By Audrey Estebo, Library Committee 
Originally published in the October 2022 issue of the 1666 Coffman Newsletter

​​In recognition of the UK’s National Poetry Day on October 6, the Coffman Library book cart will be offering volumes of poetry published by Milkweed Editions for purchase during October. Milkweed, founded in Minneapolis in 1980, is one of the nation’s leading independent publishers of literature. The poetry volumes were donated to the Library by Veena Deo, who has served on the board of Milkweed. We will add several Milkweed poetry volumes to the cart (located outside the third floor Library entrance) each Monday during the month, starting October 3. Come and check out these well-regarded volumes published by our local non-profit press. Thank you, Veena!

​And a reminder: our Library appreciates receiving your book donations. Donations are added to the permanent collection, or if duplicates or of limited appeal, are offered on the book cart. All proceeds are used to purchase new volumes for the Library. Thanks for your donations and your patronage.

By Barbara Woshinsky, Library Committee

After many years of exile, a Turkish poet returns to his own country to report on the suicides of young girls and to pursue a private dream.  His quest takes him to a town on the Russian border that bears the traces of many past inhabitants.  Then it starts to snow. And doesn’t stop.

Marooned in this strange city, he encounters politicians and terrorists, religious leaders and atheists while reconnecting with a past love. This mesmerizing tale combines political tragicomedy with spiritual questioning and romantic longing, all wrapped in the poetic evocation of a place. 

​Orhan Pamuk, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006, lives in Istanbul.  The Coffman library also owns his novel My Name is Red.

By Carol Van Why, Library Committee 
Originally published in the September 2022 issue of the 1666 Coffman Newsletter

It’s September 1, and effective today anything you sign out from the Library will be due back in one month. This is not intended to be punitive. It should allow more people to sign out books, especially those very popular new ones. Audrey Estebo monitors the loans and will gently remind you if you forget to return something.

Book Fest returns to the Social Room on September 29 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. A mask and your Coffman name tag are all you’ll need for admission. We’ll need to limit occupancy to twenty people at a time. Air purifiers will be in use and doors and windows will be open where needed.

Looking for Geraldine Brooks’ newest novel, Horse?  Good news is our library owns a copy; bad news is it’s understandably very popular.  Why not check the Fiction shelves to see if her first novel, Year of Wonders is available.   Don’t be put off that the book is set in the year 1666, when England was besieged by the Plague.  Once you start reading the book, you won’t be able to stop.

​I wish our Library owned more of Brooks’ fiction but space and budget are always constraints.  Use your Ramsey County Library card and put holds on her other award-winning titles.