Minnesotans worried that a huge Japanese book collection would be lost. Now two new libraries will save it.

Unable to afford textbooks while growing up on Japan's northwest coast, Yoko Breckenridge would borrow them from friends and copy each chapter by hand.

Breckenridge, who married an American soldier and moved to Minnesota in the early 1960s, went on to collect tens of thousands of Japanese books. The collection made up a Japanese lending library she created in south Minneapolis.

Worried the materials would be thrown away when the library closed a few years ago, volunteers recently sorted thousands of Breckenridge's books to fill two new libraries.

On Sunday, the Cha-Ami Japanese Cultural Center opened its new library in St. Anthony that has more than 2,000 of the books including children's titles, Japanese literature and manga. The hope is for the collection to fill the void left by Breckenridge's library, which for a long time served as a gathering space for residents to share meals and tell stories.

"That's where people used to make friends," said cultural center founder Shizuka Durgins, adding she would go to the duplex Breckenridge partially converted into a library to borrow books and listen to older residents' stories.

"If Japanese people moved here for the first time, that was the first place people would go."

On Sunday, dozens of residents sang traditional Japanese songs, snacked on onigiri and watched a tea ceremony at the grand opening of the library in St. Anthony. An ikebana display, showing the Japanese art of flower arranging, filled one room with irises, daffodils and other spring flowers.

At the center, located at 2855 Anthony Lane S., residents can check out books for free.

Durgins said she wants it to be a space for residents to explore and celebrate Japanese culture.

"I was born and raised in Japan and grew up surrounded by green tea fields," Durgins said. "Now, I'm passionate about creating a space here in Minnesota that brings a little piece of that world to others."

A second location, with about 24,000 Japanese books, is expected to open later this month in Cannon Falls with much of Breckenridge's collection. Marnie Jorenby, a senior lecturer at the University of Minnesota, has converted a barn on her family farm into a library named after Breckenridge.

"I really respected Yoko," Jorenby said. "She is someone who always gave 100 percent back to the community."

It started with one shelf

In many ways, Breckenridge became a collector of stories.

Friends said she frequently shared memories from her life, which started with a difficult childhood upended by World War II.

Frustrated that she was unable to attend high school, Breckenridge promised herself that one day she would have as many books as she wanted.

Breckenridge was trained as a barber in Japan. She started cutting hair on a U.S. military base, where she met Roger, an American soldier. They married and moved to Minnesota, where her husband earned his degree and started teaching math.

Breckenridge is now featured in a traveling Smithsonian exhibit about the 45,000 Japanese women who immigrated to the U.S. after marrying military men following the war. The display features her old hairstyling tools and Minnesota license plate, which read "THANK U," a reflection of her constant gratitude.

The couple had one son, Richard, who said he watched as his mom became a successful barber with her shop in Winthrop, Minn., and at one point cut the hair of some Vikings players. Living in the Twin Cities in her mid-40s, Breckenridge earned her real estate license.

For several months, her son recalls, she didn't sell any homes.

"Being a new realtor is tough anyway, then when you also don't speak fluent English, she had a tough go of it," her son said. "But if you know my mom, she never gives up."

Breckenridge persisted and became one of the top-selling agents at her real estate company. Meanwhile, she met more Japanese women around the metro, and they would exchange magazines.

"Eventually, these collections of books and magazines started growing," friend Karen Harwerth said. "So she put up a shelf at a Chinese grocery store, then a couple of shelves at Japanese Fellowship Church [in south Minneapolis]. And people started donating to her."

That led Breckenridge to buy a duplex down the street from the church, renting one half out and converting the other into a makeshift library. Her collection grew to thousands of books, tapes and CDs, donated to her from Japan and all over the U.S.

"It was like a little community center," Harwerth said, adding that people would gather, chat and eat food Breckenridge prepared.

Two new libraries

After Breckenridge's husband died and her own health declined, she moved to Texas to be near her son, where she lives now.

Durgins said her immediate goal was to save the books.

That drove Durgins to start the Cha-Ami Japanese Cultural Center, which has hosted a range of classes, including on sashiko, a style of embroidery, and how to make Japanese street food. Volunteers also started sorting through the books, which at the old library were borrowed and returned on an honor system.

Durgins said more than 20 volunteers have helped build the new library, funded in part by grants, in St. Anthony. After months of work, it now has a database of all the materials available.

Much like Breckenridge's duplex, Durgins envisions the space to be about much more than renting books. She hopes it will help younger generations learn more about their culture.

"It's great. It's more social and fun," Minneapolis resident Mio Ishida said at Sunday's opening. "I really like the feeling that everyone is involved."

In Cannon Falls, Minn., Jorenby is preparing for the opening of her own library after two years of cleaning and transforming a 100-year-old barn. In addition to thousands of Japanese books, she hopes to expand the collection with resources in English so more residents can learn about Japan.

And she's adding a display all about Breckenridge, who is in her 90s.

"She deserves to have someone carry on her legacy," she said.