One of the prevailing jewels of Joe Dini Library is the Bill Cowee Poetry Collection. It contains more than 1,000 volumes of poetry that span four full shelves of a library wall.

Cowee donated his private poetry collection to the library in 2007, two years preceding his death. Although his collection represents the work of poets from around the world, it focuses on the poetry of authors from Nevada and the West.

Cowee received the 2001 Governor’s Arts Award and was one of the creators of the Ash Canyon Poets.

Ron Belbin, Learning and Innovation director at Dini Library, recently discussed Cowee’s collection with Nevada Appeal reporter Scott Neuffer for an upcoming feature in “This Is Carson City.”