In Minnesota, a Weekend Library on a Frozen Lake

The Library Shanty is one of 20 temporary structures by artists on Medicine Lake

By Rebecca Miller -- Library Journal, 02/05/2010

Almost nothing could get me to walk onto a frozen lake, but if I were near Minneapolis this weekend, I’d face my fears to see the Library Shanty, part of the Art Shanty Project, an annual community of temporary shelters put up by artists for four winter weekends on Medicine Lake.

The one-room Library Shanty, called the Medicine Lake Branch, is the brainchild of artist Lauren Herzak-Bauman and was brought to fruition by a team. The collection of books, cataloged via LibraryThing, can be checked out for use in the shanty itself or taken out if the patron is from another shanty.

Debora Miller, my intrepid twin and an artist, has been on the ice with various shanties over the years (see the Art Post Shanty); she provided the photographs here. More photos are available on the Medicine Lake Branch’s Facebook page.

Via email, Herzak-Bauman answered questions about the Library Shanty.

What was the inspiration (aka, why library)?

In 2007, I visited the Art Shanty Projects. Not native to Minnesota, I was moved by a group of people assembling together to enjoy the frigid temperatures and share their joy and art with the public. I particularly enjoyed the shanties that mimicked communities and organizations similar to those found in a city, like the Postal Shanty. I wanted to create a space that functioned similarly. I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have a library on the ice where people can relax, get warm, and read a book? So around August 2009, I emailed a bunch of people and said, let's do this. And Alex Schluender, Matt Max, Megan Wicker, and Sarah Baker responded.

Are any of the folks involved librarians or library patrons?

None of us are official librarians. Sarah Baker has worked in an archival library. We are all avid readers and library patrons.

Did you source ideas from a librarian?

We did not seek out librarians for advice; rather, we built the library based upon our own understanding of libraries. Some of the ideas floating around had a lot to do with the library as an archive. We were all interested in the traffic surrounding books—how many people used them, when and how. That little card that gets stamped in the book. Keeping a record, adding to it. Creating our own archive from our own history and the history of the shanty.

How did LibraryThing work for you?

LibraryThing allows you to create a catalog of your books. It has a lot of information on cataloging. We used it to organize our books using the Dewey Decimal system. It also allows Library Shanty patrons to check out our collection before arriving out on the ice.

How many books have circed in how many days “open”?

We are open every weekend. There are close to 300 books in the shanty. There are 280 cataloged, and people keep bringing us more books. It's great. Not every book has circulated. The two most popular books are Sex Pots: Eroticism in Ceramics, and Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton.

The books came from all of our personal libraries and a small amount of scavenged books from a friend working at Half Price Books.

What perspective did this experience give you about the public library in our society?

Libraries are necessary! People are still interested in the physical object of the book, the visual weight that hundreds of books have when placed together on shelves. People want to slow down and take time to read and they need places to do so.

Will you return to libraries in the future in your work?

Of course. We all want to do the library again next year. I personally reference documentation, words, and paper within my own artwork.