We Believe in the Library. We Invest in the Library.
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library believes that libraries are essential. We act as a catalyst for libraries to strengthen and inspire their communities. Learn more in this short video about our work.
Books and so much more
Libraries are the best way to strengthen communities because they connect individuals of every age, ethnicity, and background with resources that enrich and improve lives.
Maker Spaces
Small Business Resources
Homework Help
Digital Literacy Training
Has the Public Library Made an Impact in Your Life or Community?
Stronger Libraries for Stronger Communities
“I don’t know how to help my child with their homework, so this helps them. We love it here, and the kids want to come.”
– Safiya, mother
“This storytime means so much to me because my kids get to learn their native language.”
– Po, parent
“The library brings people together. It’s a place to come together around community and information.”
– Darren, small-business owner
“The best thing about this program is that it has all the resources a low-income student may need to do well in school… along with a safe learning environment for students to work.”
– Mai Xee, student
Upcoming Events
“Gatsby at 100” Exhibit
September 13, 2025 – March 22, 2026
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis
“Gatsby at 100,” opening in fall 2025 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, will explore how F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel shaped and was shaped by the visual art of his time. The exhibition will bring together works from Mia’s collection that embody the decadence, social upheaval, and underlying racism of Fitzgerald’s most famous novel, highlighting paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs that are rarely on view. Like Fitzgerald, artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Oskar Kokoschka, and Henri Matisse, as well as regional artists like Wanda Gág, Clement Haupers, and Frances Cranmer Greenman, endeavored to capture the contradictions of the Jazz Age, a term coined by Fitzgerald himself. Entry is free.
Learn more here.
Gatsby at 100
2025 is the 100th anniversary of the publication of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby. To mark this milestone, The Friends is convening a variety of programs that invite us to revisit the book and consider how its themes apply today. Learn more and browse programs here.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Wednesday, December 10
6:30 p.m. Discussion
Utepils
225 Thomas Ave N,
Minneapolis
This event is FREE and open to the public.
—
Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country’s vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera’s most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.
—
With The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, moderator Jeff Kamin brings his unique take on a public book club show to Saint Paul. Even if you don’t like the featured book, he “guarantees a good time at our entertaining discussions.” All are welcome to try this moderated reinvention of the book club.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Tuesday, December 16
6:30 p.m. Discussion
Urban Growler
2325 Endicott St
St. Paul
This event is FREE and open to the public.
—
Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country’s vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera’s most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.
—
With The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, moderator Jeff Kamin brings his unique take on a public book club show to Saint Paul. Even if you don’t like the featured book, he “guarantees a good time at our entertaining discussions.” All are welcome to try this moderated reinvention of the book club.
Mindy Mejia, author of The Whisper Place
Fiction
Wednesday, January 7 | 6:30 p.m.
New location! Rondo Community Library at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center
270 North Kent Street, Saint Paul
Or via Zoom | REGISTER HERE for Zoom event
About the Book
Investigators Max Summerlin and Jonah Kendrick search for a woman desperate to escape a dark past. As Max and Johan unearth the woman’s story, they put themselves directly in the path of the terror she is trying to escape.
About the Author
Mindy Mejia is a CPA and a graduate of the Hamline University MFA program. She lives in the Twin Cities with her family, and is the author of Strike Me Down, Everything You Want Me to Be, Leave No Trace, and To Catch a Storm.
About the Fireside Reading Series
Great authors by the fireside.
FREE
Wednesdays | January 7 – January 28, 2026 | 6:30 p.m.
Rondo Community Library at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center
270 N Kent Street, Saint Paul
or via Zoom
thefriends.org/fireside
Cozy up for four weeks of readings with great writers. In partnership with Saint Paul Public Library, Fireside Reading Series highlights some of Minnesota’s finest writers who have published new work.
Captioning will be provided for all four livestreamed events. ASL interpretation is available upon request with at least seven days’ notice. Contact [email protected] or 651-222-3242.
These programs are made possible in part through the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund and an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature to The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library as the Minnesota Center for the Book.
All Fireside Events
Wednesday, January 7th
Mindy Mejia, The Whisper Place
Fiction
Wednesday, January 14th
Ricardo Levins Morales, The Land Knows the Way: Eco-Social Insights for Liberation
Memoir/Nonfiction
Wednesday, January 21st
Debra J. Stone, The House on Rondo
Fiction
Wednesday, January 28th
Greg Gaut, The War at Home: Minnesota During the Great War, 1914 – 1920
Nonfiction
Ricardo Levins Morales, author of The Land Knows the Way: Eco-Social Insights for Liberation
Memoir/Nonfiction
Wednesday, January 14 | 6:30 p.m.
New location! Rondo Community Library at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center
270 North Kent Street, Saint Paul
Or via Zoom | REGISTER HERE for Zoom event
About the Book
A collection of essays gathered from six decades of activism on how to creatively and effectively respond to living in times that are both unprecedented and unique but also part of longstanding and familiar historical cycles.
About the Author
Ricardo Levins Morales is an artist and organizer based in Minneapolis. He uses his art as a form of political medicine to support individual and collective healing. He also leads workshops on creative organizing, social justice strategy and sustainable activism.
About the Fireside Reading Series
Great authors by the fireside.
FREE
Wednesdays | January 7 – January 28, 2026 | 6:30 p.m.
Rondo Community Library at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center
270 N Kent Street, Saint Paul
or via Zoom
thefriends.org/fireside
Cozy up for four weeks of readings with great writers. In partnership with Saint Paul Public Library, Fireside Reading Series highlights some of Minnesota’s finest writers who have published new work.
Captioning will be provided for all four livestreamed events. ASL interpretation is available upon request with at least seven days’ notice. Contact [email protected] or 651-222-3242.
These programs are made possible in part through the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund and an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature to The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library as the Minnesota Center for the Book.
All Fireside Events
Wednesday, January 7th
Mindy Mejia, The Whisper Place
Fiction
Wednesday, January 14th
Ricardo Levins Morales, The Land Knows the Way: Eco-Social Insights for Liberation
Memoir/Nonfiction
Wednesday, January 21st
Debra J. Stone, The House on Rondo
Fiction
Wednesday, January 28th
Greg Gaut, The War at Home: Minnesota During the Great War, 1914 – 1920
Nonfiction