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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 27 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine P H OTO E S S AY NEW AND OLD: From "The Banned Books Club" to "The Secret History of Bigfoot," the Lithgow Public Library in Augusta — like its peers up and down the state — devotes part of its budget to keeping up on the latest reading habits. (Book banning, by the way, is more of an issue for schools than community libraries in Maine.) Historic preservation is equally important. Venerable tomes of yesteryear on the Augusta shelves include "Picturesque America," an illustrated homage published in 1874. Among the library's founding spirits were James Ware Bradbury (portrait) and Reuel Williams (bust). Both represented Maine in the U.S. Senate in the 1800s. Bradbury made a key financial contribution to the construction of the original building in 1896, as did Williams's heirs. Carnegie wrote a check too. STYLE ICON: Above, the Waterville Public Library, with Carnegie as the main financial backer, was built in an early Middle Ages revivalist style known as Richardsonian Romanesque. The namesake architect, Henry Richardson, pioneered the pastiche style — featuring rounded arches on squat columns and lofty towers — in the 1870s, spawning imitators including William Miller, Waterville's designer. "This is Your Library," proclaimed a 1955 advertisement for an open house to mark the building's 50th anniversary. "Do you use its Free Services?" Moving in the other direction in time, every library has a pre-history. Waterville's began in 1801, with the purchase of 117 books from a Boston bookseller for $162.65, benefiting from a 10% discount, according to the Town Line website. MAPPA MUNDI: Back in the pre-GPS era, people got around with printed maps. Some of the rarest and most artistic of these visual guides to cities, countries, continents and the cosmos have found their way into the Osher Map Library on the campus of the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Some of the Osher artifacts go back to the 1400s. Revolving exhibitions showcase the library's collections, including Elizabeth Shurtleff's "Star Map" from 1926, presented here by Libby Bischof, the library's executive director. Traveling further into the zodiac, the display at the rear features translucent astronomical drawings published in Brussels in 1858.