News from L.A.M.S in Alaska
It’s National Banned Books Week — an event that aims to bring people together in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. The event was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores and schools, according to the Banned Books Week Coalition. This year’s theme is “Let Freedom Read!” and hopes to bring national attention to the harms of censorship.
In this episode of "Island Interviews," Irena Adams, librarian for the Unalaska City School District, discusses the most common reasons why books are challenged in schools and the impact of banned books on students.
Sofia Stuart-Rasi, October 17, 2023. KUCB.org.
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The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and the U.S. Forest Service will collaborate on managing the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area going forward, with plans to better educate visitors on Alaska Native culture.
Tlingit and Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson said the Tribe is excited to share more cultural history with the nearly one million tourists who pass through the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center each year.
“The people who go there want to learn about the glacier. They also want to learn about the people,” Peterson said. “And if you know anything about Lingít culture, we have songs, stories, history about migrating over, under and through the glaciers.”
Anna Canny, October 6, 2023. KTOO.
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The garden in front of the Petersburg Public Library has the first stage of a new art installation in the works - blending into the background, awaiting the focal pieces.
Josef Quitslund welded an intricate fence last month, just "putting up the framework" for what will soon become a school of salmon swimming up Haugen drive.
Around a hundred salmon-shaped pieces of colorfully painted plywood will hang from the rebar structure - moving with the wind and swimming through the garden midair.
Olivia Rose, October 19, 2023. Petersburg Pilot.
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The Mat-Su Borough School District’s Library Advisory Committee evaluated three books at its October meeting last week.
The books scheduled for review were The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Flamer by Mike Curato, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Due to a miscommunication about which version of the book was being read, the committee did not make a recommendation on The Handmaid’s Tale, and will re-visit it at the November meeting.
For each book, the committee votes twice. The first vote covers whether members believe the book being reviewed violates the Alaska statute on distribution of indecent material to minors. The second vote is the committee’s recommendation on which, if any, school district libraries should keep the book on their shelves.
Phillip Manning, October 16, 2023. KTNA.org.
On Monday, Oct. 9, organizations across Bethel put together a full day of celebrations for Indigenous Peoples' Day at Bethel's Kuskokwim Consortium Library.
Hands-on activities started at 3 p.m. Kimberly Jackson helped people make akutaq, everyone's favorite dessert.
“So I put, because I grew up in Akiak and people make it differently the way that they grew up, I put mashed potatoes, and Crisco, and sugar, and water,” said Jackson. “There's so many different ways you can make it, but that's how I'm making it.”
Sunni Bean, October 10, 2023. KYUK.org.
Related: KHNS newscast and UAS Ketchikan Campus Library
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The Alutiiq Museum has added a contemporary atkuk — Alutiiq for "parka" — to its collections.
Made by Alutiiq Elder and artist Susan Malutin, the garment, titled "Threads of Remembrance," is inspired by the traditional black, red and white snow-falling parka worn in the Kodiak region.
The museum commissioned the parka to fill a significant gap in its collections, Executive Director April Laktonen Counceller said in a press release.
Adelyn Baxter, October 9, 2023. Kodiak Daily Mirror.
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The University of Alaska Museum of the North will host "Ask an Archaeologist," a multiday event where visitors can meet museum archaeologists and learn about archaeology in Alaska. The event takes place in the museum lobby from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily from Monday, Oct. 23, through Wednesday, Oct. 25.
The event gives members of the public an opportunity to see artifacts collected across the state. Visitors can also bring their own object to be identified. (No appraisals will be offered.)
Kristin Summerlin, October 16, 2023. UAF News.
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The project to heat four downtown municipal buildings – the library/museum, city annex building, City Hall, and fire hall – from the waters of Resurrection Bay using closed-loop CO2 heat pumps, known as the Heat Loop Project, has officially begun the initial planning phases of advancing to a state of shovel-readiness. Funded by a $315,000 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant for community-led geothermal heating and cooling programs, phase one encompasses all planning, logistics and budgeting necessary to produce a final design, due by November 2024.
“We are actually just now going into contract with the DOE for phase one,” said project advocate Mary Tougas. “It’s taken quite a process for us to do, but we’re super excited. The funds are not large for phase one, but they will take us into a final design and bid package.”
Sam McDavid, October 19, 2023. Seward Journal.
Homer City Council adopted Ordinance 23-51 during their last regular meeting on Oct. 9, accepting a $7,000 State of Alaska Public Library Assistance Grant to purchase books and library materials for the Homer Public Library.
A Sept. 20 memorandum to city council from library director Dave Berry stated that the Alaska State Library annually awards up to $7,000 to libraries across the state.
“Homer has received the Public Library Assistance Grant every year for about four decades,” Berry wrote in the memo. “I am happy to report that we have received the full amount again this year.”
Delcenia Cosman, October 18, 2023. Homer News.
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Thursday, October 26, 10:00-10:45 am
Join us to learn how your OCLC subscriptions work together to help your library strengthen information services for all Alaskans.
During this 45-minute session, you will learn about:
- How this program supports the goals of Alaska libraries
- Specific products and services included
- The value of central, shared data in WorldCat
- Support options and resources
There will be time for questions at the end, as well as links to additional resources and next steps for libraries looking to really take advantage of this valuable, unique relationship with the Alaska Library Network.
If you have a conflict and you can’t attend the webinar, please register so you can receive the event recording to view at your convenience. It's a great professional development opportunity for anyone on your staff.
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Other Announcements
In this episode of "Island Interviews," author Ray Hudson joins the show. Hudson lived in Unalaska from 1964 to 1991. He taught at Unalaska City School and has written many books about Unalaska and the Aleutians, and is perhaps best known for the 1998 Unalaska classic, “Moments Rightly Placed: An Aleutian Memoir.”
Hudson sat down with KUCB to discuss the impacts of book bannings in schools, bookstores, and libraries and how censorship affects the author-reader relationship.
Sofia Stuart-Rasi, October 17, 2023. KUCB.org.
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The rise in challenges to books in school and public libraries has grown rapidly in recent years. Efforts to censor certain topics in reading material is not new. Attempts have appeared periodically throughout history, but the American Library Association saw a 70% increase in book ban requests in 2022. We discuss what’s driving the latest spike in demands for book removals and who should decide on this Talk of Alaska.
Lori Townsend, October 10, 2023. Alaska Public Media.
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The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is seeking a specialist in Alaska Native language education to create state standards for reading in Alaska Native languages for students from kindergarten through third grade.
Currently there is no standard to gauge reading competency in Alaska Native languages. State law allows for reading instruction in Alaska Native languages, but without standards it is difficult for school districts to communicate progress to the state government. Education officials say the standards will support Alaska Native language instruction in the state.
Joel Isaak, the director of Tribal affairs for the Alaska Department of Education, said the standards are a practical way to support Alaska Native languages through the current structure of the school system.
Claire Stremple, October 5, 2023. Alaska Beacon.
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It’s been about 200 years since Russian colonizers demolished the last remaining examples of large Unangax̂ boats called niĝilax̂. The wooden framed boats were used in the Aleutian Islands to transport goods and people.
Now, a group of boat builders have resurrected the niĝilax̂ and returned the practice of making them to the Unangax̂ people.
The traditional design of the large skin-on-frame boat used by the Unangax̂ people was thought to be lost after Russian colonizers destroyed the last remaining examples in the 1800s, but after decades of work, the design has been restored. Now, the recreated boats are touching Alaskan waters for the first time in around 200 years.
Theo Greenly, October 13, 2023. KUCB.org
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