Land of Locomotives - from Boxcar Librarians to Bootleggers
Schedule
Tue, 21 Oct, 2025 at 06:30 pm
UTC-06:00Location
1500 University Dr, Billings, MT, United States, Montana 59101 | Billings, MT
Advertisement
Join us as we welcome author of the internationally best-selling novel, "The Boxcar Librarian" Brianna Labuskes. In this lecture, Labuskes will use her internationally best-selling novel The Boxcar Librarian to highlight the many ways trains acted as connective tissue in Montana during the 1920s. The novel was inspired by Missoula’s own Ruth Worden, who created the Lumberman’s Library to bring books to lumberjack camps via the railroads that mining companies already had in place. Those books—and magazines, newspapers, and music—provided a bit of relief and entertainment to workers who lived harsh, isolated existences in Montana’s wilderness. That impulse to help neighbors and build community can be found in many examples throughout this era where Montana was weathering a painful depression—long before droughts and bank closures hit the rest of the country.
All lectures are Tuesdays evenings at 6:30pm in Library 231. Free and open to the public.
Advertisement
Where is it happening?
1500 University Dr, Billings, MT, United States, Montana 59101Event Location & Nearby Stays:
