You already know that some of the best free stuff around comes from your public library, where you can borrow not just books, but CDs, DVDs, e-books and all kinds of things. (You can borrow computers, too, if you promise not to take them out of the building.) The public library is also a great place to hear writers. This fall, the Minneapolis Central Library's annual Talk of the Stacks reading series features five notable authors -- some have local ties and one is a local giant, so to speak. All events begin at 7 p.m. at the downtown library, 300 Nicollet Mall. Here's the schedule:

Sept. 24, Seth Kantner. Kantner is the author of "Ordinary Wolves," which won the Milkweed National Prize for Fiction. His new book is "Shopping for Porcupines," a collection of essays and photographs about his home state of Alaska.

Oct. 16, Marilynne Robinson. Her newest novel is "Home," out Sept. 2. She won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel "Gilead," and teaches at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Oct. 30, Andrei Codrescu. You've heard his essays on National Public Radio, no doubt. The Romanian poet and novelist has a new collection of poetry, "Jealous Witness," published by Coffee House Press.

Nov. 11, Garrison Keillor. Author, humorist and radio star. His new book is "Liberty: A Novel of Lake Wobegon," out Sept. 16.

Dec. 11, M.T. Anderson. His young adult book "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing" won the 2006 National Book Award for young people's literature. He writes for a wide range of ages -- adults, teens and young children.

Also ... • You might think of Isle Royale simply as a great wilderness place to go hiking and backpacking, but once upon a time, quite a few people -- fishermen, mostly, and their families -- made it their home. Michigan writer and photographer Peter Oikarinen has collected their stories in "Island Folk: The People of Isle Royale," newly updated and reissued by the University of Minnesota Press.

• The Minnesota State Fair is a great whirl of color, movement, sounds and smells. Susan Lambert Miller couldn't quite capture the smells in her new book, but she got everything else. "State Fair: The Great Minnesota Get-Together" (Minnesota Historical Society Press, $24.95) is a collection of 100 photographs. Pigs and ribbons and butterheads and sticky children and, of course, the midway. Introduction by Lorna Landvik. Miller will sign her book from 9 a.m. to noon today at the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Tent at the fair.

• Poetry from every corner of the state has been rounded up and included in a new book, "County Lines," published in honor of the state's Sesquicentennial. Robert Bly, Diane Glancy, Michael Dennis Browne, and many others -- someone from every county -- are represented. A reading is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, at the fair.

Laurie Hertzel • 612-673-7302