We brought "Lost Lingo" to the Galesburg Public Library last week and had a grand time with an enthusiastic audience in their fabulous still-new library.
Galesburg is what I would call a "big small town" in the middle of Illinois. In the early 1830s, Reverand Gale opened a manual labor college on what was then the frontier. Young men worked the land while getting an education and the town grew up around it. Later, Galesburg became a major railroad hub and the city really prospered. In 1902, Galesburg had a Carnegie library, which unfortunately burned down in 1958. For the next six decades, the library was in a low, rather non-descript 1960s era building. That's the one I knew when I lived there.
In 2024, a big, gorgeous library opened on the west side of town. It has soaring spaces, public art, and expansive glass windows that are etched to prevent birds from accidentally flying into them. Really impressive!
We were in also town for Knox College's Homecoming, two-for-one fun for us. A few alums came to our talk, as well as local folks, and we had a great discussion on the 1920s history and cultural references found in Agatha Christie's earliest books.
Many thanks are due to Kayla, CeCe, and the Galesburg Library who hosted us. Also, a big "thank you" to the people who came to learn a bit more about Christie's books. We had a ball, and hope you all did, too!