Getting Around Minnesota...in Our Library

​By Helga Visscher, originally published in the August 2025 issue of the 1666 Coffman Newsletter

Coffman Library arranges the books in a browsing format, not a formal cataloging system. You can see the categories listed by the entrance door on both levels. Fiction, Mystery/Spy, and Biography are the most popular categories, but there are other groupings that provide other subjects of interest and have their specialties as well as unusual topics that fit in the genre. I am focusing on books from the Minnesota/Midwest category. You can also browse online or look for a specific title or author by going to our online catalog. 

As one would expect, the Minnesota/Midwest shelves include 

books that describe the beauty of the area, in narratives and in photographs. Reflections from the North Country, by Sigurd Olson, describes the beauty and the author’s philosophy of living in the wilderness. Natural Curiosity: The Story of the Bell Museum, by Lane Shepard, et.al., is a photographic showcase of the museum, from its earliest days to the beautiful building next door. Photos of the Francis Lee Jacques dioramas are included. Books of other scenic places are also available.

Poetry and essays are included in this section, too. In Under Purple Skies, The Minneapolis Anthology, edited by Frank Bures, assorted authors present their thoughts on living in Minneapolis. A Somali woman writes about her journeys that brought her here, and why she feels “Safe in Minneapolis.” A Vikings fan describes the Super Bowl game, “The coldest game ever,” in 2015, when once again, the Vikings broke his heart. A tribute to the variety of restaurants on Lake Street  provides a pre-2020 description of the area.

A surprising sub-genre in the Minnesota shelves includes True Crime. The Kidnapping of Virginia Piper, by William Swanson, describes the kidnapping and successful ransom payment of a wealthy Minneapolis woman. She returned to her family, and the crime was never solved. The Infamous Harry Hayward: A True Account of Murder and Mesmerism in Gilded Age Minneapolis by Shawn Francis Peters, describes the career of an 1890s serial killer and how he was brought to justice. Greed, Rage, and Love Gone Wrong: Murder in Minnesota, by Bruce Rubinstein, is an anthology of notorious murders in Minnesota. The author describes the murder of Elisabeth Congdon at Glensheen, the murder-suicide of Russell Lund Jr., and other lesser-known people. As Rubinstein states, “It’s no exaggeration to say these stories are worthy of fiction. The creepy thing is, they’re real.”

​The historic, artistic, and quirky items in one section of our library are available to everyone, and you can probably find great variety in the other subjects in our collection.