by Zach Miller
Quick Summary
With a little help from Northwest Regional Library, two residents of the small town of Middle River made their community home to Minnesota's newest library.
The 300 or so residents of Middle River, Minnesota, are a friendly bunch, and they don't have to go far to be social. Sure, they could spend five hours in a car to get to Minneapolis, or half that time driving to Winnipeg. They could get to Thief River Falls in twenty minutes. But none of those trips are necessary with the Middle River Legacy Center and its gym, Airbnb, and library just blocks away. Jim Trojanowski, executive director of Northwest Regional Library, based in Thief River Falls, credits two people as most responsible for making the Legacy Center a reality: Sandra Melby and Gracie Brandon.
The building that now houses the Legacy Center began life as a public school before closing its doors in 2018. It sat vacant for a time, but after the city purchased the building, motivated residents started making new plans for the space. They knew it was filled with memories, but saw potential for the future, too. Before long, Melby had converted classrooms into Airbnb rentals that invite travelers to get some shut-eye in rooms where sleeping was formerly discouraged, to say the least. "The airbnb is so fun," says Brandon. "Wandering around the halls, you feel like you're breaking the rules somehow, even though you're not."
In addition to the Airbnb, there are spaces for events, and the school gymnasium now sells memberships to locals in search of a workout. Perhaps best of all, a public library just opened its doors, occupying the same spacious quarters that previously held the school library, using the same bookshelves.
Melby made the initial push for a library by setting up a meeting to discuss options with Trojanowski. She asked Brandon, already a library board member, to come along. About two years later, on March 15, the Barb Geer Memorial Library held its grand opening celebration as a LINK site of the Northwest Regional Library. The library's namesake, Barb Geer, played an instrumental role in the establishment of Middle River's theater (in the former train station) and newspaper before passing away in 2019. Brandon is the new library's sole staff person, and was happy with the turnout at the grand opening. "The entire community was represented," she recalls. "Little kids, middle school kids, high schoolers, older people. Everybody across the board."
Brandon had never worked in a library before, but as a former pupil of the school, she's in familiar territory nonetheless. She's taken to the job, and Trojanowski calls her a "wonderful addition to the NWRL staff." The library will be open four hours per week, on Wednesday evenings from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Middle River's freshly minted library patrons are already clamoring for more. "I've been asked many times about opportunities for more hours in the summer, and about the activities we're planning," says Brandon. "People are making lists of books they want to put holds on."
Middle River, Minnesota used to have a train stop and a school. They're gone now, but not forgotten. In their place stand a theater, rooms for rent, a gym, and a library. "We get things done in Middle River," Brandon reflects. "We make the most of our small town."
