Along the lines of Lisa’s suggestion, check out the most recent issue of Michigan History Magazine and read the article “A Mysterious Malady - Robert Clark Kedzie and the Arsenic Wallpaper,” which talks about the dangers of arsenic pigments in wallpaper and Kedzie’s book “Shadows from the Walls of Death.” Its currently a sample article on the HSM website: https://hsmichigan.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/PUB-MHM-Sample%20Story%20-%20MarApr26.pdf

Robert Kedzie was an MSU professor, so the story and his book have several Michigan ties. Certainly a source for some interesting historical and book related trivia questions.

Good luck!

Adam

Adam Oster, Community Engagement Librarian

Library of Michigan

Michigan Department of Education

702 W. Kalamazoo St.

P.O. Box 30007

Lansing, MI 48909-7507

ostera@michigan.gov | 517-335-1469 | www.mi.gov/libraryofmichigan

From: Lisa Waskin via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2026 2:19 PM
To: Grace Galvan <galvang@libcoop.net>; Lorry Traver <ltraver@brandonlibrary.org>
Cc: michlib-l@liblists.org
Subject: [Michlib-l] Re: Library Trivia Questions

CAUTION: This is an External email. Please report suspicious emails via the "Report to Abuse" button in Outlook

What led to thousands of library books, mostly children’s, burned in the early 1900s in the United States?

(diphtheria outbreaks led to many books, particularly children’s books, being burned from infected homes)

From: Grace Galvan via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2026 1:19 PM
To: Lorry Traver <ltraver@brandonlibrary.org>
Cc: michlib-l@liblists.org
Subject: [Michlib-l] Re: Library Trivia Questions

A question about Browser the Library Cat who was evicted by the local city council, then reinstated due to international coverage of the eviction.

-Grace

On Thu, Apr 9, 2026 at 11:13 AM Lorry Traver via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:

Good morning,

I am hosting a "100 Years Smarter" trivia night at our library this coming Monday as one of our celebratory programs for our library's 100th birthday this year. I was wondering if anyone has some fun general library trivia questions and answers I could use?

I had initially wanted to stick with questions related to how libraries worked in the 1920s (what their processes were like, what machines they used, etc.) to today. But, that is proving much harder to find information on than I had anticipated. So, now it has become a little bit of those types of questions, some questions about our library specifically, and then I would like to add in some quirky and fun questions that are still somehow related to libraries.

Thanks so much!

--

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled is a spark.”
—Victor Hugo

Lorry Traver (She/Her)

Public Services Librarian

Brandon Township Library

248-627-1460

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