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Directions
From Interstate 95, take exit 133 to Route 201 North. It is fourteen miles to Skowhegan. Once in town, turn right at the first light, cross the two Margaret Chase Smith bridges over the Kennebec River, and circle counterclockwise through downtown by continuing to follow the signs for Route 201 North (Madison Avenue). Turn left at the first traffic light heading out of downtown. From this point, the library is at the top of the hill about one-half mile on the left.
Skowhegan may also be reached from the east or west via Route 2. Once in Skowhegan, follow the signs for Route 201 North (Madison Avenue) to either Pleasant or Elm Streets, opposite Hight Chevrolet. The roads merge into Norridgewock Avenue. The library is located on the left at the crest of Neil Hill, one half mile west of either junction.
Chris O’Brien, Ph.D., was named Director of the Margaret Chase Smith Library in September 2024. Previously, he was Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Center in Dickinson, ND; professor of History at the University of Maine at Farmington; Visiting Professor at Beijing University of Technology; and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Kansas. He chaired the Division of Social Science and Business at UMF; served for nearly a decade on the Maine Historical Records Advisory Board; and was a grant-reviewer for the National Historic Records Preservation Commission. A historian of the cultural Cold War, O’Brien is the author of several articles and book chapters on the subject. He earned his doctorate at the University of Kansas and his certificate in Higher Education Management from Harvard. He can be reached at cobrien@mcslibrary.org