MPR’s Greta Cunningham takes a talking tour of Quatrefoil Library, the gay & lesbian library in the Twin Cities. Cunningham interviews David Irwin and Dick Hewetson, who discuss the origin of library.
Quatrefoil is the second LGBT lending library in the United States.
Transcript:
(00:00:00) I've always been interested in books though. I got my first library card before I was 5 years old all I had to be able to sign my name in with us steel pain and when I could do that, then I could get a library card. So I bet what 72 years now. I've been using libraries and I was very interested in. Library Club at high school and it was an all-girl deal. Well, we got the girls to admit males. But the other two guys that were with me then wanting to join the club decided they didn't want any part of it. And so I never did before come a member of the library Club in high
(00:00:54) school and dick. You became a book lover. I guess through David's love of books. Is that
(00:01:00) correct? I guess you could put it that way. I don't know. I don't know that I've ever been the book lover. But when David and I met each other and eventually moved in together. I was a gay activist. And I've always said that I was the activist and he was the book lover and I had a small collection of books because at that point this was in 1975 and I had started buying some of the more recent gay books and but David is really the book
(00:01:26) collector. So when you initially started collecting the books you are mentioning David that you didn't have much to choose from there were only a few books out. When did you see the Boom in gay and lesbian
(00:01:38) literature in the late 60s? It's too early 70s. There was just a raft of paperbacks came out. Some of them were horrid and some of them were real real good reading material. We have a collection here of historical erotica. And there's several hundred books. There are these paperbacks that came out and during that
(00:02:03) period can you talk about the early days of the library when it grew into more than you can handle? In your own home from reading some of the literature about the library. I understand it started out in the linen closet and then got a little out of control. Is that right? Or is that legend
(00:02:25) by the time we were thinking about the library at a taken over the Hallway, I had three three bookcases in the back hallway, and David's Den was full of books with a out of this was a big condominium on Grand Avenue and it was a hallway. What about 25 30 feet long lined with books on both sides.
(00:02:54) So you knew you needed some help because the books were literally taking over your living
(00:02:58) space dick and I broke up before we found a place to put the library so we box them all up and we moved them from our old condominium to Dick's new place and we store them in the basement of that building until we moved over on Broadway and Minneapolis.
(00:03:20) And when was that moved to Broadway? What year was
(00:03:22) that? That was in? Late 85 marks a map Stark the director of ACL or MCL. You called Dick trying to get some money for their new building and then he said we've got some space to rent and so dick and I went over there and we put down the first month's ran on a space 24 feet by
(00:03:52) 12 and looking back on those early days. Is are you amazed that actually now here you have a quite a nice space here in st. Paul with them wonderful shelves bursting with books and some nice little seating areas and plants and everything. Does it Amaze you that, you know 10 years later. This is what you've come to
(00:04:14) I don't know if amazed is the word. I think it's wonderful. I sort of like what we hoped would happen happened and I feel proud and happy about it.
(00:04:23) What is the difference between this library and Say a gay and lesbian section of a bookstore. Is there a real difference between what people would find in a book store versus what they would find here?
(00:04:34) I live in San Francisco. Now where the public library has a gay lesbian section. And when I see the periodicals that we have here just the normal everyday periodicals. It's a much much bigger collection than they have in San Francisco even and and what David was referring to we have all these back copies of newspapers and magazines from all over the country. So the research that can be done is just
(00:04:57) amazing. You'll be celebrating your 10th anniversary of being a library this weekend. What will you be reflecting upon as you celebrate the anniversary?
(00:05:10) Ain't it? Wonderful.