Between 1910 and 1922, seventeen Montana towns received a life-changing gift—Carnegie-funded libraries. The Best Gift brings their story to life through the expert narrative of historian Kate Hampton and the evocative photography of Tom Ferris.
This beautiful volume captures the elegance, resilience, and local pride embodied in these historic buildings—15 of which still stand today.

Features detailed architectural photography and hand-drawn renderings
Explores Montana's cultural and historical landscape through its library legacy
Written by Montana preservation expert Kate Hampton
Includes rare historical images and thoughtful commentary

Whether you're a lover of architecture, history, or libraries, this is a compelling portrait of one of Montana's most cherished cultural gifts.

About the Authors

Kate Hampton is the Community Preservation Officer at the Montana Historical Society's State Historic Preservation Office, where she also directs the award-winning "Identifying Montana's African-American Heritage Resources" project. Kate has authored numerous articles, presentations, and National Register nominations documenting Montana's historic built environment.

Tom Ferris has worked as an archival photographer at the Montana Historical Society for over two decades, and is the photographer of the books Hand Raised: The Barns of Montana and Montana's Charlie Russell. His work has also been exhibited in numerous galleries around Montana and in Big Sky Journal.

Jamie Ford is the New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Songs of Willow Frost, and Love and Other Consolation Prizes. He is an avid public library patron and advocate, and lives in Great Falls, Montana.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

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The Extreme History Project is an organization that strives to make history relevant. We sell used books that have a focus on history, archaeology, or anthropology. Our goal is to keep history books in circulation. In addition to used books sales, we do historical programming like historic walking tours, history presentations, a podcast called, The Dirt on the Past, and history workshops.

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