There’s a new capability within our great State to assist institutions in just those situations when disaster strikes and you’re just not sure where to turn.  Enabled by support from the Rasmuson Foundation and the State Museum, Scott Carrlee, Curator of Museum Services for the Alaska State Museum, is assembling and training a team of experts from a variety of disciplines to help institutions like yours deal with a myriad of disastrous situations affecting collections and the respective facilities in Alaska.

What could you expect from this team? The initial training for Anchorage and Fairbanks team members was completed in April and the Juneau team member training should be completed by late summer.  The CERT training provides a thorough orientation to the Incident Command System (the same system used by First Responders), some personal and situational (on-site) safety training as well as initial mitigation response training. That provides institutions with a group of individuals that can respond in person or virtually to assist you, your staff and your organization in dealing with your collections disaster.

As initial training is completed and the individuals gel into response capable teams the near term goal is to exercise the teams on a quarterly basis using institutional information provided by you. AKCERT will establish an organizational dossier outline that you can fill in to provide the team with helpful planning information should they have to respond to and support your facility. This information could include basic floor plan(s), hazardous materials list, special handling requirements, facility images for team orientation and planning and any other information you think would assist the team in responding/supporting your recovery efforts.

Depending upon the location and situation it may only be possible for a few or none of the members to physically arrive on scene after a disaster. That doesn’t mean they can’t still help you deal with the situation. Think of these team members as virtual, knowledgeable staff that can assist your institution in locating response assets (freezer trailers, banker boxes, freezer paper, wet-dry vacuums, pallets, etc.) and preparing them for shipment. They may be used as a panel of SME’s (subject matter experts), your virtual Think Tank as it may be, that can help brainstorm ideas, solutions, approaches and advice to assist you and your local volunteers during collections recovery and mitigation.

So what’s next for AKCERT? The team will complete initial training and some organizational domestics as they prepare to receive and e-file (probably using DropBox) your respective organizational information to begin preparations for table-top exercises (Yes it would be very beneficial to them and to your organization if you participated) and pre-disaster planning. Keep your ears to the wire as this capability develops and prepares to respond. •

Dear AkLAMembers-

Over a month has passed since we all converged on Mollie Good in Valdez for her perfectly orchestrated conference. Another stellar performance by a valuable AkLA member. Thank you, Mollie and
Conference Committee members. Great sessions, inspiring speakers, interesting exhibitors, good food and lots of library folks. Oh and lots of snow! In all my years in Alaska, I’ve never experienced such gentle, relentless, snow. Now I know what they mean when they say it really snows in Valdez!

I would like to say thank you to all of you who had the confidence in me to be AkLA President. But mostly I want to thank David Ongley for suggesting that I run for this most esteemed position. He thought I was perfectly qualified. I wasn’’t so sure! I’ve been tucked away, well, really hidden away, in Kotzebue at the Chukchi Consortium Library for nearly 20 years overwhelmed with all the work I do for our little library and keeping a low profile, but staying in touch with what goes on in our profession, our state and with my colleagues. Well here I am. I have to say, this past year as President Elect I have learned so much and gotten to know some of the most dedicated people working in our profession. The things that AkLA does for our libraries are so important for the people of our great state.

AkLA members, we have a lot of work to do! Our new Strategic Plan charges us with work in four areas.  We need to

• Develop a working model that guides traditional cultural expression in Alaska libraries and cultural institutions;
• Increase our membership to perk up participation;
• Support new members of our association and profession through a comprehensive mentoring program;
• Develop a citizens group of advocates who can advocate on behalf of libraries across our state.

I challenge you to dip in and give a hand.  AkLA could use your help.  You can find email addresses for all our elected representatives at www.akla.org. Pick one of us and ask how you can help! •

Having outgrown its previous location, ANLA and the Rasmuson Library collaborated to identify and develop appropriate space for the archive within the library. ANLA’s new accommodations feature two areas: archive and processing space on Level 1 and a reading room and staff office on Level 2. These new locations bring ANLA researchers closer to other relevant Alaska Native Language materials in Rasmuson Library collections housed in Archives and Manuscripts, Oral History, Alaska Book Collection, and departments.

