Libraries of the West

 

Wherein Moominmama reviews a few of the many libraries she visited during the latter half of her 2026 travels...

Moominmama writes this as she sits in a library back in Grand Junction, Colorado. She did keep a record of libraries visited over the course of her travels, but most never made it into the weekly blogposts. Take this spot here: the Richfield Carnegie Library in Richfield, Utah, one of the cutest and most historic libraries.

Built in 1913-1914, it's one of the 23 Carnegie libraries built in Utah, in turn one of 1,650 libraries throughout the U.S built thanks to the philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie. He would offer to pay the full cost of construction if the community agreed to buy the land, stock it with books, maintain the building and provide a librarian. It is also one of the rare libraries built in the Craftsman style, which I find adorable.

It's not a large library, not imposing. Richfield is not large, with a population of about 8,500. The library basement is devoted to the children's section and has its own entrance. The main floor is the adult library and includes these lovely ceiling lamps and seating around a fireplace. Stacks were lined up behind me when I took this photo, but it's a very inviting place! I imagine the library offices were on the top floor.

Another library highlight was in Hot Springs, South Dakota, population 3,700, which built their library in the style of a log cabin hunting lodge, with a big fireplace and views of the landscape beyond. Also very inviting! It has two wings that fan off this center gathering hub, one for adults and one for teens and children.

The building here opened in 2007, after the town's original brick Carnegie library had deteriorated to the point of being unsafe. 

Casper, Wyoming had an impressive downtown library in keeping with its status as the second-largest city in the state and a population of 58,600.

One of the things I appreciated here were decorative panels that run alongside the library. It wasn't enough to create just a fine entrance!

And an inviting library weighs heavily in my impression of a community, fair or not. It's one of the few places where I'm not a tourist, and I rub shoulders with folks who live there day to day.

So it was interesting to see several North Dakota libraries, even some in Montana, that were clearly struggling. 

Great Falls, Montana was an early beneficiary of the Carnegie largesse, and opened a Carnegie library in 1903, with the children's room opening in 1911 when the idea of a special space for children was still new. By the 1950s, the library was running out of space, and the community began looking at new options.

The building housing the library today is named after the  Carnegie library's longtime head librarian Alma Jacobs, an African American woman, clearly beloved in the community, who would go on to serve as the head of the Montana State Library

But while in Great Falls, she joined efforts to get a bond passed for a new library, which was finally built and opened in 1967, replacing the aging and too-small Carnegie library.

I'd love to say the library has grown and thrived since then, but it was one of the sadder libraries on the inside. The carpeting is in dire need of replacement and there was more open space than bookshelves. For a city with a population of over 60,000 people, it's a pity. But it still served me well when I needed a place to set up my laptop and get some work done!

It was North Dakota where I saw the least availability of public libraries. There was, of course, the grand Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, which is really a museum, located in Medora, ND. But the town's public library is only open two afternoons per week. This is more understandable when you realize the tourist destination only has about 200 permanent residents!

But needing access to a library while staying at the National Park, I drove east into Dickinson, ND, but it turned out that library was closed for five weeks this past summer. I am hoping it was for renovations or repair. It has since reopened.

I ended up in the smallest library yet, in a town on the western side of Medora, called Beach. There, the library occupies what might have been a downtown gift shop. It was quiet when I arrived, but the librarian told me she'd had 34 kids that morning for story hour, along with their parents and two local firefighters, the main attraction. Moominmama cannot imagine how they all fit! All the more impressive because the town has just under 1,000 people. In towns large or small, libraries continue to be important!

This is not a comprehensive list of libraries visited but just some of the ones I'll remember. 

One other downtown library of note is the White Pine County Library in Ely, Nevada, next to the old courthouse. When I passed through the area previously, the library's front door was heavily water damaged, and there was a mess of earthmoving construction next door.

Now the library has a beautiful glass entrance way. And the construction next door rebuilt a historic duck pond, an Ely landmark that dates back to the early1900s. Delightful spot to relax after hitting the books!

I don't know if I could manage my traveling adventures without access to public libraries across the U.S. and Canada. They have been, and remain, one of my safe spaces, a place to go that always feels comfortable and familiar. Whatever Andrew Carnegie's faults, he supported communities that aspired to their own public libraries, creating the expectation that every town could and should have one -- and we benefit from that legacy to this day. May we never take it for granted!