In celebration of National Library Week. Co-presented by Metropolitan Library Services Agency and Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Held at the Minneapolis Central Library, the program is free and open to the public. Book sale/signings follow the presentations. Seating is first-come, first-served. Doors open at 6:15 PM and program begin at 7 PM. 

 Libraries of Minnesota

Photography by Doug Ohman

Text by Will Weaver, Pete Hautman, John Coy, Nancy Carlson, Martha Wilson Chall, David La Rochelle, and Kao Kalia Yang

Doug Ohman, well known as the photographer for the Minnesota Byways series, now turns his camera to this most beloved institution. Over 120 exquisite interior and exterior shots showcase a colorful survey of architecture, from a renovated liquor store to Carnegie libraries to the newest and most wired of information centers.

In powerful, funny, and heartfelt essays, seven of Minnesota’s best-known children’s book authors testify to the special significance of libraries in their lives. Will Weaver sneaked five miles into town on his bicycle to visit the library when he should have been trapping gophers. Pete Hautman’s mom hauled her seven kids to multiple libraries, “like a shepherd rotating sheep from one pasture to the next.” David LaRochelle, facing the frightening prospect of junior high, found escape in the Pirate’s Treasure Hunt summer reading club. John Coy, Nancy Carlson, Martha Chall, and Kao Kalia Yang tell similar timeless stories of young people as they discover, on the shelves of local libraries, the world and all its wonders.

Libraries of Minnesota is the sixth book in the Minnesota Byways series, a sumptuous photographic survey showcasing the state’s classic architectural icons.

Minnesota Historical Society Press

Available May 2011

$24.95, cloth, ISBN : 978-0-87351-824-6

Photography/Minnesota, 128 pages, 8 x 9, 120 color photos

This book is a cooperative project of the Council of Regional Public Library System Administrators and the Minnesota Historical Society Press. It was funded in part with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008, which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota’s arts and cultural heritage.