Libraries Make the Reading World Go Round

Libraries are the Center of their Towns and Hub of their Communities

One of the great things about being an author is the opportunity to visit libraries as a speaker. I do a variety of COST TALKs around New England, mostly in Maine, and am always blown away by the libraries I visit. They are usually the center of town, the hub of the community, and the place where ideas and creativity are born and fostered.

If you are a librarian or belong to a book group that meets at a library, I’d love to come speak, interact, or whatever. Libraries makes the reading world go round.

Wednesday night I was at the fabulous Readfield Community Library for the sixth time in five years, making it my most visited venue over that period, which is how long I have been a published author. In the center of town, in a flower garden, on the shores of Maranacook Lake, I got the opportunity to spout about books.

This made me want to reflect upon my journey along the library path this year. So far, there have been seventeen of these book repositories visited with many more to come. For me, this is one of the highlights of being a writer—getting out to appreciate the buildings, meet the librarians, and interact with the patrons of said establishments.

My first sojourn of the year was to the Windham Public Library in February where Dick Cass set up a Mystery Making event. Unfortunately, he had to bow out, but I had a wonderful time with Jule Selbo, Maureen Milliken, and Allison Keeton. If you haven’t gotten a chance to attend one of these panels where the authors, along with audience participation, create a crime story in an hour, you have been missing out.

March contained a visit to the Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library in Lovell and a trip to Massachusetts for the Merrimac Public Library. At the Charlotte Hobbs, I did my COST TALK with a focus on my recently published book, Mainely Mayhem. Then, in Merrimac, I had the pleasure of moderating a discussion with wonderful authors BJ Magnani and Edie Maxwell.

My first visit to the Brown Memorial Library in Clinton was a fantastic experience and my COST TALK focused on my latest offspring, The Not So Merry Adventures of Max Creed. This was followed by being the featured guest of the Sounding Board writing group at the Skidompha Library in Damariscotta.

Brown and Skidompha kicked off a busy month of May in which I did COST TALKS on the latest book at the Hartland Public Library where I heard a great story about my books being enjoyed by patrons more than a certain best-selling Maine author. Then the Bigelow Library in Clinton, but this was Massachusetts, not Maine, giving me two Clintons under my belt in a matter of weeks. I had a repeat visit to the fabulous Baxter Memorial Library, and then another Brown, but this time The Albert Church Brown Library in China Village for my second year in a row. The month finished off with a great conversation at the Richmond Library.

June began with a visit to my old stomping grounds at the Skowhegan Free Library, followed by the Canaan Public Library, the Dr. Shaw Memorial Library in the beautiful town of Mt. Vernon, over to the Norway Memorial Library, and then up into the heart of Maine at the Farmington Public Library. We concluded the month with a wonderful conversation over on the edge of New Hampshire at the Fryeburg Public Library.

July has seen back-to-back visits to the Readfield Public Library. Upcoming, I have COST TALKs planned for the Shaw Public Library in Greenville, a conversation with author Jule Selbo at the Topsham Memorial Library, back to the Southport Memorial Library, the Jesup Memorial Library, and the Scarborough Public Library.

What a wonderful world we live in.

 

 

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About the Author

Matt Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries.

Cost has published six books in the Mainely Mystery series, starting with Mainely Power. He has also published five books in the Clay Wolfe Trap series, starting with Wolfe Trap. And finally, there are two books in the Brooklyn 8 Ballo series, starting with Velma Gone Awry. For historical novels, Cost has published At Every Hazard and its sequel, Love in a Time of Hate, as well as I am Cuba. The Not So Merry Adventures of Max Creed is his 17th published book.

Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. They have been replaced in the home with four dogs. Cost now spends his days at the computer, writing.