BERNARDSTON — After several months of fundraising, Cushman Library has gathered enough money to replace its 32-year-old oil tank, with help from the Board of Selectmen.
The board recently voted to use $3,000 from the town building account — adding to the $3,004 the library had already raised — to fund the project.
“We’re very thankful,” Library Director Karen Stinchfield said. “We’re just really happy that it’s going to be done.”
The library’s 12-member board of trustees decided to pursue a fund drive back in March to replace the current 1,000-gallon in-ground tank with a tall, 250-gallon indoor tank that better suits the library’s needs. Old buried fuel tanks are generally considered a liability today because of the possibility of their leaking, a concern the Board of Selectmen acknowledged during a Dec. 7 meeting.
“We were worried about it leaking,” Selectman Stanley Garland said, noting that some of the pipes had to be replaced just last year. “It’s old and we want to get it out of there before that happens. We’re being proactive instead of reactive.”
Garland commended Stinchfield and the board of trustees for their fundraising efforts.
“I’m glad the library was able to do a fundraiser to offset some of the costs,” he said. “It was very nice of them to do that. It definitely helps with the cost.”
Cushman Library held a radio show in June and a 24-hour read-athon in July as fundraisers. Between the two events, a $450 donation from Four Leaf Clover Restaurant owners Mark and Linda Snow, and donations from other patrons, the library raised half the anticipated cost of a new tank.
Stinchfield said previously that she hoped to have the tank replaced before the end of fall. However, it will now be replaced in the spring.