NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Friends of the North Adams Public Library was gifted $25,000 by the late Paul Gaudreau. 

 

The Drury High graduate had great respect for the library and its service to the city, said his good friend Richard Taskin, and had entrusted him with the check before his death on Sunday at the age of 64. 

 

"He understands the importance of the library as a crown jewel of our city. And he loved this city and he loved this country," said Taskin, a library trustee. "He was in the National Guard. He was concerned about his city. He was concerned about his country. ...

 

"He read a newspaper every single day of his life and cared about public affairs."

 

Taskin presented the check to Friends President Bonnie Rennell on Thursday evening at the end of the trustees' meeting. 

 

Gaudreau was a youth sports coach, and had retired from Williams College. He had already donated CDs to the library and had enjoyed seeing Jeff Tweedy of Wilco perform at the library. Taskin said Gaudreau was one of the hardest working people he'd ever known and, his voice breaking, his fantasy baseball partner.  

 

He'd first passed the check to Chair Sarah Farnsworth, who gasped "oh my" when she read the amount. 

 

Taskin said he hoped that Gaudreau's generosity would be an example for others to follow. 

 

Rennell took the check with appreciation and said the Friends consult with the family on the use of bequests. If Taskin was the liaison, she would work with him on ideas for the money's use. 

 

The library and the Friends have received generous donations in the past, including more than $180,000 from state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi and $10,000 from the estate of Evelyn Gooch, which was used to refresh the reading room in the historica mansion. 

 

In other business, the trustees approved spending $700 from its fund for an employee appreciation lunch; $719.67 for three spinning racks for hardbound books (the current spinning racks for paperbacks will be shifted for DVDs); and $500 for two stationary racks for magazines, to replace spinning racks that aren't full anymore. 

 

Mass market paperback books are being discontinued, and Library Director Veronica Clark said the hardcover racks will allow staff to consolidate popular authors like Danielle Steele (about 75 books on shelves now) into the spinning racks. 

 

Clark informed the trustees that the library is in talks with the Dalton Free Library to co-host the Manhattan Short Film Festival, which is held at hundreds of venues around the country, and with the Cheshire Public Library on creating a "bookcon" with area authors.