Whitefish Community Library

Chris La Tray visits Whitefish Community Library on Friday night, April 12th, at 6 pm in the final program of the Winter Writers Series. The audience will be a partner in this event: La Tray will read from his works, and responded when asked about his program, “I prefer to lean more toward discussion with a little reading mixed-in.”

La Tray is Montana’s Poet Laureate for the biennial 2023-2024. His first book of poetry, “One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large” received the Montana Book Award.

Read more about Chris La Tray.

The Whitefish Community Library Board of Trustees will meet at 7 pm on Wednesday, April 10th in the Library’s Community Room. The public is invited to attend in person or via ZOOM.

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82847257008?pwd=YU9OSm11M3VTazVTSklmSWdVUDd5QT09

Meeting ID: 828 4725 7008; Passcode: books4all

Download Agenda.

What do you know about historic women writers of Montana – Mary Ronan, Nannie Alderson, May Vontver, or Mary Maclane? Writer Caroline Patterson tells the stories of these writers, and leads a workshop to bring out the stories that participants can tell of the remarkable women in their own lives. Join us in the Library’s Community Room, Thursday, March 28 at 6 pm. Free and open to the public.

More about Caroline Patterson

(Picture of Mary Ronan from MT Historical Society)

The Library will remain open during tile replacement in the foyer and hallway – but we expect a certain amount of noise and dust, especially on Tuesday, March 19, and Tuesday, March 26 when we expect the bulk of the demolition to take place.

All scheduled programs will occur, but the Community Room will not be available for any new reservations until March 30th. The book drop will be open throughout.

March 19-22 – Hallway phase: Library restrooms will be closed during tile replacement in the hallway.

March 26-29 – Foyer phase: Entry to the Library will be through the door to the left of the main entry during tile replacement there.

Due to the nature of construction work, these dates could change! Don’t hesitate to call for updates – 406-862-9914.

Read more about tile replacement….

HeritageQuest is a little bit under the radar – meaning you have to scroll down this webpage just a bit until you see the red clickable logo on the right: ProQuest / HeritageQuest. Clicking on the button gets you to a fascinating collection of genealogy resources: Census records, City Directories, U.S. Indian Census Rolls, Mortality Schedules, Agricultural and Industrial Schedules, and U.S. Freedman’s Bank Records, 1861-1875.

It’s easy to get started (or go down a wormhole) – here’s what the front page looks like, with a simplified family history search. All you need is a library card!

We’ll be hosting Humanities Montana’s “Montana Reads, Montana Writes” presenter Tami Haaland on Monday, February 26th in the Library’s community room at 6 pm.

The program, called “Local Literary Culture,” will explore the challenges of building and sustaining writing groups and literary programs.” Haaland, a Professor of English at MSU Billings and Montana’s Poet Laureate from 2013 to 2015, told us to tell attendees to bring a sample of their work, and questions about writing, revision, and inspiration.

More about our presenter….

Please join us as we embark on our first Winter Writers Series! Kicking off the series on February 16th at 6 p.m. in the Library’s Heckathorn Community Room is Montana’s 10th Poet Laureate, Mark Gibbons.

Gibbons’ program, “Place Poetry: My Montana State of Mind” is one of Humanities Montana’s “Montana Reads, Montana Writes” programs. In it, Gibbons shares his and others’ poetry to enliven a discussion about place, poetry, and living in Montana.

Want to know more about this series? Check it out on our Winter Writers Series page. You’ll find links there to all the writers coming to the Library through April. Programs are sponsored by Humanities Montana and the Whitefish Library Association.