Earlier this year Tom Boudin of Edgecomb had exhausted all avenues to get his town to fully fund the Wiscasset Public Library's annual request. For a second year, it looked like Edgecomb residents wanting to borrow books would pay a non-residents' fee, prorated by the amount the town gave the library.

Back then, an anonymous Boothbay Register reader wrote a $7,000 check, which bridged the gap between Edgecomb's $2,000 contribution and the nearly $9,000 the library asked for.

But Boudin, one of the library's trustees, isn't counting on luck striking twice. He recently handed selectmen a petition with six pages of signatures he gathered at the polls November 6. The petition asks the selectmen and the budget committee to “support full funding as requested by local libraries.”

Signers could check their support for fully funding the Wiscasset library, the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, or both. About 150 voters took part. About 75 percent checked both libraries, Boudin said. Most of the remainder checked just the Wiscasset library, with a couple checking only the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, he said.

Selectmen took no position on Boudin's petition. They told Boudin they would pass the papers along to the budget committee for him, but that funding is ultimately up to voters at the May 2013 annual town meeting.

If the budget committee changes its course from recent years and recommends full funding, “it would carry a lot of weight” with voters, Boudin said.

Chubbuck reminded Boudin November 19 that she has offered to personally help with fundraising toward the Wiscasset library's request.

Boudin has maintained that fundraising would be hard without a grant or other matching funds, and because the donations would go toward the library's operating costs, rather than some project.

Boudin does not plan to submit the petition's signatures to Town Clerk Claudia Coffin for verification. The petition wasn't meant to force selectmen to do anything, but rather to show them and the budget committee that there is support for full funding of both libraries, he said.

Boudin said the Wiscasset library hasn't decided what it will ask Edgecomb for in 2013. The figure will probably stay close to last year's request, he said.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.