Alaskans statewide can now read Sesame Street e-books and Tumblebooks e-books, graphic novels, read alongs and other materials due to funding from the Department of Education. These books are available now to all Alaskans at http://books.alaska.gov. The Department paid for multi-year subscriptions to these e-book services so that younger Alaskans statewide can have access to books from their homes and schools.
The Alaska State Library is managing these subscriptions and developed the http://books.alaska.gov web page, which includes four other services that bring books to Alaskans of all ages: Ready to Read Resource Center, Alaska Digital Library, Alaska Mail Services, and the Talking Book Center.
Each month we try to highlight special months, weeks and days in the coming month that are special to Alaskans, libraries, archives or museums. Our list for August is pretty light:
If you see a general observance that's related to libraries, archives, museums or Alaska history that's missing here, please drop Daniel Cornwall a line and we'll add them to our master list.
We want to hear from you. Library Development is conducting a customer service survey to assess our customer service performance, identify any issues that may need to be improved and gain a clearer understanding of the service requirements of library directors and library staff in Alaska. The deadline to complete the survey will be July 31st.
The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete.
Nationwide bed bugs have become an increasing concern for libraries. The pests are carried into the library on circulated materials or on backpacks, shoes or other articles of clothing. There have been reported incidents of live bed bugs found in public libraries in Alaska. Keeping bed bugs and other insects out of the library requires regular surveillance. Insect traps distributed throughout the library should be monitored monthly, trapped insects identified and an appropriate treatment applied. Pest Management for Public Libraries was developed for librarians looking for information and procedures that they can use to keep their libraries pest free. Pest Management for Public Libraries libguide contains links to the bed bug lifecycle and an identification guide, as well as links to pest monitoring traps and suggested protocols to follow should you find a bed bug or two in your library.
Testing your source document before publishing can save you and your users many headaches. Fortunately, recent versions of Word (2013, 2016) have made it easy for you to perform automated accessibility checks. It’s not a perfect system, but it’ll help you maintain an accessibility-first mindset.
Several Microsoft Office programs have this built-in checker. Try them out in Excel and PowerPoint, too!
More than 90% of Alaskans search for library books and other materials through the Alaska Library Catalog, a combined catalog serving more than 80 libraries. Now Alaskans can find the At the APK television show by searching this Catalog. This television show is the result of a partnership between the Alaska Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums and Juneau’s KTOO public television station. Authors, artists, and historians do lectures in conjunction with their exhibits held at the Andrew P. Kashevaroff (APK) building, which houses the State Library, Archives and Museum. KTOO has produced thirteen shows in this series since late 2017 with more to come.
Ginny Jacobs cataloged all thirteen shows, so users will find this TV series by searching At the APK or searching by speaker or the name of the program the speaker presented. This access turns a one time only event held in Juneau into permanent statewide access to a series of lectures by authors, artists, and historians and helps fulfill the Division’s mission of serving all Alaskans.
This week we introduce Joy Kim, another intern placed by the Alaska State Library with Anchorage Public Library. We asked her to introduce herself and here's what she had to say:
Bio
I was born in Los Angeles as a second generation Korean-American to immigrant parents. I find it incredibly ironic that I have entered librarianship because I used to dread going to libraries as a child. Eventually after high school I went to college near home in Riverside, CA. I studied English because I happened to love reading. After that, like most English grads with no plans I went into teaching. I taught high school English for a number of years and then transitioned into librarianship a few years ago. I will complete my MLIS degree by December 2018.
Description
As the Community Development Intern, I am working on creating a community assessment for the different branches of APL. The purpose of the assessment is to gather information and data on community needs that will improve library services and reorient its strategy to reach more people. This assessment will be conducted in person at the different locations and provide groundwork for Loussac’s upcoming strategic plan.
The Alaska State Historic Records Advisory Board (ASHRAB) is sponsoring a Digitization Archivist Program that will support the Kodiak Historical Society & Baranov Museum in becoming a contributor to Alaska’s Digital Archives. This project supports the museum by paying its membership fees for Alaska’s Digital Archives, purchasing a photograph scanner for the museum, and sending a Digitization Archivist to Kodiak for six weeks during summer 2018 to assist the museum in becoming a sustained contributor to Alaska’s Digital Archives. This project is funded by a National Historical Publications & Records Commission (NHPRC) grant through the Alaska State Archives and Alaska State Historical Records Advisory Board, a Board which promotes the collection, preservation, and accessibility of historic records found in Alaskan repositories.
