Libraries—and a Secret Room!

ByJulie Klassen
12 Comments

This last week I spoke at three libraries (Alexandria, Fergus Falls, and Elbow Lake, MN), which I greatly enjoyed. The events were well-attended and everyone was friendly and interested. Meeting the helpful staffs and many readers was a blessing and an encouragement to me as a writer.

Speaking in the beautiful Fergus Falls library.
Great seeing Hannah and her cuties again, and later meeting Makesha.

But the coolest part? One of the libraries has a secret room! I have long been intrigued by hidden passageways and secret rooms. Perhaps it comes from my early love of Trixie Belden mysteries. (Have you read them?) I have also enjoyed visiting manor houses in England with secret rooms and I have written them into two of my novels (The Secret of Pembrooke Park and The Painter’s Daughter).

When this topic came up during my talk in Elbow Lake, the patrons said, “Then you HAVE to see our secret room!”

Lisa from the library staff was kind enough to show me this special feature, which is not open to the public.

Here’s the attractive, innocent looking bookcase that conceals the hidden, fold-down stairway…

Lift the Viking ship to reveal the hidden latch…

The heavy custom-built stairs fold down. I was able to climb up!

Might this experience inspire a scene in a book someday? You never know… 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

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JULIE KLASSEN loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. She worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her novels have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota.

12 Comments

  1. You can’t leave us hanging! Where do the stairs lead? What was the purpose of having them built?

  3. I wish the library I work at had a secret room like that! I’m so glad you got to see that, that’s amazing!

  5. So, what does that library do with that secret room? Is it for storage, for clandestine meetings, for an employee break room, or what?

  6. Glad the talks went well. 🙂 Now I need to check out the Elbow Lake library! How cool!

    It’s a dream (fantasy) of mine to have a house with a secret room, but writing one into a book will likely be as close as I get. 🙂

  7. Secret rooms are fun. But Trixie Belden, she was the most fun to me as a kid. I would lie under a blanket under a big tree and read for hours. I would relish a trip to Grants Five & Dime to see if there was a new book waiting for me to buy (for 49 cents, I think). Thanks for the memories. Now I need to go look for a secret room!

  8. How fun to “find” a secret room! I still have my (now adults!) kids’ Trixie Belden and Hardy Boy mystery books! 🙂

  9. A secret room?! Everyone should be so lucky!! Did it lead to anything special? I always read Nancy Drew books.

  10. I see a series of books centered around the library and the secret room.
    I would read the series and I know our church library patrons would also.
    Thanks for sharing.

  11. Another secret room?!?! How fun is that?! Love that the library had that and no one knew about it. Looking forward to see how you work this into an upcoming book.

  12. Julie, I just got back to watch the videos and how much fun!! A secret room in a library – yes, I think it belongs in a book. And a timely article for me – I’m about 2/3 done with Pembrooke Park and loving it!!

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