Stephen King and wife Tabitha pledge $3 million to Maine library

Author Stephen King and his wife, Tabitha, have pledged to donate $3 million to their library in Bangor, Maine.

The pledge is contingent upon the library raising $6 million from other sources. Let’s hope there are other willing donors in the region -- it’ll be hard to make that much scratch from overdue fees.

The Bangor Public Library opened a century ago. Its copper roof has suffered 100 Maine winters and is in need of repair. The library’s building committee, which includes Tabitha King, hopes to replace the roof along with undertaking a major modernization plan.

The library was built after a fire destroyed the previous building. In the interim, Maine readers borrowed library books from a temporary setup in two rooms in the courthouse basement.

Stephen King has lived in Bangor for more than 30 years. While his family now winters in Florida, he has written many of his popular books while in Maine.

There are hundreds of King’s works in the Bangor Public Library, but if you’re hoping to borrow “Carrie,” “Pet Sematary,” “The Dark Tower,” “The Gunslinger,” “The Wind Through the Keyhole,” “11/22/63,” “Under the Dome,” the audiobooks of “Just After Sunset” and “Lisey’s Story,” the video of “The Shawshank Redemption” and many others, you’ll have to wait in line -- they’re checked out.

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