore and purchase books that have an appeal to me,” Rothfels said. “I read them and I put them in a section at the very back of the library, and very often even the francophone readers go to that very back section to choose a book.” Like many other small community libraries across rural Quebec, the Sawyerville Library is a part of the Reseau BIBLIO, a nonprofit organization that provides smaller libraries access to a much broader collection of publications on a rotating basis. “I think there are over 50 (libraries), affiliated the Reseau BIBLIO de l’Estrie,” the volunteer said, explaining that the centralized network of books means that that allows smaller communities to take advantage of a much wider offering of books than would otherwise be available with a regular rotation. The network being a primarily francophone resource, however, Rothfels said that the English resources can sometimes be lacking. See full story in the Monday, March 9 edition of The Record.
