I remember, when I was young, going into the Eveleth Public Library and seeing the Carnegie plaque in the entryway. The Andrew Carnegie–funded library opened on July 1, 1914.
When I was a child, the Eveleth Public Library was a magical place to go. I used to spend a lot of time at the library. I was enthralled with the stereoscope viewer, a device for viewing a stereoscopic pair of separate images. I also remember, when I was in third grade in 1963 and had to stay home from school for a number of days with the mumps, my mom brought home a stack of books from the library to occupy my time. One of the books she checked out that stays in my bank of fond memories was The Story of John Paul Jones, by Iris Vinton — the story of the great U.S. naval hero who commanded the Bonhomme Richard. In the battle with the HMS Serapis, its commander asked, “Do you surrender?” and Jones responded at once, “Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!” I had drifted off to the high seas in my imagination and forgotten about my swollen glands.
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