News & Events
Stephen Ambrose Memorial Lecture every fall. Distinguished speakers who have given a lecture include author Gerry Robinson (2022) at right, novelist Scott Hibbard (2020) at left, biographer Lorna Milne (2019), novelist Jamie Ford (2018), historian Stu Wilson (2017), Bozeman writer Paul R. Wylie (2016), UM Western Professor O. Alan Weltzien (2015), Billings author Russell Rowland (2014), and historian Hugh Ambrose (2011). Read more about the Ambrose Memorial Lecture.
Celebrating a Writer's Journey was launched in 2016 to celebrate Helena writer and educator, Virginia Reeves (at left). Journalist and nature writer Jim Robbins and poet Melissa Kwasny (at right) followed in 2018 and 2020, respectively. In 2023, Caroline Patterson will visit from Missoula to take us on her writer's journey. Visit the Writer's Journey page for details. Watch the 2020 Celebrating a Writer's Journey interview with Melissa Kwasny by then board member Virginia Reeves.
Community Readers Poetry Reading - Launched in 2009, this free public event celebrates poetry and prose every April (during National Poetry Month) with short readings by community leaders representing high school, college, local elected offices, and business and nonprofit organizations. It was formerly called the Community Leaders Poetry Reading, but was changed in 2023 to broaden the scope of participants in the event.
Other author events co-sponsored by the Foundation have included Alexander McCall Smith, Timothy Egan, Roz Chast, and Mary Jane Nealon.
The Foundation also hosted a Tribute to Ivan Doig in 2015 when his last novel was posthumously published. The event was one of 10 across the country organized to celebrate the release of Last Bus to Wisdom.
Bi-monthly artist receptions for local artists and Downtown Helena's Spring and Fall Art Walks were cancelled during the pandemic, and we hope to resume artist receptions in 2023.
Stay informed about Foundation events on our Facebook page, the Library Events webpage, and through our Library Foundation e-mail news (subscribe below).
Read about past events in our Year-in-Review newsletters. Download a past issue below!
Foundation Newsletters
We publish a Year in Review annual report in the fall and a Mid-Year in Review newsletter every spring. Past issues are provided here for an overview of our recent work and accomplishments. Click on the newsletters below to open a pdf file.
