The Minot Public Library is a public library in

Minot Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Minot Air Force Base, Air Force base approximately north of ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, at the western edge of

Downtown Minot Downtown Minot is the central business district of Minot, North Dakota, Minot, North Dakota, located south of the Souris River in the Souris Valley. Downtown is the site of the first permanent settlement in Minot in 1886. Downtown is home to many ...

History

The Minot Public Library was established in 1908 with Clara Kunst serving as the first librarian. Within the first year the library had over thirteen hundred books in its collection. The library was originally in two rooms of the Optic Block on Main Street. On March 29, 1909, a fire broke out in the work room of the Optic Block. The fire caused considerable damage in the building, estimated at the time at $2,500. In 1910, the library received a grant from

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

for a new library building. The Minot Carnegie Library was built on the corner of Second Avenue SE and First Street SE by Carl Peter Bartleson, who also built the Mountrail County Courthouse. The new library was dedicated on February 19, 1912. The librarian Margaret Greene reported that 221 books were checked out on that day. On November 1, 1913, the North Dakota Library Association held a meeting at the new public library in Minot, which Governor L.B. Hanna and future governor Ragnvald A. Nestos attended. Nestos was the President of the North Dakota Library Association at the time. The new library on Second Avenue SW was dedicated on December 3, 1966.Christensen, Merritt. "Minot Public Library Dedication: December 3, 1966." 1966. The library hosts monthly educational and cultural displays.

References

External links

Minot Public Library
{{Authority control Public libraries in North Dakota Buildings and structures in Minot, North Dakota Organizations established in 1908