ALSC Goes to Alaska #alsctour

One of the biggest perks as an ALSC staff member is visiting our amazing members to learn more about their specific programs and services and to see their library spaces. These opportunities arise as part of work travel to various ALA and division conferences, the annual May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture, and even while on vacation. However these trips are usually to destinations located very much on the beaten path. We were thrilled when the Disney Curiosity Creates grant project enabled several ALSC ambassadors to conduct site visits to two Curiosity Creates mini-grants recipients in Alaska (Homer Public Library and the Kenai Community Library) this past September 17-21, 2016. Additionally, we were able to schedule three additional to the Soldotna Public Library, Anchorage Public Library, and the Seward Community Library and Museum.

The ALSC group consisted of Program Officer for Projects and Partnerships Angela Hubbard, Curiosity Creates Project Consultant and now ALSC Fiscal Officer Paula Holmes, photographer and videographer Thomas Holmes, and me. Trip highlights are detailed below.

• By land, sea, and air, we made our way through “The Last Frontier.” Actually, I drove a minivan from Anchorage to the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula where Homer lies. Angela, Paula, and Thomas took a puddle jumper (small plane) down from Anchorage. The Chugach National Forest was glowing yellow sunshine.

• Arrived just in time to make the 10^th anniversary celebration of Homer Public Library’s renovation. The community expressed its love for the library as evidenced by a basket full of slips from patrons sharing their thoughts.

 

• ALSC member Claudia Haines and her daughter Olivia provided an overview of the library’s Alaskana collection.
•  The Joy Griffin Children’s Library is a delightful room complete with toadstools, trees, and the most captivating art installation: 26 cast relief paper panel letters that line the ceiling around the room. The artwork was created by Lynn Marie Naden in collaboration with student at the Fireweed Academy as part of the 1-percent for art collection. In 2008, The Friends of Homer Public Library published “ABC’s of Kachemak Bay” written by Ann Keffer and photographed by Scott Dickerson. Paula and I had a serendipitous encounter with Lynn Marie Naden while visiting the Pratt Museum and learned firsthand the process for making the panels

• HPL’s The Maker Club was a Curiosity Creates mini-grant program. The afterschool program brings kids and teens together with community mentors to make, create, and build open-ended projects. A tutoring program developed from its success. Claudia and Olivia demonstrated their Meal in a Mug program which was incorporated into the program as a way to help address food insecurity.

• It was eye-opening to learn of the creative ways in which librarians are helping to support children and families. Access and broadband are major challenges. There are over 200 villages in Alaska that are only reachable by boat or plane. We heard about a dad that checks out two of the same books, so that he can share a story with his child, via satellite phone, while out on a commercial fishing boat.
• The next morning, we drove up the peninsula to Soldotna where Library Director Rachel Nash provided a tour of her library, renovated in 2014. The library received a large Lego donation, enough to fill a mini-van, from a patron giving up her collection.

• We then drove on to Kenai, located on the western shore of the peninsula, to visit our second Curiosity Creates mini-grant site. Library Director Mary Jo Joiner and Ryanna Thurman, Library Assistant for Information Technology at the Kenai Community Library shared their project outcomes and the wow moments of their “All Dolled Up” program. The program featured sewing, crafting, and free play. The library created circulating doll kits, which included a journal for young patrons to document their and the doll’s ongoing adventures. One patron wrote of her experience during the 7.1 earthquake that occurred this past January. The library is continuing their creativity programming beyond the grant with doll furniture classes (woodworking) and quilting classes to create the bedding for the beds.

• Mary Jo and Ryanna took us on a grand tour of their library which was renovated in 2012. The children’s room features and alphabet wall which was a fundraising project. Each letter has a child’s name engraved on it.  Recently hired Children’s Librarian James Adcox has wasted no time in thinking “outside of the box.” His artwork appears throughout the library.

• On the way back to Anchorage, we took an impromptu road side stop at a mountain lake to take drone footage. Despite the rural areas we were driving through, we were impeded by the many, many flight paths due to all the puddle jumpers.

• On Monday morning, we met with ALSC member Elizabeth Nicolai and her staff at the Anchorage Public Library, Z.J. Loussac Library.

• Anchorage is Alaska’s largest city and becoming more diverse with 100 languages are spoken in the Anchorage school district. There are 20 Alaska Native languages. The APL is home to the Ready to Read Resource Center, a statewide project funded by the Alaska State Library and IMLS. Alaskan residents, from anywhere in the state, may borrow a Ready to Read Kit at no charge. The library also has a colorful and attractive early learning area that promotes the five ECRR practices.

• A storm front came through the last day and half of the trip and hurricane strength winds precluded a visit to the Seward Community Library and Museum, which is a true community center. We spent our afternoon at the Anchorage Museum in the Imaginarium Discovery Center for some hands-on fun.

Our goal was to learn about their programs and services and inquire about their needs with an eye to future ALSC resources. We can definitely say that this amazing trip resulted in concrete ways that the Association can connect more meaningfully with members and libraries that we don’t normally have the opportunity to see very often.

Aimee Strittmatter is the Executive Director of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC).