Eoin McKiernan Library
EML Director Update, Dec 2023
It was a busy fall season in the library! Thanks to a generous group of volunteer library monitors we had three nights of staffed open hours in the reading room since September. The library was busier than ever and we checked out many books, CDs and DVDs. We purchased 53 books to add to our collection and received donations of LPs, Scottish books and Irish music books. We also restarted our oral history work and recorded three new interviews with video as well as audio. Our 2023 Celtic Junction Arts Review local history article, The 8-Hand Reel came out in October.
Our 2023 Local History Article!
Be sure to check out the Eoin McKiernan Library’s 2023 local history article The Eight Hand Reel: A rare glimpse of Twin Cities Irish culture in the 1930s in the Celtic Junction Arts Review. This deeply-researched article draws on oral histories, photos and Festival of Nations programs in the McKiernan Library collection along with newspaper archives and other sources. The result of a year-long project, the piece allows us a detailed look into Irish cultural practice in the Depression era Twin Cities.
New Children’s Books
We grew our collection of Irish-themed children’s books with the purchase of new titles, many of which were published in Ireland. Our children’s book collection is consistently popular with library visitors. They are the most checked-out books in the library! We are delighted to have doubled our offerings in this area and hope to add more soon.
More Visitors in the Reading Room
There has been a noticeable increase in evening traffic for our open hours in the McKiernan Library reading room! We checked out 52 items between August 1st and December 4th and welcomed visitors each night to enjoy our beautiful space. We also did presentations and readings to young students from the Center for Irish Music’s summer camp and (above) visitors who attended the Celtic Junction Arts Center open house.
New Oral Histories Collected
We restarted our oral history collection efforts this fall with new recordings of three community members: Dan Gleason, Con Sullivan and Deb Martin with more planned for the upcoming months. In addition to audio, we are adding (when possible) video to these interviews. We are hoping to start making these available in early 2024.
The McKiernan Library in the Community
We brought our 2023 local history photo exhibition, The 8-Hand Reel to the Irish Fair of Minnesota in August. As always, this was a wonderful opportunity to share the library’s work with a wider audience.