Western history

Little Libraries

Elbert Library

Little libraries make the world go round. On the plains southeast of Denver last Saturday, Librarian Gayle Gresham hosted an Author Open House at the Elbert Public Library, which shares space with the Elbert School Library. It is a warm and wonderful place, full of the hustle and bustle of folks looking for a good read, and kids Googling the internet.

Along with Filter Press, I was invited to meet and greet patrons, and display and sign books for sale. With a craft bazaar taking place elsewhere in the building, traffic moved from one venue to the other. It was a fine, fun time, well spent in a welcoming space for authors and readers to mingle and celebrate books.

The Elbert Library is also home of the Women Writing the West Collection. These books receive a second life when they are removed from the WWW trade show exhibits to make room for new titles. They are then processed and placed into circulation in Elbert, where they have become quite popular as locals seek out titles they might have missed, many with Western and historical themes. A new shelf will soon be added to facilitate expansion of the collection.

Joyce Lohse, 11/18/09
www.lohseworks.com