WINTHROP — Judi Stebbins has been named chairwoman of the capital fundraising campaign for the Charles M. Bailey Public Library. She will help lead the volunteer campaign team in their efforts to raise $1.3 million for a new addition to the library.

Stebbins comes to the capital campaign with a great deal of experience in community leadership. A trained speech/language pathologist, she is past president of the Maine Speech/Hearing/ Language Association. She served on the Winthrop School Committee from 1974-1980, was chairwoman of the committee twice and served on the Winthrop High School Building Committee. She also served and was chairwoman of the Winthrop Town Council between 1980 and 2004.

Stebbins was co-administrator of a $500,000 grant for downtown development as part of the Winthrop Regional Development Corporation and she is a member of the Western Kennebec Economic Development Alliance. She was the first recipient of the annual State of Maine “Grand Champion of Service” Award presented at the Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism in 2011.

The Trustees of the Bailey Library have also appointed Dale Glidden to chair the Steering Committee for the building project. Glidden oversees a 10-person committee that has led the architectural and construction planning for the new library addition over the last eight months. The Steering Committee will continue to oversee the construction-related aspects of the capital building project and will work closely with the Campaign Team.

Glidden previously chaired the building committee for the library, which developed the preliminary construction and design planning for the addition. Dale served as chairman of the Winthrop School Building Committee for the expansion and remodel of the elementary and middle school and for building the new high school. He served several years on the Board of Appeals, including one year as chairman, and six years on the Town Council with one year as chairman. He was also co-chairman of the School Consolidation Committee. Dale earned a Bachelor of Science in marine engineering at Maine Maritime Academy and retired from his position as general manager of the Augusta Sanitary District and Augusta Water District after 35 years with the companies.

Built in 1916 through the generosity of Winthrop industrialist Charles M. Bailey, the rock-face and chiseled granite library was designed by prominent Maine architect John Calvin Stevens and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

The Bailey Public Library usage has increased dramatically in the last several years with monthly circulation of more than 4,000 items. The library houses a collection of 30,000 items, provides free access to computers, offers programming for children and families, assists more than 800 people with research and job searches each month, and hosts several special events including readings by local and nationally known authors and arts presentations.

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