Our mission is to strengthen and support stamp clubs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas; to promote philately; and to support and enhance the Northern Philatelic Library, which is a public Library and open to all for research or general use of the stamp related facilities. Annual dues are only $25, which gives you borrowing privileges at the Library and entitles you to participate at planning meetings.
PLEASE NOTE: The Library is open from 10:00am to 12:00pm Monday to Friday. Check the Events for Saturdays.
Jump to Library Location and Directions
What you will find in the Library:
The Northern Philatelic Library is a friendly meeting place for all people from dedicated Philatelists researching a topic to people who have a general interest in stamp collecting. All are welcome and all will find something useful in the Library.
The Northern Philatelic Library is staffed by volunteers Monday to Friday from 10am to Noon. You will find knowledgeable stamp collectors like John (see below) who can help you with your questions, help you find a book on the topic that you are interested in or check a book out for you if you are a member. Our volunteers of many different areas of expertise. The following page details the areas of expertise of the volunteers staffing the Library each day of the week.
In the picture above John is working through one of the Redboxes looking for stamps that will go into his collection.
Redboxes:
The Northern Philatelic Library has a wall of RedBoxes filled with stamps from countries from all over the world in Scott Catalog order that you can go through and select for your collection. The Library asks for a small donation of 20% of catalog value, with a minimum of 10c per stamp. This money helps to pay the cost of running the Library.
In the above picture you can see Antonio selecting a RedBox to go through.
Thousands of Books:
The Northern Philatelic Library has many thousands of books covering all aspects of stamp collecting in countries all round the world.
In the above picture you can see Brian, our chief Librarian working in the General Stacks of the book shelves.
Philatelic Lab:
The Library has an excellent Philatelic Lab with all the equipment that you would need to deeply analyse stamps for tagging, cancels, paper and do fly specking. The equipment includes two types of lights: long wave ultraviolet and short wave ultraviolet. The long wave lights can be used for identifying ink and paper varieties as well as tagging on foreign stamps. The short wave light is used for identifying US tagging varieties and tagging errors such as tagging omitted stamps which can be quite valuable. The equipment is available to all.
Thousands of Periodicals:
The Library has an extension collection of Periodical from all over the world. We have a team of volunteers just maintaining these.
Auction Catalogs:
Mostly for research purposes the Library has thousands of Auction Catalogs sorted by Auction House. Below we have a picture of Brian working with some new Auction Catalogs that have been donated.
Presentations:
The Northern Philatelic Library has regular presentations by very knowledgeable philatelic experts from all over the mid west. Watch the Toozeday Nooze weekly newsletter for the dates and topics of the upcoming presentations.
How We Can Help You:
The Volunteers who staff the Library on a daily basis have vast experience in many areas of stamp collecting. They are helpful people and are very willing to answer questions for you and help you in any way they can with your hobby. The list of people volunteering at the Library along with their areas of expertise can be found using the following link: Volunteers Expertise
Donations:
The Northern Philatelic Library gratefully accepts all donations of stamp related material, be they old stamp collections, Auction Catalogs or Periodicals. The material will either be added to our collection, passed on to other organizations like the Scouts of American, added to the RedBoxes, or auctioned to help keep the lights on in the Library. Donations of cash can be made via PayPal or a direct donation given to the staff in the Library.
The location of the library:
The property is located at 1110 Lowry Ave N, Minneapolis. It is an excellent building for our needs. It has enough room to house our collection and to conduct meetings, seminars, bourses etc. The building has been extensively refurbished by Paul Henpel and Rudi Anders and their talented crew. Parking may be limited in front of the Library but there is some off street parking in the lane to the side. The Library is open Monday through Friday between 10am and Noon. Check the Toozeday Nooze for availability on Saturdays. There are volunteers available to help you with your philatelic research or any general questions that you have about stamp collecting and to assist you with borrowing books.
Directions to the Library:
To get to the Library take the Dowling Ave exit off highway 94 and head west to Lyndale Ave N. Turn left on Lyndale and follow it down to Lowry Ave N. Turn right on Lowry. The Library will be approx. one quarter of a mile on your right.