Day 79, Tuesday May 21, 2024: Preston, Minnesota to Baraboo, Wisconsin
- Mark Carl Rom
- May 24
- 4 min read
Carnegie libraries visited: Sparta, Tomah, Elroy, and Baraboo, Wisconsin
Today I’m driving deep into the creamy heart of cheese country.
Dayne Johnson (aka The Rock) has given me his permission to use the Papatui rejuvenating facial toner. Technically, I didn’t need his permission and yet I was glad to get it. What man could resist the marketing of The Rock? Rejuvenating facial toners have traditionally been gendered: they were made and marketed to women. Gendered marketing is sometimes weird, with such products as shaving razors, deodorants, and shampoos given stereotypical manly or feminine colors. Whether or not a “pink tax,” whereby women pay more for a given product (whether razors or home loans), exists is a matter of some controversy, and I’m not persuaded women are getting ripped off in this way. Still, I bought the Papatui at a Target this morning mainly because a manly man was selling it, which is true only in the sense that I took it as a joke. I’ve been suffering from allergies for several days, and rather than doing anything about it I just suffered. Finally, I popped in to buy some allergy medicine and also found Papatui. My face is already feeling more toned.
When I drove up to the Arcadia public library this morning, I expected to see a Carnegie. Wikipedia reports that the Carnegie library in Arcadia is still in operation; it’s not, as it’s been sold to a private company. It’s been replaced by a marvelous and massive educational and fitness center. The Wanek Center, named after the local family that made a most generous gift, contains a library, a gym (bleacher capacity: 1700), and an event center. While I was chatting with Judy at the front desk – describing my project, of course – she said “You’ll want to talk with the library’s director. She’s coming through the door right now…” And so I met Carol, the library’s new director, wearing a white linen shirt and silver hair, with glasses on top of her head. I love meeting new people, and quickly learned that Carol and I had both worked in Doha, Qatar. Common interests come in the most unlikely of circumstances.
She ushered me into the local history room, and told me a bit about the Carnegie library’s history. She apologized for the disorder of the archives, which consisted of various folders containing newspaper clippings, reports, and the like. I found some good stuff there. (See pictures.) One of the files included the form patrons could file if they wanted to challenge a book. It’s a wise document:
Title
Request initiated by a) individual; b) name organization c) other group
What do you object in the book (Please be specific; cite pages)
What do you feel might be the result of reading this book?
For what age group would you recommend this book?
Is there anything good about this book?
Did you read the entire book? What parts?
Are you aware of the judgment of this book by literary critics?
What do you believe is the theme of this book?
What book of equal literary quality would you recommend in its place that would convey as valuable a picture and perspective of our civilization?
The last question is especially good: don’t just challenge this book unless you offer an alternative. I would have asked Carol about challenges that the library has received, but she was busy reading a book to a group of school children.
Men – the Business Men’s Association, to be exact – were responsible for bringing a library to Arcadia, although women were the ones who staffed it. These librarians include:
Miss Olive Owen, 1900-1901
Olive Greene, 1901-1903
Miss Louise Gasser. 1903-1913
Mrs. H. E. Simpson, 1913-1916
Miss Katherine Maloney, 1916-1919
Fern Busby, Ella Knoop and Della Mathys, school girls who filled in until 1920
Mrs. Florence Hess, 1920-1934
Miss Bridget Enright, 1934-1937
Miss Erna Mathys, 1937-1965
Mrs. Sarah Pronschinske, 1965-1976
Mrs. Ruth Harrison 1976-?
Gaylene Mohror, ? - present
I found only one picture of one of these librarians; unfortunately, as elegantly as the woman is dressed, her name was not labeled. An undated typewritten manuscript, written at least in part by Erna Mathys, outlines the history of the various libraries in Trempealeau County, which contains Arcadia. Women were the motivating force behind several of them.
As I rode the stationary bike in the Wanek Center, I could see the storm clouds building. I’ve been watching the weather all day, and the forecast was alarming. I stopped briefly in Sparta, Tomah, Kendall, and Elroy to take pictures, each time scanning the skies. While I’m inside the library in Elroy (pop. 1356) I’m reminded yet again of the many ways that libraries serve the public. The Elroy Book Club meets at the library monthly; next on the reading list was People of the Book, which according to Good Reads is an “ambitious, electrifying work [which] traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain.” Each month, a woman (Diane, Mary, Joyce, Pam, Joanne B., Shirley, Lisa, Maureen, Jean, Joanne R., and Kari) leads the discussion. The library hosts a Great Courses course on The Vikings on Tuesday afternoons. On Wednesdays and Fridays, patrons are invited to Meditative Moments. Where else can you find such offerings in a village other than the public library?
Late in the afternoon my phone went crazy with the National Weather Service alarm: Seek shelter immediately. Move away from windows. Tornadoes likely. I was only a mile or two away from my destination, Baraboo, yet I took a wrong turn which put me directly in the path of the storm, which appeared to be coming at me as fast as I was driving toward it. On the interstate, the first exit was a couple of miles away. I hit the gas, made an illegal u-turn, and soon pulled into a hotel parking lot. Lots of folks were gawking outside. I went straight into the bathroom shelter, and not just because I needed to pee.
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