Creating the ANLA is the result of Professor Krauss’s decades-long commitment to collecting Alaska Native Language materials from across Alaska and around the world. He began gathering materials in the early 1960s.

In 1972, the Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC) was created by the Alaska Legislature to document and develop the state’s 20 native languages. Linguistic materials that were previously scattered all over the world were collected in one location, bringing together published and unpublished manuscripts and other archival documents.

Professor Krauss served as director of ANLC from 1972 to his retirement in 2000. In 2009 the Alaska State Legislature created the Alaska Native Language Archive as a separate entity. ANLA subsequently incorporated the Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC) collections into the archive.  Alaska Native languages resources in ANLA include:  (http://www.uaf.edu/anla/about/statistics/)

• Yup’ik, Central Alaskan •
• Unangan
• •Inupiaq
• •Tlingit
• •Gwich’in
• •Dena’ina
• •Koyukon •
• Comparative Athabaskan
• •Alutiiq (Sugpiaq)
• •Comparative Eskimo-Aleut
• •Siberian Yupik •
• Haida
• •Tanana (Lower)
• •Tsimshian
• •Ahtna •
• Upper Tanana
• •Eyak
• •Tanacross •
• Deg Xinag
• •Upper Kuskokwim

Today the archive contains more than 15,000 documents, including almost everything written in or about Alaska’s Native languages, (http://www.uaf.edu/anla/about/) and more than 5,000 recordings of Alaska Native languages dating from the early 1940s. Researchers can expect to find linguistic field notes, audio and video recordings, books, reprints, copies of materials held in other archives, and copies of Alaska Native Language Center publications.  Digitization of some audio and text materials are in progress to increase access to the collections.

Interested persons may contact the Michael E. Krauss Alaska Native Languages Archive at:

Our committee charge is twofold: 1) distribute news out to the AkLA membership, and 2) help the AkLA membership connect with one another online; so we are also working on pulling together lists of the social media accounts of Alaska’’s library, archives, and museum workers who want to share them. If you would like to be included in our lists, please fill out the Google Form at this link:  http://bit.ly/WUxejH.  If you would like to see the lists we have gathered so far, they’’re available on the AkLA website:  http://akla.org/about/committees/social-media-committee/alaskan-social-media-accounts/.

There was a lot of interest, at conference, in social media training. The Social Media Committee will discuss our charge with the Executive Council, but whether or not we officially take on training as a Committee responsibility, we definitely have several members who are interested in teaching about social media. I will work with other potential social media trainers to put something together, either over Elive/Collaborate or via the OWL network. Please contact the Social Media Team or me (coral@sheldon-hess.org) if you have training requests!

AkLA Social Media Links:

• AkLATwitter: https://twitter.com/AKLibraryAssoc •
• AkLA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AlaskaLibraryAssociation •
• AkLA Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aklibraryassoc/ •
• Alaska School Librarians Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aklibrarians/ •
• AkLA-Juneau Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/aklajuneau •
• AkLA-Anchorage Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aklaanchorage/ •
• AkLA GoodReads group: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/94615-alaskalibrary-association
• AkLA LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Alaska-Library-Association4856579

http://motherearthtravel.com/united_states/anchorage/history.htm

In 1946, with the aid of Elmer E. Rasmuson, Loussac created and endowed the Loussac Foundation, “dedicated to the promotion of recreational, cultural, scientific or educational activities in the Anchorage area.” The next year, Loussac was elected to the first of two consecutive terms as Mayor of Anchorage.

Loussac Public Library 1955 University of Alaska Anchorage. Archives & Manuscripts Dept.

In 1951, the Loussac Foundation underwrote the construction of a new, modern building to house the library at Fifth Avenue and F Street, replacing the older, cramped facilities at Fifth and E Street.

