Crackerjacks in the Stacks

When I was in kindergarten, I wanted to become a librarian when I grew up. I devised my own Dewey Decimal system for my collection of books at home, and my little book-loving heart filled with ... pleasure (you thought I was going to say joy, didn't you) every time I presented a stack of books to the children's librarian at the Carnegie Library in my hometown of Alexandria, Minn. There was something immensely gratifying about that book check-out process: the librarian would take out her pad of ink, pull the cards from the books, stamp the due date on the cards, and hand the books back to me. It was marked in ink, this approval I had, to go home and read.

My career plans changed after that kindergarten year, but my love of books and of libraries endured. If possible, it became even stronger when I met someone who shared my love of books and libraries in — of course — a library. Steve and I both had work study jobs at Drake University's Cowles Library during our first year of college, and that's where he first asked me out on a date. Thirty years and three kids later, we live in a house overflowing with bookshelves and stacks of books.

Recreating my days as a clicker, a library work study job that no longer exists

When I mentioned on Facebook recently that our love story started in a library, our middle child, Sebastian, commented, "Ya know, maybe that's why we all love books."

As soon as our kids were old enough to sign their names, we helped them get their own library cards at the wonderful Carnegie Library in our town of Northfield. I continue to believe that libraries are a vital public good. So you can imagine how happy it makes me to know that my book, Crackerjack Bands and Hometown Boosters: The Story of a Minnesota Music Man, is now available in several libraries.

As of today, Jan. 21, according to a search of the WorldCat site, copies of my book are available at these Minnesota locations:

• College of St. Benedict/St. John's University library: one copy

• Hennepin County Library: one copy each at the Minneapolis Central and Southdale locations

• Minnesota Historical Society Library in St. Paul: two copies

• St. Mary's University of Minnesota, Winona campus: one copy

The book is also available at Carleton College's Gould Library and at the Drake Community Library in Grinnell, Iowa.

The Northfield Public Library doesn't have it yet, but it's on the list of books they plan to purchase in 2020. If your local library doesn't have it, feel free to request it, either online or in person.

If you do check out my book from your local library, don't expect anyone to take out an ink pad and stamp a due date on a card for you. But know that you have my virtual approval to go home and read.