by Kim Horton
Quick Summary
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, as the Minnesota Center for the Book, announces the third chapter of One Book | One Minnesota. The newest title for the program is The Plague of Doves by Minnesota author Louise Erdrich.
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, as the Minnesota Center for the Book, announces the third chapter of One Book | One Minnesota, a statewide book club that invites Minnesotans of all ages to read a common title and come together virtually to enjoy, reflect, and discuss. The third title for the program is The Plague of Doves by Minnesota author Louise Erdrich. Presented in partnership with State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, the program aims to bring Minnesotans together during a time of distance and adversity and highlight the role of libraries as community connectors.
From October into December, through their local libraries, Minnesotans will be invited to read the featured book selection and will have access to author videos, reading guides, and virtual book club discussions. New this chapter, readers can access the audiobook, in addition to the ebook, for free on Ebooks Minnesota for eight weeks. All Minnesotans are invited to participate in a statewide virtual discussion with the author on December 8, 2020. The event is free; registration is required and can be found here.
In addition to the digital formats, hard copies of the book will be available through public libraries, and through Birchbark Books and other independent stores across the state. Links to resources and more information can be found at thefriends.org/onebook.
The Plague of Doves is the first book in Erdrich’s loosely connected trilogy which includes National Book Award-winner The Round House and LaRose. The selection offers Minnesota readers an opportunity to reflect on some of our own Native American history through an extraordinary cast of characters.
In The Plague of Doves, a Minnesota Book Award-winner and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the unsolved murder of a farm family haunts the small, white off-reservation town of Pluto, North Dakota. The vengeance exacted for this crime, and the subsequent distortions of truth transform the lives of Ojibwe living on the nearby reservation and shape the passions of both communities for the next generation. Bound by love and torn by history, the collective stories of the two communities come together in a wrenching truth that is revealed in the novel’s final pages.
Louise Erdrich is the author of fifteen novels as well as volumes of poetry, children’s books, short stories, and a memoir of early motherhood. Her novel The Round House won the National Book Award for Fiction. The Plague of Doves won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and her debut novel, Love Medicine, was the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Erdrich has received the Library of Congress Prize in American Fiction, the prestigious PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She lives in Minnesota with her daughters and is the owner of Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore.
One Book | One Minnesota is presented by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, as the Minnesota Center for the Book, in partnership with State Library Services. Program partners also include Council of Regional Public Library System Administrators; HarperCollins Publishers; Minitex; and the Minnesota Department of Education. This program is made possible in part by the State of Minnesota through a grant to the Minnesota Center for the Book through the Minnesota Department of Education.
About The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library is the Library of Congress-designated Center for the Book in Minnesota. As our state’s Center for the Book, The Friends promotes reading, literacy, libraries, and books statewide. An independent, nonprofit organization celebrating 75 years, The Friends acts as a catalyst for libraries to strengthen and inspire their communities. The Friends invests in the Saint Paul Public Library through fundraising, advocacy, and programming; as a result, our Library is a nationally-recognized leader in serving its community. The Friends also serves libraries across the country and internationally through its consulting services, Library Strategies. For more information, contact The Friends at 651-222-3242 or visit thefriends.org.
About Minnesota State Library Services
State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), partners with libraries to achieve equity and excellence in our collective work for Minnesotans. Division staff are consultants who help libraries plan, develop and implement high-quality services that address community needs. State Library Services administers federal grant, state aid, and state grant programs that benefit all types of libraries.
About Ebooks Minnesota
Ebooks Minnesota is an online ebook collection for all Minnesotans. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects for readers of all ages, and features content from our state's independent publishers, including some of our best literature and nonfiction. Ebooks Minnesota is a joint project of Minitex and the Minnesota Department of Education, State Library Services. It is hosted on the Biblioboard platform, which helps provide barrier-free access to everyone in Minnesota. Special support and hosting of The Plague of Doves audiobook is provided by Minnesota-based Mackin on the Mackin VIA platform. The collection was made possible in part by funding from the Minnesota Department of Education through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Contact
Kim Horton, Senior Director of Communications
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library
651-366-6489
kim@thefriends.org