The new library, which became known as the Loussac Library, opened its doors in 1955,ashes are interred in Angelus Memorial Park in Anchorage.

In 1986, Anchorage opened a new four- story public library in midtown which was named the Z.J. Loussac Public Library. •

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachariah_ J._Loussac

An upsurge of interest in the past became apparent in the 1950s as historical societies and museums were founded at Homer, Kodiak, Anchorage, Juneau, and Sitka to study and preserve local history. Some were sparked by the 1967 Alaska Purchase Centennial celebration. That celebration also gave rise to a revived Alaska Historical Society that became active in 1968.

These American descendants of the early Russian library and museum in Sitka have created centers throughout the state where Alaskans can learn about their state’s past. The centers are also serving as focal points for preservation of Native cultures through the practice of traditional arts and crafts, scholarly study, and storage of oral history tapes.
http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=184

Turn Right at Machu Picchu, by Mark Adams, 2012. This is an adventure story, a history, a personal growth narrative and really fun to boot. I read a lot of stuff before going to Machu Picchu and this one was the most helpful and most fun. (Judith McQuerry, Ketchikan)

Life Itself: A Memoir, by Roger Ebert, 2011. For many years, I have read Roger Ebert’s film reviews after I have gone to the film in question, to see if his opinion of the movie agreed with mine. Roger’s voice was always a humane and unassuming one, so it was delightful to read his frank memoir and find he lived and wrote about his life in the same fashion. When cancer had taken his voice, Roger became a blogger and developed a whole new set of friends with whom he discussed disease, life, and how he was facing the end of his life. What a dear man!

Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver, 2012, completely drew me in. As usual, Kingsolver’s characters are compel-ling, and their relation-ships ring true. The young mother, Dellarobia, undergoes a transformation that is both surprising and hopeful. (Miriam Dunbar, Cordova Public Library)

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train, by William Kuhn, 2012, is an absolutely whimsical and charming book from start to finish. A disillusioned and frustrated Queen Elizabeth (she’s tired of calling for help with her computer) takes a walk one day and just keeps going to Scotland wearing a borrowed black hoodie. The alarmed staff of Windsor Castle is hoping to keep her walkabout a secret from the press, so Her Majesty is quickly and comically pursued by a varied cast of characters that include a stable girl, a clerk in a cheese shop, a butler and a ladyin- waiting, among others. Kuhn clearly knows his British history and royal watchers will delight in all the well-researched behind the scenes tidbits and local color.  (Charlotte L. Glover, Ketchikan Public Library)

Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami, 1993. A twisty tale of the boundaries of the mind set in a world where corporations are the government and data shifters are akin to rock stars (sorta). The story bends between this world and a silent town of unicorn beasts and a fantastic library where old stories are read from glimmering skulls. As these two worlds are set to collide in the most unexpected of ways, the reader is left with a quandary—what is reality and what does it mean? I’ve read oodles of Murakami now, and this one is my hands- down deserved! (Irena Adams, Unalaska City School librarian)

The Bartender’s Tale, by Ivan Doig, 2012. This coming-ofage story is filled with lyrical prose, thoughtful pacing, colorful scenery, and strong characters. Doig’s storytelling is similar to Larry McMurty’s and Kent Haruf’s— full of hope, a strong sense of place, and characters that get into your mind and your heart. Good storytelling! (Linda Lyshol, Ketchikan Public Library)

Shadows in the Sun: Travels to Landscapes of Spirit and Desire, by Wade Davis, 2012. Stunning, wondrous journeys –from the far Canadian north to Tibet, Haiti, the Sonoran Desert and the Amazon –through landscapes and among people whose beliefs, character and daily life remain focused on their lands, their multi-dimensional realities, their need to weave their memories and stories through generations. (Chris Thorsrud,  Kachemak Bay Campus Library, Homer)

