South Park: The Literary Version

Writer retreats are often situated in places where the writer can avoid distractions. You'd like to be free of distractions when you are reading as well, so that you can sink into the prose and let the rhythms echo inside your head without someone trying to strike up a conversation because, well, you're only reading, it's not like you're doing anything.

The Rocky Mountain Land Library is that place.

Your next novel could be born here

Bookshop owners Jeff Lee and Ann Martin of Denver, Colorado, have invested their life's savings in an old ranch up in the thin air of the Rockies. With additional funding provided by the South Park National Heritage Area, they are going forward on a plan that is a writer/reader/artist dream.

They have quite a collection of books that they have amassed over the many years they have owned The Tattered Cover in Denver, and they are stocking a library on site. Maybe you are writing a research paper on cowboys or cattle ranching in the Old West. You would book a stay at the Land Library. Maybe you want to write a novel about the human condition, something filled with isolation and longing. What better place to set out your paper and pens than in a quiet room high above the bustle of everyday life?

Mr. Lee and Ms. Martin envision their retreat as a place filled with creatives. Artists will be welcome to enjoy the peace and also the beauty of the surroundings, finding inspiration in the rugged scenery. School groups can take advantage of both the library and existing nature for educational purposes, adding some much needed life to what might otherwise be a too quiet enclave. Then there are the tourists who might be looking for some peace and quiet instead of skiing. What reader would not enjoy a week in the mountains with a well-stocked library, a comfortable chair, and snow-covered mountain peaks just outside the window?

It is an expensive proposition, and one that is not yet fully funded. Existing buildings are in need of renovation and repair, and the savings of a couple of book sellers is not enough to complete the project.

The owners are looking to the future, as their retreat is discovered and paying guests provide a cash infusion.

Here is a library for those who still love the smell and feel of a book printed on paper instead of pixels. Who says that the book is dead? In Colorado, it is getting its own shrine.