46 Days until January 21, 2020 - Census 2020 Enumeration of Remote Alaska begins in Toksook Bay
117 Days until April 1, 2020 – 2020 Census Day
Resources:
Here’s a list of events for January that we believe to be of interest to either libraries, archives, museums or to Alaskans in general:
Month long observances
Week long observances
Specific day observances
Conferences and Awards
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The League of Women Voters of Juneau, in partnership with the Alaska State Library and the League of Women Voters of Alaska, has mailed to each middle school library and public library in Alaska: Fighter in Velvet Gloves: Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich. The book details the life and work of this Tlingit civil rights icon.
Since 2007, the League has worked to bring the story of Elizabeth Peratrovich to all school children in the state, first with an effort to circulate a movie made by Jeff Silverman about Peratrovich, and now with distribution of this book. Author Annie Boochever, who grew up in Juneau, completed her book Fighter in Velvet Gloves earlier this year. Boochever worked with Roy Peratrovich, Jr. to document the important role played by Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich in the 1940’s civil rights movement for anti-discrimination in Alaska. Elizabeth’s impassioned speech before the Alaska State Legislature convinced state lawmakers to pass an Anti-Discrimination Act in 1945, two decades before the U.S. Congress passed landmark civil rights legislation for the nation. Learning of Boochever’s book, the League was determined that it needed to be in all middle school libraries and public libraries statewide.
Grant funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, as administered by the Alaska State Library, paid for the bulk of the books, with the League of Women Voters Alaska paying for additional copies. The Alaska State Library provided space for packing the books and covered postage costs. The Juneau League packed and shipped over 450 books to libraries and schools in early December. The books will be in the schools and libraries by the time school starts again after the holidays. In addition, during the 2020 session, Juneau League members will hand deliver a copy of the book to each Legislator.
The League of Women Voters promotes political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government and to act on selected governmental issues. For more information visit www.lwvak.org
We recently highlighted our new Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion resource guide for libraries on AkLA-L but we believe that some of the resources including Project Ready, Recruiting for Diversity and Alaska Native Hire could be useful to archives and museums as well.
We recently reviewed and updated the Mobile Devices section of our Digital Literacy Guide. In addition to link checking, we added links to information Caller ID spoofing and a new guide to the different types of iPads. Who knew that we’d reach a point where you can’t tell your mobile devices apart without a program?
The Sheldon Jackson Museum November Artifact of the Month is a mask from Anaktuvuk Pass (SJ-2019-2-1). The mask, along with another Anaktuvuk Pass mask of a man's face was generously donated to the museum in 2019 by Henrietta Van Maanen.
From our friends at Museums Alaska:
Ten of Alaska’s collecting institutions, in seven communities from Sitka to Fairbanks, have been awarded $102,220 in grants. The awards will support the acquisition of artwork through a fund created by Rasmuson Foundation and administered by Museums Alaska.
The Art Acquisition Fund invites museums and culture centers to submit proposals to purchase recent works by contemporary Alaskan artists. Now in its seventeenth year, this initiative has helped institutions across Alaska enhance their collections, interpret contemporary themes, and support hundreds of visual artists. This fall, ten museums received a total of $102,220 to purchase 20 pieces of artwork from 15 Alaskan artists—including works in media of acrylic, oil, mixed media, carving, fabric, beadwork, spruce root, elk hide, and walrus ivory.
This round, a commission of 10 oil paintings was funded. The Alaska Aviation Museum will purchase the portraits made by Christine Smith depicting animals significant to Alaskan aviation history.
The fund will offer additional grants in 2020. For eligibility information, application deadlines, and submission directions, please visit the Museums Alaska website.
The other November 2019 Awardees are:
Julie Mitchell of the Willow Public Library recently told us that their new library went out to design bid on 11/14/2019. Funding for the new building came from multiple sources including a November 2019 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation. The Foundation’s press release provides this description of the Willow project:
Matanuska-Susitna Borough: $450,000 toward construction of a new library in Willow and upgraded community center. The new library will be approximately 6,635 square feet and will include a business center and meeting space. The community center will be updated with new siding, a fire suppression unit, new lighting, ADA-code corrections and new restrooms.
We’re very excited for Willow and hope that you’ll join us in extending congratulations to Julie Mitchell and her staff.
We’re on the Ketchikan Public Library’s monthly events list and we noticed a book club model we thought worth sharing:
FREE STYLE BOOK CLUB: A book club that offers something different: Instead of an assigned book for all to read, each person can give a short presentation describing a book which they would like to recommend. Don't want to present? That's okay; come and listen and get some ideas about books to search out.
This seems like a way to bring in more people to talk about reading, which we’d love to see. Do you have an approach to book clubs that works well in your community? Drop us a line!
Director Karen Kresh reported on the Unalaska Public Library’s second Mystery in the Library Program in an 11/29/2019 article for the Bristol Bay Times. The set up sounded pretty dramatic:
Around 30 sleuths and volunteers turned up at the library for a special exhibition of antique beaded necklaces from the Aleutian Islands, only to find that the valuable artifacts had been stolen and a library staff member attacked.
For the rest of the story read, Unalaska library hosts 'who-dunnit' by Karen Kresh. Bristol Bay Times 11/29/2019.
Has your library, archives or museum hosted a mystery event? If you want to share how it went with your colleagues, drop us a line!
A November 22, 2019 article in the Anchorage Press reported that Emily Edenshaw will be joining the Alaska Native Heritage Center as their new Executive Director.
The article describes Ms. Edenshaw as a longtime Alaskan and Alaska Native who wants to develop the people behind the Heritage Center and to expand programs the Heritage Center offers to Alaskan students, among other plans.
For more about Ms. Edenshaw, her plans and activities of the Alaska Native Heritage center, read New Executive Director has big plans for the Alaska Native Heritage Center by Robin Thompson. Anchorage Press, 11/22/2019.
We wish Director Edenshaw and her staff well in their efforts and hope you’ll join us in congratulating her in her new role.
Photo Credit: Ketchikan Public Library
An announcement from our friends at IMLS:
WASHINGTON, DC—The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for Native American Library Services Enhancement grants. The deadline for submitting applications for either grant is May 1, 2020.
Native American Library Services Enhancement grants advance the programs and services of eligible Indian tribes, including Alaska native villages, regional corporations, and village corporations. They are competitive grants of up to $150,000 for two years and are available to any tribe, village, corporation, or regional corporation that has applied for a Basic grant.
Enhancement grants must begin September 1, 2020. A grantee in the first year of an active Enhancement grant may not apply for another enhancement grant that would have a significant overlapping period of performance. If an applicant is in the second year of an active Enhancement grant, the new award may have a brief overlapping period of performance of up to three months. For more information, please contact IMLS staff.
Successful grant projects will align with one of three categories: Preservation and Revitalization; Educational Programming; or Digital Services. Projects may:
- support individual and family needs for education, lifelong learning, workforce development, and digital literacy skills;
- improve the quality of and access to library and information services; or
- enhance the skills of the current library workforce and leadership.
Grant guidelines and descriptions of previously funded projects are available on the IMLS website.
Upcoming Webinars:
To learn more, interested applicants are invited to participate in one of the following webinars:
Native American Library Services: Enhancement Grants
- Monday, March 9, 2020: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
IMLS uses the Blackboard Collaborate system for webinars. If you are a first-time user of Blackboard Collaborate, see our webinar page for more information or to check your system compatibility. Recordings of the webinars will also be available on-demand.
Program Contacts:
For questions, please reach out to an IMLS staff member directly:
Dr. Sandra Toro
Senior Library Program Officer
202-653-4662
Sarah Boonie
Program Specialist
202-653-4761
Chelsea Cole
Program Specialist
202-653-4719
Web accessibility has been on our minds for at least a year now. If you have a web site, you ought to be thinking about it as well. Accessible design makes your content available and usable to the highest number of people. It’s also a legal requirement for educational institutions, state and local governments and now, even Domino’s Pizza.
If you’d to make your website more responsive but don’t know where to start, here’s a recommendation from our Webmaster Amy Carney:
The World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C-WAI) has launched a new course on edX: Introduction to Web Accessibility! Free and self-paced, even though modules are divided into five weeks, expecting 4-5 hours per week. Starts January 28, 2020.
Description:
“From this course, you get a strong foundation in digital accessibility to make your websites and apps work well for people with disabilities, meet international standards, and provide a better user experience for everyone. In addition to offering an introduction for people who are new to accessibility, this course helps people who already know about accessibility fill in gaps. It is designed *for technical and non-technical* audiences. It is based on the open curricula from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG): Curricula on Web Accessibility: A Framework to Build Your Own Courses.”
If you’re looking to complete free training as your New Year’s resolution, I would highly recommend this one based on who created it and the experts that are teaching it. Feel free to pass along to others you feel would benefit.
Intellectual Freedom is a core value of librarianship. Sometimes it can be hard to explain to people outside the field. Now there’s help in the form of four short videos from the American Library Association (ALA)’s Intellectual Freedom Roundtable (IFRT). These videos cover the basics of intellectual freedom, censorship, and privacy for a non-library audience with key definitions and everyday language.
The videos were produced for IFRT by some of ALA’s 2019 Emerging Leaders - 2019 Team: Nicola Andrews, Jade Geary, Cyndi Hamann, Kacy Helwick, and Jess Newman.
Here’s the first video to get you started.
Part of the reason that we bring up the 2020 Census in EVERY. SINGLE. ISSUE. of the Friday Bulletin is because population counts drive distribution of federal money to states. A complete count in 2020 would ensure that Alaska gets its fair share of federal dollars. Last month the American Library Association (ALA) noted A new analysis released November 18 that revealed that more than $1 billion in federal funding for libraries will be allocated to states based on the 2020 Census. Published by Professor Andrew Reamer of the George Washington Institute of Public Policy at George Washington University, the study pinpoints the financial impact the census will have on libraries.
For additional details and information on ALA efforts to support a fair, inclusive and complete count in the 2020 Census, read their press release on the funding study. For Alaska based resources on being involved with the 2020 Census, visit Alaska Counts.
Whether you’re a library, archives or museum, you’re probably in 1) possession of older (more than three years old) computers and 2) Strapped for resources. If so, you might be interested in PC Magazine’s reviews of budget desktop and laptop computers:
If you have a favorite resource for finding budget computers, drop us a line!
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