Who’s in Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain, by Michael S. Gazzaniga, 2011. Gazzaniga doesn’t meet his goal of showing that we do have free will; the closest he comes is showing that free will may be an emergent property of complex brains in highly social animals. However, the neuropsychology he discusses is fascinating: for example, we usually make decisions before we’re aware of them and rationalize them only after the fact. If you think you’re something better than a big bag of chemicals, this book may change your mind. (Paul Adasiak, UAF Elmer Rasmuson Library)

My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor, 2013. I just finished reading this book and was delightfully surprised. Sonia Sotomayor was raised in the rough and tumble Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Bronx. Anticipating that the writing might be a bit dry, coming from a Yale trained jurist, I was delightfully surprised at how full of ‘voice’ it was. Sotomayor was an incredibly focused, energetic, but highly practical child. She grew into a bright, ambitious lawyer and eventually the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. As a young child diagnosed with diabetes, she took over giving herself her own injections because her alcoholic father’s shaky hands were inadequate to the job. She wanted to be like the TV lawyer Perry Mason, but was deathly afraid of speaking in front of others. So, she signed up to read Bible verses out loud in church, overcoming her timidity.  In Princeton, she realized how different her upbringing was in comparison to her peers, when a friend commented, “You must have felt like Alice in Wonderland!” and all she could say was, “Alice who?”  While a classic immigrant story, Sotomayor’s memoir is an entertaining and instructive read.  (Sarah Bell,  Kettleson Memorial Library)

Snow Child, by Alaskan author Eowyn Ivey, 2012. I really enjoyed this wonderful, refreshing, insightful, compassionate book! First of all, it is always great to discover a new talented novelist and when that novelist is Alaskan, which is a big plus. Second, it is sort of a reminiscent of my favorite Russian folktale with the same title, taken to another mature level and set in the Alaska pioneer homestead era. Third, it deals with family relationships in a very insightful way, and most of all, it reflects the inner struggle of a woman who deals with the grief of losing a child and her longing to replace her loss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_library

A statue of horses leaping over pieces from the Berlin Wall stands on the plaza of the George Bush Presidential Library. The statue depicts the fall of the wall in 1989,  when Bush was president. •

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bush_Presidential_Library

How can librarians help?
Barbara Brown of Best Beginnings is assembling a committee to help select the picture books. Please contact her at 297-3309 or bbrown@bestbeginnings alaska.org if you’re interested.

Best Beginnings received a challenge grant fromAnchorage Park Foundation to construct ten separate StoryTRACKS.

This is a mock-up. The final version will be professionally produced.

StoryTRACKS can be more or less permanent, but our plan is for moveable versions. The pages are placed into the ground on stakes (mounted with industrial Velcro stripes) so they can be removed, repositioned, and exchanged.A “Guest Book” at the end allows for feedback, usage counts, and evaluation. The possibilities include:

• Circulating to parks, trails, sledding hills around the municipality
• Creating a schedule of StoryTRACKS “appearances” so families can follow stories around, discovering new park areas
• Scheduling them for various family events: Reading Rendezvous, Tuesday Night munchkin races, Ski for Kids Day, Parks and Rec events, Farmer’s Markets, picnics in neighborhood parks, etc.

Best Beginnings will use a “check out” model of disseminating the StoryTRACKS, similar to how Green Star checks out recycling bins for groups holding Green Events. This means they will be somewhat “supervised” by the organizing group, thus minimizing vandalism or theft.

So what ideas do you have for using StoryTRACKS for your programs? •

New Seward Community Library Museum

“The Seward Community Library Museum (SCLM) is a community center with the facilities and resources to provide its users with the opportunity for continuing education, community enrichment, and the preservation of Seward’s heritage.””  Project planners started work on the plan to build the facility during the 2003 Centennial of the founding of Seward, setting a completion date for 2013, the Centennial of the incorporation of the town. The $10M project was funded with major grants from Rasmuson Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities. Almost half of the funds came from the State of Alaska as a result of the Public Library Construction Grant Program.   Most importantly, the local capital campaign raised over $500,000 and the community approved a GO Bond of $3.7M, quite a feat for a town of 2000. Obviously there are many New Seward Community Library Museum supporters within and outside of our city limits.

