Library foundation releases ghost book

A long-awaited book detailing ghostly experiences at the Sweetwater County Library will be released soon.

Jason Grubb, Sweetwater County Library System director, said the library foundation recently released the book, "Spirits in the Stacks: Tales from Sweetwater County's Haunted Library." The book was a projected initiated nearly 8 years ago and details both the history of the property, as well as some of the other worldly experiences that have been reported at the library over the years.

Grubb said Micki Gilmore, a former Sweetwater County librarian, started a log to record librarian and patron-reported ghost experiences. Interest in the ghostly phenomenon increased and resulted in the library hosting its popular Ghost Walks, tours of the library led by Gilmore and other staff members that would discuss some of the experiences. Paranormal investigators have also conducted their own studies, using equipment designed to find alleged traces of spirit activity.

Grubb said the idea for a book first started with conversations between the library's former director, Scott Kinney, and Gilmore. Gilmore wanted to publish the ghost log she maintained for people interested in the phenomena. Kinney thought adding historical context and interviews to the information found in the log would make a book more appealing.

Over the next 8 years, the project would get worked on when Gilmore found the time to do so. Grubb said one of the reasons the book took so long to publish is Gilmore was working on it while juggling her other librarian responsibilities. She and others working on the project also had to learn how to conduct oral history interviews and other skills needed. The project was still unfinished when Gilmore retired from the library. Over the years, patrons and others have continually inquired about the book's status.

"There is a lot of interest in this book," Grubb said.

He said the county's library foundation started discussions about publishing the book as a fundraiser about three years ago. The foundation eventually paid for an editor to compile and edit the book and used self-publishing services to produce physical copies, which are now available at the library.

Grubb also said the book can be easily be ported to an electronic format and is available for digital purchase through Amazon.