From The Library Foyer, through the Stacks, to Children’s Library, and on to the Gold Mine Thrift Store, exhibits and displays celebrate the rivers that run through our lives and our relationships to them.
This year’s Winter Read is Norman Maclean’s novella A River Runs Through It. Set on Montana’s Blackfoot River 100 years ago, this short novel invites us to think about the changing landscapes of family, rivers, and the west. In this spirit, we invite you to explore the following exhibits and displays:
Reel Legends: Fly-fisherwomen of the Wood River Valley
Location: Library Foyer
The new Library Foyer exhibit celebrates the great fly-fishing tradition in the Wood River Valley as seen through the eyes of four women who have earned the badge of Reel Legends on our local waters.
The four women featured in this exhibit were lured to our local waterways for varied reasons. Yet each connects to the pursuit with great passion and reverence for the natural splendor that fly-fishing immerses them into. Join us in exploring, through object and word, the reasons these Reel Legends are called to the water with rod in hand. We celebrate their spirited pursuit of our local waters and gladly bend an ear to hear their fishing stories.
The Floating World of Grant McClintock: A Photographic Exhibit
Location: In the Stacks, outside the Idaho Room
Somewhere during his five decades as a professional photographer, Grant McClintock’s name became synonymous with fly fishing. This status is largely due to the success of two collaborative books featuring “flywaters” of the West.
A passionate fly-fisher since young adulthood, McClintock took on an idea that was sparked at a gathering of friends. Mike Crockett describes the moment as “a pleasant cocktail hour” with the McClintocks in Ketchum. They later enlisted Jack Hemingway, another avid Wood River Valley fly-fisher, in what would become Flywater (1994).
Fish through the Eyes of Youth
Location: Children’s Library
Colorful trout hang suspended in tissue paper water as part of our children’s art project in conjunction with the Winter Read of A River Runs Through It. Our young patrons lent their skills in creating the diverse kinds of fish, some realistic, some imaginative. An authentic spey rod (courtesy of Susanne Connor) and creel basket (courtesy of Juliette Gutierrez) are also on display in the case, located outside the Children’s Library.
Historic River Photographs
Location: Gold Mine Thrift Store
Historic images from the Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History Collections bring the Winter Read to life in the Gold Mine. Six images, including Clayton Stewart at Silver Creek (pictured above), allow shoppers to connect with and enjoy the spirit of the Winter Read and the rivers that run through our lives.
