Laramie Librarian Discovers Hidden Hemingway Manuscripts, Sparks 600% Database Surge

Wyoming State Library pulled off one of the more literary April Fools' pranks in recent memory Wednesday, publishing a mock news story claiming a Laramie middle-school librarian had stumbled onto previously unknown Ernest Hemingway manuscripts and photographs buried in a mislabeled directory inside the GoWYLD Literature Resource Center database. The fictional headline declared that GoWYLD usage had surged 600% in the wake of the find.

The library quickly followed with a deflating but good-natured footnote: no Hemingway manuscripts exist in GoWYLD, and no Laramie librarian made any such discovery.

The joke worked partly because it was plausible. GoWYLD, the Wyoming State Library's statewide digital platform available free to any Wyoming resident with a library card, does house an extensive literature database alongside resources spanning auto repair guides, genealogy records, more than four million archived newspaper pages, test preparation tools, and e-books through Libby. The idea that something significant could sit undetected inside it was not a hard sell.

Albany County residents access GoWYLD through gowyld.net using a library card and PIN from the Laramie County Library System or Albany County's own branch. No Hemingway awaits, but the platform's Literature Resource Center does include searchable full-text literary archives, author databases, and reading recommendation tools through NoveList Plus and Gale Books and Authors. Access is free, around the clock, and requires no trip to a physical branch.

The real headline Wyoming State Library may have been after: a platform this broad often goes unnoticed until someone frames it as a treasure hunt. Explore the actual archive at gowyld.net.