PALERMO, Maine –At a special meeting of the directors, Betty Holzer was elected as a director and chairwoman of the Palermo Community Library. As a library user and former director, she is well aware of the issues facing rural libraries in Maine. When asked in a recent interview what her vision was for the Palermo Community Library, Holzer replied, “to see it filled with families that love to read and children who love to have stories read to them.”

Holzer, and her husband, Marty, have lived in Palermo since 1974. While raising a family, Holzer attended Maine School of Practical Nursing and Kennebec Valley Community College receiving an associate degree in Nursing in 1979.

Holzer began her nursing career at Augusta General Hospital, where she worked for 12 years. In 1989, she left the hospital to work at HealthReach HomeCare. She retired in 2009. She is a volunteer ombudsman visiting nursing homes in central Maine for Maine Ombudsman in Augusta .

Holzer is a founding member of Sheepscot Valley Quilting and is co-coordinator of the Sheepscot Valley Quilting Day Group. She is a member of Stitching Witches quilt group in Winslow and organizes the Palermo Weekend Quilting group which meets at the Sheepscot Fish and Game. Holzer has displayed her quilts at the Pine Tree Quilters annual Quilt Show in Augusta and also at the library.