Library services and use of the community space began on January 13. The old library was closed a month earlier, with staff and volunteers sorting, packing and hauling in preparation for the moving company. Restacking the shelves and organizing the work areas was done quickly by staff and volunteers to get ready for welcoming patrons into the new facility. Slowly the details are falling into place.

New adult non-fiction, funded by Rasmuson and mostly recommended by local requests, is slowly being added to the shelves.  The new microfilm reader is up and running, a new Early Literacy Computer has been installed in the Children’s room and the video conferencing system for the meeting room is connected.  These last two features are compliments of the OWL program, a statewide effort to increase bandwidth throughout Alaska. Meanwhile, library use has increased 35% over this time last year. Room use is 80% over last year and new reservations come in daily, keeping staff very busy.

The new Seward Museum-including exhibit space, work and secure storage areas–is scheduled to open May 11, allowing time to set up exhibits and organize the work and storage areas. Library Museum staff and a large, very dedicated cadre of volunteers have been working tirelessly to get ready.

The ““teaser”” window is doing just that, teasing. Staff has displayed sculptures of local people, both famous and infamous, that are made from railroad spikes welded together. People are frequently seen peering in, past the display to see what is happening in the museum. Though these pieces, crafted locally during the seventies, could be found in both the library and museum collections, they have never been displayed together. The display is a great example of the potential of the new space with the integration of library and museum collections and services.

I would like to extend special kudos to the library museum staff, Rachel James, Amy Carney, Tim Morrow and former staff Tember Eliason, for not only accepting “other duties as assigned” but tackling them head on. Their willingness to get things done-calmly and methodically–makes it all work. One of the many jobs has been managing and maintaining the volunteer effort. Rachel recruited over 50 people to help with the original move. Amy enlisted at least 15 stalwart museum volunteers who packed, moved, unpacked and set up exhibits. As a small token of our appreciation, staff hosted a volunteer appreciation “”Night at the Museum” on April 26. Volunteers were treated to a sneak peak of the museum and fancy desserts.

Whenever help was needed, the people of Seward stepped up and made this project successful and a rewarding journey. We look forward to continuing it with them.

The First City Librarians again made an appearance at the Ketchikan Wearable Art Show 2013 promoting library ethics. The event program read:
“

LIBRARY CONFIDENTIAL”
Artists/Models:  Kathy Bolling, Caitlin Jacobson, Judith McQuerry, Lisa Pearson, and Kathleen Wiechelman

Music: “”Viva Las Vegas” –” – Elvis Presley.

While the government and other busybodies may demand access to your library records, fear not. Ketchikan’s librarians defend your right to privacy and confidential use of library materials. Trust in our protection of your reading freedom. Like Vegas, what happens in the library, stays in the library.

The Librarian Showgirl outfits were made from catalog cards, LP records, government document mailing envelopes, compact discs, hard drives, plus hundreds of binder and paper clips.

Tlingit Graduation Stole Class

Concerned about the lack of a voice for local Tribal members, in 2011 Petersburg Indian Association  (PIA) and the Petersburg Public Library (PPL) partnered on the two year IMLS funded  Many Voices, One Community Project. Both the PIATribal Council and Elders Council had a strong desire to promote Tlingit cultural values so that our community as a whole could begin to celebrate the richness of our community’s Tlingit heritage.  They felt that the library would be  a valuable partner in fostering  awareness of Native traditions, arts, and ways of living both in tribal members and in the community at large.

