January 2025

LIBRARY NEWS

Stillwater's Top 10 of 2024

The numbers are in, and we’ve rounded up the top ten adult titles most checked out from Stillwater Public Library in 2024. This year’s list is as diverse as our readers, featuring gripping thrillers, spellbinding mysteries, rich historical dramas, and a sweeping multi-generational epic.

If you missed one of these popular picks, don’t worry — click on a book cover to place a hold or ask a librarian for assistance in finding other trending reads.

Interestingly, the title of the most circulated "item" this year goes not to a book, but to our mobile Wi-Fi hotspots! Thanks to the generosity of the Stillwater Public Library Foundation, these hotspots have provided vital wireless internet access to our community. Foundation gifts also allow the library to purchase multiple copies of bestsellers to shorten wait times.

Winter Reading Challenge 

A Fond Farewell to Lori & Cindy

After many years of dedicated service, two of our cherished staff members, Lori and Cindy, will soon be retiring. Their unwavering commitment to customer service and their warm, welcoming presence at the library will be greatly missed by all who have had the pleasure of working with them.

Lori, who has spent more than 40 years at Stillwater Public Library, has been an instrumental figure in the Circulation Services department. Her leadership, guidance, and positive attitude have shaped the library’s exceptional service to the community. Lori reflects, “I have loved my career at our beautiful library and am so blessed to have worked with wonderful colleagues, volunteers, and patrons. My decades at the library have been so rewarding. I will treasure these memories and all of you forever.”

Cindy, who transitioned from a teaching career to join the library team over five years ago, has also made a lasting impact. She shares, “It has been such an honor to work here, and I will miss being part of the Stillwater Public Library staff. Ever since playing library in my fourth grade class (an empty Velveeta Cheese carton filled with index cards serving as our card catalog), libraries have been an important part of my life.”

While their smiling faces will be missed, we wish Lori and Cindy all the best in their well-earned retirement. Their contributions have left an indelible mark on our library and the community we serve. Thank you both for your years of dedication and service!

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

Union Depot (Winter 1920)

The Union Depot stood on Water Street at the bottom (far east) of Myrtle Street from 1887 to 1960. 

The above photograph of the Union Depot looks northwest from the river side of the building. This is the view visitors on trains would see when arriving from the south in the winter. Pictured below is a postcard of the Union Depot from a different perspective, looking northeast from the street side of the building. Just north of the Union Depot is the Stillwater Market building for grain, flour, and feed.

Built in the Greek Revival style, the Union Depot was adorned by arches, gables, and dormers and featured a 75-foot-tall clock tower at its northwest corner. The exterior was red sandstone topped with a slate roof. The interior featured stained glass windows, wood paneling and flooring, and built-in fireplaces with terra cotta tiling. Among its twenty rooms were two restaurants, a telegraph office, a ladies’ room, a cigar stand room, and even a dance hall on the upper level. The depot also contained living quarters for the station master.

Stillwater had three rail lines and the Union Depot serviced all three, with one train leaving the city every hour. The station also sold “lumberjack tickets” in hundred-packs to the lumber companies. The lumber companies would hire men, give them each a ticket, and send them by the trainload to the northern pineries in Mora, Willow, River, Cloquet, Duluth and beyond.

Rail travel significantly declined in the decades following the 1910s, and passenger service from the depot ended in the 1920s. The depot officially closed in 1954 and was torn down in 1960. It was replaced by Hooley’s Supermarket which stood on the site until it was torn down in 1993. In 2019, the Water Street Inn built a hotel addition on the Union Depot site and incorporated a clock tower in the location of the depot's original tower.

This photograph is part of the John Runk Photograph Collection, which can be viewed in the library’s St. Croix Collection. The postcard is part of the library's postcard collection featuring local landmarks.

UPCOMING EVENTS

WINTRY NONFICTION PICKS

Explore the world of winter from the comfort of a cozy chair! Click on a book cover to learn more, or come into the library and browse the winter books display on the lower level.

IN THE GALLERY

January & February: Bound by Nature

In January and February 2025, Stillwater Public Library's gallery will feature the work of three local artists in the exhibit Bound by Nature: Antlers, Clay, Stones, Sticks. The show explores the artists' deep connection to the natural world and will be on display throughout both months.

Celebrate the work of artists Laura Albertson, Cathryn Peters, and Kay Hoskins at a reception on Thursday, January 16, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Come meet the artists and learn more about the inspiration behind their nature-infused creations.

Laura Albertson Artist Statement: 

"In the quietude of nature, I find solace and inspiration. I watch the waves of Lake Superior slowly shaping the rocks. I receive sensory gifts on my face. The sun, the mist, the breeze - ever changing with the moods of the lake. I feel at peace near the water. My art is a reflection of this connection. I gather stones, weathered by time and touched by the elements, each a piece of resilience that serves to ground me. I weave strings of varying textures and colors, their delicate lines echoing the interconnectedness of all things. Graceful and strong, sticks stand as reminders of growth and transformation. In this interplay of materials, I invite the viewer to pause, to contemplate, and to find the tranquility within my work."

Kay Hoskins Artist Statement:

"I meditate through clay. It's a singular process to focus on the rotating earth, stoneware; the turning of the potter’s wheel. After a lifetime of teaching art, now I focus on teaching myself. I concentrate on making utilitarian pieces, especially ones that help you enjoy your morning oatmeal and coffee, or perhaps your favorite hotdish. Pottery is to be used, gifted, occasionally broken and replaced by more pottery!"

Cathryn Peters Artist Statement: 

"I am a maker and gatherer, creating one-of-a-kind antler basket sculptures, blending the natural beauty of deer, elk, fallow, or moose antlers with hand-gathered natural materials and commercially sourced rattan reed. My work draws on the traditional rib-style weaving technique, with the antler as an integral part of the basket, acting as the foundation or starting point of each piece. The spirit of the antler leads me to the form I am to explore. It guides me, shaping the form and direction of the piece, from the raw antler to the finished asymmetrical, freeform sculpture. Since designing and weaving my first antler basket in 1990, this process has been a grounding and spiritual journey for me."