Northern Lights Books and Gifts, Duluth, Minn., is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a series in September that highlights the store's literary ties in the community. The series begins on September 4 with a dinner at the Radisson Hotel featuring mystery writer William Kent Krueger, whose new book is Red Knife. On September 18, the store will hold an event remembering Carol Bly and her last published work, Shelter Half, at the Duluth Woman's Club. On September 25, the store hosts a reading by Spike Carlsen of his book, A Splintered History of Wood.

Before founding the store in August 1993, owner Anita Zager worked in the late 1970s as a bookseller at what is now Anderson's Bookstore in Naperville, Ill. She is a past president of the Midwest Booksellers Association and an active member of the Canal Park Business Association.

In an announcement about the anniversary, Zager said that Northern Lights's success stems from "many factors, including a rich collection of regionally related books and high quality, local authors. We have a great location that gives us a strong summer season. We are a full service bookstore. We are active and selective in choosing inventory. And we believe it is important to support local literary efforts. Our staff enjoys talking about books with our customers and offering excellent customer service."

In part because the 1,700-sq.-ft. store has limited space, it has staged many events off site in cooperation with other organizations. These have included a party for Harry Potter last summer that drew 1,000 people and parties for Mitch Albom, Terry Gross, Karen Armstrong, Greg Mortenson, Jan Brett, Krista Tippett, Lorna Landvik, Mary Oliver and Ray Suarez, among others.