The Many Voices One Community  project has included classes offered by local experts and tribal members on Tlingit Drum Design, Spoon Carving, Drum Making, and Tlingit Cooking, at which Native attendees shared stories about harvesting local food.  Speakers from outside of the community presented programs on civil rights, Tlingit art, and community dialogue. Oral  histories were also collected through the library’s Listening  Project (http://listeningprojectpsg.wordpress.com/projectpsg.wordpress.com/). The stories, social events, Native arts and culture classes have catalyzed conversation about the needs of the Native community, both  during and outside of the activities the library has offered. According to one tribal member “”I hear from around town even from non-natives about the programs  that are going on at the library.  It has opened up people’s heart and mind to the Tlingits. It also lets people  know that Tlingits  are here too.”  The Many  Voices, One Community project has built trust within the tribe to share their Tlingit culture in a community where their voice is rarely heard.

Tlingit Platter Class—–painted Tlingit designs on yellow cedar rounds

One example of a particularly successful program was the Cooking Tlingit class. It was taught by a panel of tribal members who discussed how to identify and sustainably harvest traditional food. They demonstrated how to cook the food and provided everyone with a tasting.  Native attendees shared stories with each other and the teachers about the food they harvested and ate while growing up and many fond memories were rekindled.  At the end of class, participants were able to take home a Cooking Tlingit Cookbook. After theclass was over, the presenters discovered a newfound desire to hold a potluck for an upcoming visit from the delegates of the Alaska Native Sisterhood group that was open to the entire community.

Relationships formed with individual Tribal members have been the single most important aspect of the project’s success. These relationships provided library staff with access to new resources but also gained the library trust within the Tribal community. In some cases, these relationships have had a transformative effect on  Tribal members. For example,  one class participant told us that one class participant told us that  she ““loved the Tlingit platter  class…. People were asking  [the instructor] so many  questions and she could tell how much pride [he] felt for his culture and in sharing the information with the class.  People were so respectful and  listening to him.  She feels it is  very important to have these types of  classes happening in  Petersburg.””

Establishing strong partnerships within the community also anchored many of the project’s programs. The Alaska Native Brotherhood/ Sisterhood played a pivotal role in the success of the program. As the local Alaska
Native Brotherhood president recently stated that, he is ““Glad that the Library is looking into what programs to provide and how to provide them. It is hard for people to organize and start programs and the library has been a great ally on this to provide classes and workshops.  Good to see the library has interest in this and to preserve Tlingit culture for posterity and he is hoping that others will follow suit.””  Other partners included KFSK Public Radio, the Petersburg Community Foundation and the US Forest Service .

Tlingit Platter Class–—painted Tlingit designs on yellow cedar rounds

The Many Voices, One Community Project has resulted in both Native and non-Native community members beginning to develop a more positive attitude and understanding about the culture, history and perspective of Tribal members. It has been exciting to watch the story of the Tribe unfold and grow. For more information about the project contact the Petersburg Public Library (psglib.org/library @ci.petersburg.ak.us).

Dr. Thomas Thornton has worked on Tlingit place name projects for the past 20 years and is currently Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Environmental Change and Management Program at the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford.  During his visit to Haines, he said he “”appre­ciated the recognition but, more importantly, was glad to see the
work being carried on.”

The Storyboard uses contemporary  and historical photos; film,  sound, historical documents, and  text to tell the stories of the  Chilkat Valley’s traditional place  names and includes names of the  Champagne-Aishihik First Nations  of Canada, extending to  Haines Junction, Yukon Territory.  High school students created  videos and interviewed elders,  adults offered research time, the  Sheldon Museum shared applicable  photographs and young students filmed field trips to special sites.

The Storyboard’s developer, Erik Stevens, Haines Borough Public Library Systems Engineer, wrote 6,353 lines of code during the past year to create the final product, the equivalent of writing a 150 page novel.

During the final part of the program, Joe Hotch, Tlingit Elder and Harriet Brouillette, President of the Chilkoot Indian Association ceremoni­ously “unveiled” the Storyboard. Dr. Thornton concluded his remarks by offering a Tlingit name to the Storyboard – — yátx’I kanduwataayi yé — — may children drift towards this table in bunches.

The initiative is a partnership project of the Chilkoot Indian Association and the Haines Borough Public Library and a Native American Library Services Enhancement grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.