Quatrefoil Library By Bill Burleson
Anne Johnson moved to the Twin Cities from Chicago three years ago. While she had friends here already, “I needed something to…feel part of the community.” So what did she do? She found Quatrefoil Library, our very own GLBT community library. “When I moved here, it was the first thing I joined.” Now Anne is the Board Secretary and Web mistress (she prefers “Web commando”). I’m visiting with Anne and several leaders of Quatrefoil at its little space on the lower level of a former school building just west of Snelling in St Paul. Despite it being an extremely cold night, there are several volunteers here and plenty of people coming in to browse the collection. According to board member Dan Hanson, Quatrefoil began when Dick Hewetson and David Irwin’s Grand Avenue, St Paul, condo became too stuffed full of books. According to Dan, “Dick and David said, ‘Let’s start a library!’ That was 21 years ago.” Now with 400 current members (plus over 3000 more past members), 1200 books, 1500 videos, and 400 magazine titles, it has grown to be an important resource for the entire community. As we’re talking, Jim comes up to the counter to return videos that “are a little bit over due” and checking out some new ones. I ask him what brings him here on a cold night. “They have a nice selection of new stuff coming out.” He tells me he drives in a couple times a month, all the way from Richfield. “I’d much rather support Quatrefoil than a Blockbuster. It’s part of the community.”
“It’s better than Blockbuster,” Dan adds. “Two weeks for one buck!” The great video rental price is not the only thing that sets Quatrefoil apart from retailers. There’s the collection, which is so much more diverse than the one bay of GLBT titles in your typical Barnes and Nobles. “We’ve got a lot of small presses,” Head Librarian Kathy Robbins tells me. Plus, there are events, such as a new book club that meets once a month and the occasional author’s book reading. This evening Don Yager is working the desk. He’s been volunteering from the start, helping David and Dick move into the first library space, in the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union offices in North Minneapolis. “Since then, I’ve volunteered about once a month.” Don, like Dan, Kathy, Anne, and everyone at Quatrefoil, is a volunteer; they have no paid staff. He’s typical in that he works a two hour shift once or twice a month, helping out with something he believes in and gains satisfaction from. And Don is just one of the 70 volunteers that make up Quatrefoil. That’s impressive. I’ve been involved with plenty of nonprofits in the past, and few can make it on volunteer labor alone. What’s the secret? Don says, “I like being around books,” and adds, “I think it’s a good community resource.” Kathy says she’s been involved for fifteen years. “We get to arrange our own little library!” However, we all know good, worthy projects come and go all the time. The key here is more than books. According to Dan, “People get along,” He adds, “It’s a really comfortable place.”
Anne agrees: “There is a definite sense of a loosely knit family.” There are opportunities to socialize too. “I look forward the volunteer party every month…. We get together and talk about anything and everything. It is a great way to fit socializing into our busy schedules.” So Anne found her community at Quatrefoil, as has so many other people over the years. Whether a person wants to get involved in the GLBT community for the first time or they’re coming back again, or maybe it’s because they never had the time before, they’re fresh from Chicago like Anne, or whatever, I can’t think of a better place to jump in into the GLBT community that Quatrefoil. Meanwhile, the entire community benefits from Anne’s and all the volunteer’s hard work and dedication to the cause. According to Anne, “I consider myself very lucky to have the Quatrefoil in my life.” Standing there, meeting the volunteers and seeing a steady stream of visitors coming in, I know we are the lucky ones.
Quatrefoil Library is located at 1619 Dayton Avenue in St. Paul, visit www.quatrefoillibrary.org for more information. Want to read past columns or be in touch? Visit www.forwhomthebilltolls.org.