Back

Julie Moore-Peterson

Sturgis Public Library

Tell us a bit about yourself, the organization you represent, and the work you do.

I am the director of the Sturgis Public Library, and have worked in the library for over 32 years. The Sturgis Public Library service area includes all of Sturgis and Meade County, covering an area of over 3,470 square miles. Anyone living in Meade County or attending our school district and their families are eligible for free library services. In the past few years, we established a consortium of 11 public libraries, the first of its kind in our region, and I serve as an officer on the board of directors. I am also active on the board of directors for the South Dakota Humanities Council, and have served as committee chairperson for the South Dakota Festival of the Book.

Tell us about your community/the communities you serve, and your part of the country.

This sliver of earth on the borderlands of the Black Hills and South Dakota prairie was on the precipice of Western Expansion. Sturgis grew up to serve the nearby 7th Calvary and miners flooding the gold-laden Hills. Many of our residents draw their lineage back to Native Americans, prospectors and entrepreneurs, soldiers and lawmen. We are the daughters and sons of indigenous people, pioneers and explorers. Our heritage is that of innovation, perseverance and creativity. While Sturgis’ population is only 6,700, we are located in the larger community of the Black Hills. Our county of Meade is home to 27,000 residents.

What did it mean to you and your community to host the U.S. Poet Laureate? Can you share any feedback you received from event attendees/participants?

It was a rare honor to host our national poet laureate, and our community greatly appreciated the opportunity. This was demonstrated by the wonderful turnout on a long-weekend Saturday morning in our small town rural area and the participation in the lively discussion Tracy facilitated on the poetry she brought to our focus.

Here’s some of the attendee feedback we received:

“Tracy certainly helped us understand how poetry can help us understand each other better. The wide-ranging, diverse thought expressed inspires hope for finding common ground in these troubling times.”

“The visit to Sturgis, SD by the current U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith was an amazing community event. My elementary aged children and I attended and participated in the discussion. Her visit introduced us to her poetry and those of other contemporary poets that were unfamiliar to me. Her visit served as a catalyst for us reading, as a family, several of Ms. Smith’s poems together. I appreciated Ms. Smith’s warmth and outreach as well as her genuine interest in our community, our ideas, and our perspectives.”

Other comments after the program included: “inspiring”; “we’d love to have her come back again”; “such positive energy, it just felt good being in her presence.”

The Sturgis City Manager attended the event and said, “It was a tremendous day for Sturgis! It was an amazing program and truly an exceptional honor for our community.”

What, if any, type of literary programming do you present in your community? How did this program fit in?

Sturgis Public Library, especially with their ongoing and very successful partnership with the Sturgis Area Arts Council, has a long history of literary programming in our community. This includes bringing author Tim O’Brien to Sturgis last fall to present to over 600 students and participants of our NEA Big Read for The Things They Carried; it includes Longmire author Craig Johnson recently speaking to over 500 people on a Friday night. It also includes many local author events, the Great Plains Chautaqua programs, writer’s groups and workshops, annual “One Book South Dakota” discussions, and bringing SD Festival of the Book authors into our schools. Although we have featured local and regional poets in the past, we have had limited success at drawing people to those programs. The opportunity to host the national poet laureate changed that, and we hope to develop additional programming to continue the interest clearly expressed by the wonderful attendance on a Saturday morning in Sturgis. We are hopeful that Tracy will come back to the area and conduct a writing workshop; many have expressed interest in learning more from her.

Back