MARQUETTE, Mich.—Author and nationally recognized library historian Wayne Wiegand will give a presentation at Northern Michigan University titled “Right Here I See My Own Books: The Woman’s Building Library at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and Its Effect on Libraries Across the Country.” His talk is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, April 2, in Mead Auditorium in the West Science Building. It is free and open to the public.

            Among the most popular attractions at the 1893 fair in Chicago was the Woman’s Building, an exhibit hall filled with the products of women’s labor, including more than 8,000 volumes of writing by women. Wiegand is the co-author of Right Here I See My Own Books, which examines the progress, content and significance of this historic first effort to assemble a comprehensive library of women’s texts.

            Wiegand also wrote Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956. Hewill give a presentation on that book at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, at Peter White Public Library.

            His visit is sponsored by the American Association of University Women, Peter White Public Library, the NMU history and sociology/social work departments and Lydia Olson Library.