CARIBOU, Maine — The Caribou Public Library is getting its first renovation since 1960, transforming it into a more technology-based center for local residents.
The library is one of 12 community centers across Maine recently awarded Connectivity Hub grants ranging from $250,000 to nearly $2 million from the Maine Department of Connectivity.
Cariboo Library’s $1,847,528 grant will be used to cover all costs to renovate and expand its current space to include 15 computers and public and private video conference rooms.
Libraries have seen an uptick in demand for technology. Last fall, staff launched the Maine State Library’s Remote Connectivity program, which allows patrons to borrow mobile hotspot routers and laptops. Since then, about 15 people have been borrowing those materials each month, ranging from remote workers to newcomers, caribou and seniors, library director Peter Baldwin said.
While the library is still best known for its books and historical archives, the most sought-after tool by visitors remains a computer. However, the library currently only has six computers, which can be an inconvenience for patrons at peak times.
“At least 100 people use our computers every week, and we also have quite a few who come here just to use our WiFi on their own devices,” Baldwin said. “This grant will allow us to meet people’s needs and provide much more than we could provide on our own.”
Built in 1910 as one of 20 “Carnegie Libraries” in Maine with funding from Andrew Carnegie, the Cariboo Public Library last underwent a major renovation in 1960. That year, the rear of the library building was expanded to include basement stacks, a larger main floor, and a 650-square-foot loft that provided more space for the library’s nonfiction shelves.
With a grant from the Maine Department of Connectivity, the library will expand the loft and outfit the entire second floor, including a 15-by-24 conference room equipped with a TV, camera and microphone for video conferencing, as well as two private telehealth rooms and new computers for public use.
The larger second-floor space will serve community groups that already meet at the library, expand the library’s senior access points through a partnership with the Aroostook Senior Citizens Agency, and expand the library’s monthly National Digital Equity Center classes that teach computer and smartphone basics.
“There has been a significant increase in new registrants. [for the Digital Equity classes]”Most of them are seniors, but some are writing resumes,” Baldwin said.
The nonfiction collection will remain on the second floor but will be moved as part of the renovation, and library staff also plan to move some bookshelves on the first floor to make more space dedicated to computers, Baldwin said.
That’s good news for regular customers like Jonathan Thompson of Perham.
Thompson has been using the library’s computers to search for jobs lately, and because of car problems, she has been biking to the Caribou library, where the Wi-Fi is more reliable.
“[The Connectivity Hub] It will definitely help,” Thompson said.[The library] It’s the most convenient location. There is no career center in Caribou.”
Baldwin plans to seek bids from contractors later this year and hopes to have renovations begin no later than next spring.
Other organizations receiving Connectivity Hub grants in Aroostook include the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians ($1,247,639) and the Aroostook Senior Citizens’ Assistance Agency ($400,989). Grant recipients have until August 2026 to complete their projects.
