Minot Public Library

The Minot Public Library is a public library in Minot, North Dakota, at the western edge of Downtown Minot.

Minot Public Library
48.234482°N 101.301101°W / 48.234482; -101.301101
Location	Minot, North Dakota, USA
Type	Public
Established	1908
Collection
Size	134,416
Access and use
Circulation	301,721[1]
Population served	42,485
Other information
Director	Janet Anderson
Public transit access	Minot City Transit
Website	Minot Public Library

History

The Minot Public Library was established in 1908 with Clara Kunst serving as the first librarian.^[2][3] Within the first year the library had over thirteen hundred books in its collection.^[4] 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 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.^[5] 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.^[6] The library hosts monthly educational and cultural displays.