Judy Flanagan had her last day as Wiscasset Public Library's children's librarian January 17. She's retiring to spend more time with her grandchildren and more time on another of her favorite interests, community involvement.

The lifelong Wiscasset resident was the town's first woman selectman. She worked about two decades at Wiscasset Primary School, some of that time as librarian. When she took the job at the public library on High Street in 2010, Flanagan never lost touch with the connection to education. Instead, it served as a bridge to help involve the library with the local schools and Wiscasset's recreation department.

They can all work together, to read to children and get books into their hands, Flanagan said.

The last couple of summers, the library has paid transportation costs of library visits for children in Wiscasset's recreation program, Flanagan, 64, said. In addition, if parents’ work schedules make it difficult to return books their children borrow, the child’s school will do it, she said.

Those cooperative efforts help offset one difference Flanagan has found between working in a public library and a school library. “Usually, in public education you’re having to turn the children on to reading. But in the public library, most are already turned on to reading, and they will pick up so many books, their parents have to tell them, ‘OK, that’s enough books,’” she said.

In either setting, Flanagan enjoys doing read-alouds. One of her old stand-bys is an illustrated version of Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening.” Reading to children, along with helping them get books at their own reading level, are both important to early literacy, she said.

“The sooner you start reading to a child, the better. And you can find out what their niche is, what they like, and go from there.”

Nursery rhymes and poetry can be particularly helpful, including the perennially popular “Dr. Seuss” books,  by Theodor Seuss Geisel. “He has a message, and that rhyming that kids need,” Flanagan said.

She said she gets concerned when some people don’t see the point of spending public funds on the library. “There’s something there for everybody .... It’s a jewel of the town, as any public library is,” she said.

The summer 2013 reading program, led by the primary school's librarian Lisa Hardman, was the most successful one yet, Flanagan said.

Although retiring from Wiscasset Public Library, Flanagan plans to stick around as a volunteer, and to continue serving on its fundraising group of volunteers, Friends of the Library.

A library press release describes Flanagan as “a real treasure ... Judy’s creativity and her love of children and education were driving forces during her time here,” the release states.

Flanagan already knows the new children's librarian, Natalie Castonia of Edgecomb. Castonia is the daughter of Joan Spurgat, who worked at the public library when Flanagan worked at the primary school.

“Natalie has lots of energy and enthusiasm. She's sharp, and I know she will do a great job,” Flanagan said. “I feel so much better knowing she's going to be doing it.

“It's hard to leave a job you love, but it helps to know it's going to be in good hands.”