Between 1893 and 1919, Andrew Carnegie built more than 1,600 libraries in cities and towns across the United States. Glorious and solemn, nearly church-like in their architecture, with skylights, mosaic tiles, stone pillars and leaded-glass windows, these libraries opened the world of books to everyone. They also made common the concept of open stacks, which allowed people to browse shelves freely rather than ask for specific books.
Sixty-six of these stately buildings were built in Minnesota -- 65 as public libraries, and one affiliated with Hamline University. Only 48 remain, and, of those, only 22 are still in use as libraries. Some have been converted to art centers and office space; some, sadly, stand vacant.
Kevin Clemens of Lake Elmo has documented them in a new book, "Carnegie Libraries of Minnesota," published by Demontreville Press and illustrated with 425 photographs. "Libraries are an important thread in the fabric of any community," Cathy Wurzer writes in the foreword. Hear, hear.
Also ...
• The Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference, held annually in Lewis' hometown of Sauk Centre, Minn., will take place Oct. 8, with St. Paul memoirist Patricia Hampl as keynote speaker. The daylong conference plans discussions about alliteration, rhythm and rhyme by poet and essayist Barton Sutter; the craft of sentence structure by Brooks Landon, and finding passion in your writing by Therese Zink. Cost is $60, which includes lunch at the Palmer House Hotel. Register online at www.saukherald.com/ftp/writers/
• "Deadly Treats: Halloween Tales of Mystery, Magic, and Mayhem," an anthology of spooky writing collected by Anne Frasier (real name: Theresa Weir), has been published by Nodin Press. The book includes pieces by David Housewright, Michael Allan Mallory and many others.
• "Skeleton Letters," the latest creepy scrapbooking mystery from Laura Childs of Plymouth, goes on sale Tuesday. It's published by Berkley.
• "Get In If You Want to Live," John Jodzio's latest book, a collection of short stories, will be published this month by Paper Darts Press. The book release party will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at Honey, 205 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls. Jodzio has been published by McSweeney's and elsewhere, and this collection is Paper Darts' debut in the world of publishing. His first book, "If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home," was the debut two years ago for Replacement Press of St. Paul.
