PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Along with a range of citizen services, the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library will be offering itself as a processing site for commercial truck drivers renewing their federal authorization for carrying hazardous material.
Since a Transportation Security Administration-recognized enrollment site in Houlton closed in 2014, commercial truck drivers in Aroostook County have had to travel to Brewer to renew what are known as TSA universal enrollment services for hazmat companies and drivers renewing their authorizations.
Thanks in part to the advocacy of U.S. Senator Angus King, whose local office heard concerns from local companies involved in hazmat transport, the Presque Isle library has been certified for facilitating the fingerprinting and processing, starting in January 2017.
“Our libraries serve as critical community centers across our state, helping Maine people access information and services that they might not otherwise have,” Sen. King said in statement. “The Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library is a fantastic example of how libraries serve as an invaluable community resource, especially in more rural areas.”
Library Director Sonja Eyler said that the library will serve as a site facilitating fingerprinting, photographs and documentation, with staff trained in the process using technology from the security company MorphoTrust. The library will join two other such TSA enrollment sites in the state, in Brewer and Portland, and will earn a small processing fee of around $6 per renewal.
According to the Maine Secretary of State, there are about 6,200 commercial drivers’ licenses held by Aroostook County residents, with about 500 holding federal hazmat endorsements, working for companies that handle heating fuels and welding supplies and farm businesses transporting pesticides and fertilizer.
The hazmat renewal joins an array of other community services offered by the library that beyond the traditional library’s work, including help applying for passports.
“We want to reach a broader population of people, and the more than we can make our library relevant to each citizen,” Eyler said.
Truckers used to account for a small but significant cohort of the library’s users, checking out books and music on tape and CD, before the advent of digital devices and satellite radio, Eyler said. With more local truck drivers likely to come to the library soon for hazmat renewal, she said she hopes they’ll check out a book or find others reasons keeping coming back in.
