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From the first day settlers arrived in Wyoming in 1855, the city has continued to change and grow. The stagecoach brought travelers from the Twin Cities to Duluth in the 1860s and Wyoming was a stop along the stagecoach run. In the 1870s steam locomotives took over the task of transporting travelers. A local newspaper began in 1915 along with a bank, hotel and electric lights! The city has seen many changes in the past 150 years.

Library service in Wyoming is about to change as well. East Central Regional Library began providing library service to the area via the bookmobile for about 30 years. The bookmobile enabled individuals in the community and surrounding area to check out books, videos and other items.

However, as Wyoming grew it became evident that the ECRL bookmobile could not meet the needs of the community. The Chisago County Board of Commissioners passed a $6.5 million bond for new libraries in Wyoming, North Branch and Chisago City (relocating the current Lindstrom branch).

After years of hard work and dedication by many individuals, the new Wyoming Area Library will open Dec. 3.

The architect for the 10,000 square foot building was KKE Architects from Minneapolis and the general contractor was Gopher Construction from Rice, MN.

The original Wyoming train depot inspired the architecture of the new library.

The new Wyoming Area Library will be opening with approximately 14,000 items including books, videos, DVDs, audio books on tape and CD, magazines, music CDs and newspapers. The new building, however, has the capacity to hold 45,000 items.

The library will be open 40 hours per week:

Monday––Closed

Tuesday––10-8

Wednesday & Thursday––12-8

Friday––12-6

Saturday––10-2

Sunday––1-5

The grand opening date has been set for Saturday, December 3. The new library is located at 26855 Forest Blvd next to the Wyoming City Hall.

The grand opening activities will begin with the ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. The Wyoming Area Library Society and local officials will lead the ceremony.

At 11 a.m. you are invited to listen to local author, Patricia Lambrecht. Lambrecht, is the mother of the mother/daughter writing team known as P. J. Tracy. Together with her daughter, Traci, they have written several popular fiction novels including Monkeewrench, Live Bait, and Dead Run. The backdrop for the novels is Minneapolis. There are also many references to Wisconsin. Lambrecht spent her high school years in Wisconsin and currently lives in the Chisago Lakes area. Traci lives in California.

Tours of the new library will be offered at 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. Staff of the new library will conduct the tours. The day promises to be filled with excitement and fun. The entire community and those in the surrounding area are invited to come visit Saturday, December 3 and help celebrate. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call the new library at 651-462-9001.

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