Ann Dixon of the Homer Public Library gave permission to run this photo of an Independence Day Parade book card drill team sponsored by the Friends of Homer Library:
According to Ann, "We were walking behind the Friends' bookmobile. Andy Haas took the photo (on my phone). We were moving to the song Rolling Down the River. The Friends volunteers behind us handed out used books and candy to the kids."
Sounds like fun times. If your library, archives or museum marched in a parade this year, drop us a line!
Amy Steffian, Chief Curator of the Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository gave us a brief report on an exciting project find in part with Museum Grant-in-Aid funding:
The Alutiiq Museum just published a free App for both iOS and Android devices – it’s called Alutiiq Plants and has photos, audio recordings of Alutiiq plant names, and ethnobotanical information for plants commonly used by Kodiak Alutiiq harvesters.
People can download it on the Apple App Store or Google Play – just look for the Devil’s Club leaf Icon!
We produced this resource with help from an Alaska State Museum Grant-in-Aid.
The Alaska Center for the Book made this announcement on June 19, 2018:
An Anchorage playwright, an Utqiavik librarian, a Fairbanks poet, and a Homer bookmobile program are winners of the 2018 Contributions to Literacy in Alaska (CLIA) awards.
The statewide CLIA awards have been presented annually since 1993 by the Alaska Center for the Book, Alaska’s liaison with the U.S. Library of Congress Center for the Book. The program honors people and programs that have made a significant contribution in literacy, the literary arts, or the preservation of the written or spoken word.
These are 2018 honorees:
David Ongley retired in 2017 from 20 years as director of the Tuzzy Consortium Library, which serves the Utqiavik community, seven outlying villages, and Ilisagvik Tribal College. With a passion for building a library that reflected its community, Ongley wrote numerous grants to preserve documents, oral histories, and local publications. He helped create the Alaska Library Association’s Native Issues Round Table and was a leader in developing “Culturally Responsive Guidelines for Alaska Public Libraries,” which has become a model for all public libraries serving Native patrons.
Dick Reichman of Anchorage is one of Alaska’s best-known playwrights. He was the resident playwright at Cyrano’s Theatre Company and has had 11 world premiere plays produced. As a mentor, writer, actor and director, he has had a strong presence at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez over the years. Some of his productions include “The Ticket,” about an imaginary meeting between Wally Hickel and Jay Hammond; and “The Big One,” a chronicle of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Peggy Shumaker of Fairbanks is an internationally recognized poet and non-fiction writer who served as Alaska’s writer laureate in 2010-12. She is the author of eight books of poetry, including the recently-published Cairn, and a memoir, Just Breathe Normally. In 2008 she founded Boreal Books, an imprint of Red Hen Press, to publish literature and fine art from Alaska. In addition to her writing and speaking, she serves on multiple boards and is a guest editor for several literary journals.
BOB, Books on Board, is Homer Friends of the Library’s bookmobile program. A totally volunteer effort, BOB is stocked with donated books that are given to children and adults, who are encouraged to exchange other books for them. Volunteer drivers take BOB to various locations in the Homer area on a regular schedule. BOB was awarded the CLIA Sue Sherif Award for Literacy, named for a longtime Alaska librarian pivotal in supporting literacy efforts through the state library system.
The CLIA awards program will also include recognition of the work of the late John Active, a Yup’ik broadcaster on Bethel-area public radio and television for 47 years.
The awards will be presented Tuesday, July 10 as part of the UAA Creative Writing and Literary Arts summer residency program at the Fine Arts Building of the University of Alaska Anchorage campus . A dessert reception begins at 7:30 p.m., followed by the awards presentation at 8 p.m. That will be followed by readings from two members of the summer residency faculty: Homer writer and poet Erin Coughlin Hollowell, and Juneau author, actor and playwright Ishmael Hope.
The event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available at the event. For information, see the Alaska Center for the Book website, or call (907) 764-1604.
We close this week's Friday Bulletin with an interesting article on the challenges and pitfalls of laying fiber in the arctic. Plus how their construction methods may endanger the road to Prudhoe Bay.
State: Permafrost melt from Arctic broadband projects violated permits by Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media June 21, 2018
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