Acadian Archives donates books
to community college
PRESQUE ISLE – An effort by the Edmunds Library at Northern Maine Community College to expand its collection – specifically publications significant to the local region – received a boost recently with a donation of books from the Acadian Archives at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.
LISE PELLETIER, director of the Acadian Archives at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, presents “Light on the Past: Documentation on our Acadian Heritage,” a publication authored by St. John Valley Historian Guy Dubay, to Jason Parent, NMCC’s director of development and college relations, at a recent meeting of the Maine Regional Coordinating Committee for the 2014 World Acadian Congress held at the Acadian Village in Van Buren. The book is one of 16 publications on Acadians and Franco-Americans donated by the Acadian Archives to NMCC’s Edmunds Library.
The gift of 16 titles is comprised of publications which detail the Franco-American and Acadian experience in northern Maine and beyond. Included are some locally produced materials that highlight the St. John Valley’s unique culture and history.
The collection was presented by Lise Pelletier, director of the Acadian Archives, to Jason Parent, NMCC’s director of development and college relations, at a recent meeting of the Maine Regional Coordinating Committee for the 2014 World Acadian Congress held at the Acadian Village in Van Buren. Pelletier and Parent serve together as directors on the official international organizing committee for the 2014 event.
“Among the goals of the various committees working to prepare the region to host one of the largest events ever to come to northern Maine is to educate and inform the people in the greater area about who the Acadians in Maine, New Brunswick and Quebec really are. The addition of these books to the library at NMCC will make them available to a wider audience,” said Parent. “This donation also assists NMCC in growing its library collection, which is a goal of the college moving forward.”
“It is always very exciting when the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes has the opportunity to disseminate information about Acadians and Franco-Americans,” said Pelletier. “The timing could not be better as we move closer to the worldwide reunion of Acadians and Francos in 2014. We have been an invisible minority in this state for too long. We’re pleased to associate with NMCC to increase our visibility.”
The publications include those written by local authors such as St. John Valley Historian Guy Dubay’s “Light on the Past: Documentation on our Acadian Heritage,” Fort Kent native Laurel Daigle’s “A Chronological History of Fort Kent’s Saint Louis Catholic Church,” and A.J. Michaud’s “An Acadian Heritage.” Also in the collection are several books written about Franco-Americans including C. Stewart Doty’s “The First Franco-Americans” and Dyke Hendrickson’s “Quite Presence.”
“This wonderful donation of books from the Acadian Archives will enhance our library collection and allow us to make these materials easily available to everyone in our community,” said Gail Roy, NMCC’s assistant dean of learning resources. “We are very grateful to the Acadian Archives for their donation, and the NMCC library plans to use these books in an Acadian culture display in the upcoming academic year.”
