Years ago, librarians were responsible for nurturing a deep knowledge of informational resources contained within a building, the library. Now, this responsibility extends beyond the walls of a traditional library building. In Programs find out what is happening in libraries and museums throughout Alaska and how librarians and curators are promoting literacy in their communities. In People, you'll meet some of the Alaskan librarians who help us find our way in the information age. In Resources, librarians share information about resources both within the walls of the library and in the giant web of electronic resources found on the Net. We also have a Photo Gallery, which includes historic photographs of some of Alaska's first libraries and entries for the Library of Congress' Beyond Words photography contest.

Programs

Floating Bookmobile
The two skiffs of the Kusko Book Express, a floating library sponsored by the Lower Kuskokwim School District, travel the Kuskokwim River during the summer, handing out books to students at fish camps.

Flat Stanley Visits Fairbanks, Alaska
As part of a class project at school, Kendall from Cherry Valley, Illinois, mailed Flat Stanley to Georgine Olson, a librarian living in Fairbanks, Alaska. What emerged through Georgine's daily letters to Kendall is the story of a week in the life of one Alaska librarian.

Reading Fun: Lapsit at the Library
A lively program for children and parents at Loussac Library in Anchorage introduces children to books through short stories, nursery rhymes, finger play and songs.

Alaskan Children: The New Literary Critics
The Young Reader's Choice Award empowers young people to be critical judges, to express their points of view, and to see what their fellow students are reading and enjoying.

Getting Kids to Read
The Anchorage Municipal Libraries Summer Reading Program creates a community of young readers by encouraging them to read, and by giving them a place to share their ideas with their peers.

Library Book Clubs
Book clubs are great places to meet new people and talk about ideas. There is a wide variety of clubs in Alaska, from the Fantasy Book Club, to the Not So Great Book Club. Find out if there is one you would like to join, or get ideas on how to start one.

'Top Drawer' Keeps Homer's Books
in Circulation
For 15 years Joy and Norman Griffin have been adding to the Homer library's collection by printing and binding works written by local folks.

There Are Stories Here: Heritage Library Museum
The Heritage Library Museum is one of Anchorage’s hidden treasures. The museum and reference library, established in 1968, houses one of the largest privately owned public displays of Alaska’s history and Native cultures in the world.

'Finding the Stories:
The Children's Exhibition Program
"Once Upon a Time: A Children's Exhibition of Stories, Myths and Legends in Art" has been an annual event at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art for 16 years.

People

Jane Baird

Young adult librarian at Loussac Library, Anchorage. Jane Baird grew up in small villages along the Yukon River in western Alaska. In one village, Koliganek, the airplane that dropped the mail every week also dropped a box of books from the Alaska State Library. Those books from the air made Baird wonder about the place they came from, and the people who got to choose them.

Jerri Nagaruk
Until the year 2000, Elim, a Bush community of 300, didn’t boast an official library building, but thanks to the efforts of Jerri Nagaruk, this village in northwest Alaska has found a community gathering place in its library.

Elaine Griffin
Elaine Griffin, who has been on the Chiniak Library Board since the library was founded in 1985, was named Teacher of the Year in 1995 by President Clinton. She took a year off from teaching to travel around the United States promoting education.

Patricia Kennish
Patricia Kennish is the librarian at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, a small Catholic elementary school, located in south Anchorage. She teaches library research skills and technology and computer classes, all while sharing her own love of reading with her students.

Barbara Jorgenson
The favorite part of Barbara Jorgenson's job as reference librarian at Loussac Library is seeking obscure quotes and articles. "It's like being a detective," she says. "I love the search for that piece of information; with persistence I will find it."

Emily Blahous
As the technology facilitator at Mirror Lake Middle School,Emily Blahous is in charge of more than just getting kids into the library. She teaches a team of seventh graders the skills of running a TV news program.

Michael Catoggio
Michael Catoggio, University of Alaska Anchorage reference librarian, loves his work and helping people find the resources they need.

Stetson Momosar
Youth services librarian at the Samson-Dimond Branch in Anchorage, Stetson Momosar vividly remembers the first library she visited, as a girl in Long Island. "It was an old stone house, and climbing up to the second floor was a spiraling iron staircase. There was something magical about the steps and I needed to know what was upstairs." Today, she helps young people with that same desire for discovery.

Sharon Palmisano
Fifteen years ago when Sharon Palmisano became the Anchorage Daily News librarian, her work was at the cutting edge of newspaper librarianship because the News had just begun converting locally written stories to an online database.

Julie Niederhauser
In addition to her work as the Kenai Community Library's reference and interlibrary loan librarian, Julie Niederhauser is its Webmaster and teaches a beginning Internet class.

Patience Frederiksen
As grants administrator for the Alaska State Library, Patience Frederiksen is in charge of allocating $1.5 million of state and federal money to all libraries in Alaska.

Marit Vick
North Pole High School Librarian Marit Vick says she has enjoyed working with teenagers and loves the variety of work in a high school library. “I think I have the best job in the world!” she says.

Denise Halliday
Girdwood Public Library's head librarian, Denise Halliday considers the crowning achievement of her carerr to be her positive literary influence on children.

Resources

Alaska Statehood
This feature is a sampling of the wealth of historical photographs, oral histories, moving images, documents and other materials gathered for Alaska's Digital Archives from libraries, museums and archives throughout the state.

Children's Literature Sites Abound

Notable Alaska School Sites
Web sites of school libraries around the state of Alaska allow you to browse through the stacks, meet librarians, and read about programs in use by teachers and librarians to get kids excited about reading.

State Library Electronic Doorway
SLED is a public service that provides easy and equitable access to electronic information through its menus of web sites and its search engine.

Alaskana for Children
In this section Sue Sherif, school library/youth services coordinator for the State of Alaska, describes recently published children's books with an Alaskan theme.

Alaska State Library
Its Web site is a great starting point for someone researching Alaska or the Outside.

Genre Sites: from Crime to Romance

National Library Links

Literary Reference Sources
Suggestions are invited and listed here for literary reference books that will be helpful, compact, and relatively inexpensive.

Photo Gallery

Beyond Words: Celebrating America's Libraries
In honor of its Bicentennial, the Library of Congress, along with the American Library Association, sponsored this national photo contest to "capture the spirit of the library." See the entries by Alaskans, including the national First Place winner, a photo by Anchorage photographer Derek Vincent. Photo at right is by Sophie Wiepking-Brown, age 7, who received an honorable mention in the contest.

Bookmark Gallery
The Z. J. Loussac Public Library featured an exhibition of Bookmark Art. It is a unique gallery of twenty-two bookmark-size, original art with literary and library themes by Alaskan artists.

Historic Library Photos
Photos from the Anchorage Museum of History and Art show some of the first libraries in Alaska,.