Alaska Library Association: Megwitch (Thank you) and on to AkLA 2007 in Juneau

With over 350 attendees, AkLA 2006 set a record attendance. This well-planned event included poster sessions, tours, an authors’ dessert reception, exhibits, silent auction, live auction, roundtable meetings, numerous presentations, luncheons, and an awards banquet. Live entertainment was provided each night ranging from Latin jazz, bluegrass, harp, to klezmer. Conference participants had the option of earning college credit through the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in two presentations. One was a solo presentation on Honoring Generations, our IMLS funded scholarship program for indigenous students. The second presentation was a panel on the International Indigenous Librarians Forum. Some of the other events I attended were the Public Libraries Roundtable Meeting, Barbara Fister’s keynote address on "Libraries and the Cartography of Knowledge,” Preparing Newspaper Collections for Digitization, the Intellectual Freedom Roundtable Meeting, the “Fragile Future of the Public Library,” the USA PATRIOT Act, and the Alaska Native Issues Roundtable Meeting. ALA Executive Board member June Pinell-Stephens was honored at the Awards Banquet with several awards including one for life-term service and librarian of the year.

The snow arrived on Saturday morning. Anchorage now has snow cover on the roads in preparation for the upcoming Iditerod.

Alaska Library Association 2006: Learning Through Libraries

It’s a great honor to report from the AkLa Conference 2006 in Anchorage! Thank you, AkLa planners for the invitation to join this wonderful meeting. I feel uplifted and warmly received by these friendly, proud, and good-humored colleagues of the north.
During the first day I attended the half-day workshop on “Computers and Automation for School and Small Libraries” and the evening opening session. This is also the week of the annual Rondy (fur rendezvous) in Anchorage. I was unable to resist the temptation to visit the Native Arts and Crafts event at the Dimond Mall on the south side of town. There I visited with Native artisans and explored art expressions including tufted beadwork, carved ivory and whale bone, etched whale baleen, birch bark and red cedar baskets, soapstone carvings, and Native yoyos created from a variety of materials. I felt at home, as many of my relatives also have led lives following the seasons, respect and honor our fellow beings on the planet, and value hardiness and self sufficiency.

Chickaloon Village and the Alaska Native …

Patricia Wade, my friend from the fall 2005 Sequoyah Research Symposium in Little Rock, hosted me during my first day in Alaska. Patricia also edits and writes most of the content for “The Chickaloon News,” which features events such as the annual Culture Camp for young people. There, children learn cultural expressions such as how to construct a fish trap and can moose meat.

Our first stop was in Palmer, northeast of Anchorage, where we visited the public library. We then headed to the Chickaloon Village school, north of Palmer near Moose Creek. We arrived during recess, where the children were skating on a pond near the school. Once in their classroom, children greeted me in their Native languages and I shared some family ghost stories. We looked at some of the letters they were writing and receiving from their new penpals in Hawaii. School staff were generous with their time as we talked about not only their daily activities, especially in Native language education and oral history program, but also their plans for the future as they seek continuing funding to support their efforts.

Our next stop was to the Alaska Native Cultural Center. The Center provides an after-school program for Native Alaskan youth attending area public schools. We were fortunate to arrive during the evening program for parents. The teen dance group gave a twenty minute sampling of their recent dances and songs.

More on the AkLA soon!

Spring 2006 Capstones: PostTracks, a Wiki, and a Student Radio Station Music Library

We're wrapping up week 5 of 15 weeks of the spring 2006 semester. I meet each week with my PhD students, Honoring Generations students, GRA/TA, and students enrolled in Capstones and independent studies. For her Capstone, Ann is continuing work with WebJunction.org. She and another student are creating the next issue of PostTracks, the online peer-reviewed student publication on WebJunction.org. Greg's Capstone involves developing a volunteer training program for the music library at the student-run radio program on Campus. Angela's working with the University Libraries reference staff to develop a UT Reference Wiki. She held an open meeting recently for library staff to discuss the project and solicit their input. The Wiki provides an opportunity for staff to share information and keep the content up-to-date. We often hear of Wikipedia. In this case, the Wiki service provides a workplace training and communication tool based on collaborative authoring.

Capstone presentations take place later this semester. The iSchool also recognizes students with a top Capstone award, announced at the spring graduation ceremony.

Spring 2006 Capstones: PostTracks, a Wiki, and a Student Radio Station Music Library


We're wrapping up week 5 of 15 weeks of the spring 2006 semester. I meet each week with my PhD students, Honoring Generations students, GRA/TA, and students enrolled in Capstones and independent studies. For her Capstone, Ann is continuing work with WebJunction.org. She and another student are creating the next issue of PostTracks, the online peer-reviewed student publication on WebJunction.org. Greg's Capstone involves developing a volunteer training program for the music library at the student-run radio program on Campus. Angela's working with the University Libraries reference staff to develop a UT Reference Wiki. She held an open meeting recently for library staff to discuss the project and solicit their input. The Wiki provides an opportunity for staff to share information and keep the content up-to-date. We often hear of Wikipedia. In this case, the Wiki service provides a workplace training and communication tool based on collaborative authoring.

Capstone presentations take place later this semester. The iSchool also recognizes students with a top Capstone award, announced at the spring graduation ceremony.

Hill Country Librarians' Conference

About 150 school librarians and staff attended today's Hill Country Librarians Conference at Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville, Texas. I was fortunate to serve as facilitator for the general session, "No Library Left Behind: Legislation, Libraries and the 65% Rule." My role was to present and field questions to State Representative (Democrat) Mark Strama. The Conference organizers provided a mother lode of questions from the biographical (What experiences in your life led you to run for the state house of representatives?), personal (How do you use libraries today?), to the political. Key questions asked whether he had been lobbied by representatives of First Class Education, the organization behind the 65 percent solution school funding model, to the impact of a merit pay system for schools, state funding for TexShare databases access for schools, and the possibility of a special session on school finance. While he is a strong advocate for education and the role that libraries can play, it was obvious that librarians need to be diligent in continuously educating elected representatives. We all vowed to send Representative Strama information on these issues. While a tech savvy person, we learned that Strama still can learn more about the realm of library resources, especially databases. Voters in Strama's district are fortunate; he holds open meetings for the public on Tuesday evenings and on Saturdays. He even provides child care services for children under six so their parents can participate. Representative Stama congratulated us on holding our upcoming ALA annual conference in New Orleans.

Diversity: It's Everyone's Responsibility

Diversity in LIS education and the workforce remains a critical issue. Each of us can work to recruit more people of color into the field and support our colleagues within their profession. Here are two events that LIS students are helping plan in our iSchool.

"Gracias a Todos: LIS Education for Latino/Latina Librarians"

The iSchool and Corazon de Tejas (Central Texas chapter of REFORMA) is organizing an event on 18 Feb to recognize Latino/Latina alumni. Four alums will discuss their educational experiences and career developments and lead the audience in a deep discussion of LIS education. Donations of reading material, socks, and blankets will be requested for PreK-6th grade students at a school in southern Mexico.

"Native Expressions"

The iSchool is hosting a gathering to explore Native creative expression. Scheduled speakers include Dr. Heid Erdrich (topic: poetry), Roy Boney (topic: Native language claymation projects with tribal schools), Karen Buller (topic: Native peoples and IT), and Jacob Jimenez (topic: poetry). This event is scheduled for 10 March.