Lighting of the Library 2008
Was a huge success with over 170 generous patrons. View pictures of the preparation and event.

Dragonfly Project receives National Tribal Project Award
The 2007 National Conference of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums awarded the Dragonfly Project with its Guardian of Languary, Memory and Lifeways award. This award honors distinguished men and women for outstanding contributions to the field through its Guardians of Language, Culture, and Lifeways Awards Program. The Project Category recognizes outstanding projects in seven categories: Outreach or Education Program; Interpretive Exhibit; Conservation or Preservation Project; Promotional Piece; Publication; Newsletter; and Website.
The purpose of the Awards Program is to:
* recognize recipients before their peers as part of the 2007 National Conference of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums;
* acknowledge and encourage activities of the highest quality; and
* provide vehicle for promoting individuals and institutions through media news releases.

HBPL award winners get their picture with the American Library Association President at the 2007 Tribal Archives, Libraries Museums Conference in Oklahoma City.

(Pictured from Left to Right: Cherri Price, Library Board Member and SEARHC Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist, Loriene Roy, American Library Association President, and Jessie Morgan, HBPL Library Page.)

Native Services Enhancement Grant
The Chilkoot Indian Association continues the successful partnership with the Haines Borough Public Library in this multifaceted cultural connections program. The project will empower patrons to improve their lives through educational and artistic skill development; to partner with the school district to increase the understanding of native history, culture, and traditional life style and support learning in culturally appropriate ways; and to increase the number of high-quality partnerships between tribes and other organizations. The project will culminate with community youth carving a totem pole that tells the story of the library, using traditional symbols and contemporary design. The pole-raising ceremony will be a community event that will honor the carvers, the tribe for their role in building community, and the library for its role in education. The totem pole will also symbolize the power of partnerships and cooperation. For more details about the grant click here.

The partnership between the library and the tribe began in 2001 with the original Native Services Enhancement grant that funded The Dragonfly Project, an award winning technology education/mentor program.

Summer Reading Program Prize Recall

A toy given out as prize for the Haines Borough Public Library’s Summer Reading Program is being recalled by the manufacturer for high lead content in the paint. Highsmith, a supplier of toys and supplies for libraries across the country, issued the recall of bendable animals and figurines effective immediately. Please read the Press Release for more details.

A Healthy Library for Healthy Readers
April 2006

The Library had a booth at the annual Health Fair. Tania Danielski and Dan Coleman presented displays on Internet Safety for parents and children, the Voices project, and the importance of early childhood reading. Each child that stopped by the booth won a free book to take home, as well as other prizes. There was also a station for young children to create their own bookmarks for their new books

The Dragonfly Project Grows
October 2005

The Library and Chilkoot Indian Association Tribal Government received its third IMLS Native Enhancement grant. The grant will allow the library to improve children and youth services by offering after school services every day, instead of the previous three times a week. It also funds the mentor-based Dragonfly Project to continue its mission to enrich the lives of people in the community by sharing the ways of computers and technology at the library with people of all ages. The grant also provides job training opportunities in library work through the funding of Library Page and Program Coordinator-in-Training positions. The Page position will support and work with current library staff. The Program Coordinator-in-Training will assist with children’s activities and services, The Dragonfly Project, and coordinate other program activities.

“The library could not offer the continuation and expansion of services without the Chilkoot Indian Association. This is a partnership that’s bringing greater services to the community and creating high quality, local jobs with federal dollars,” said Dan Coleman, Haines Borough Public Library Director-in-Training. “Now the library can continue offering great services and programs for all ages.”

This is the third IMLS Enhancement Grant the partners have received since The Dragonfly Project began in 2001. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary source of federal funds for the nation's museums and libraries, awarded $1,604,000 to 13 Native American tribal communities and Alaska Native villages to improve library services to their communities.

“They’re doing innovative work to improve library holdings, provide essential computer access and training, establish new programming, and improve the lives of Native Americans,” said Mary L. Chute, Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants funding supports projects like the expansion of the highly successful Dragonfly Project, a collaboration of the Chilkoot Indian Association and Haines Borough Public Library that teaches young people the skills to mentor older community residents in technology; the enhancement of the Ft. Berthold (North Dakota) Community College’s collection on the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nations; and a series of storytelling programs and training at the Makah Cultural and Research Center in Washington State.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries.

Library and KHNS team to create new program
October 2005

The Haines Borough Public Library and Lynn Canal Broadcasting (KHNS-FM) are teaming up to increase awareness on the impacts of substance abuse through a federally funded, two-year program called Issues and Explorations. The program is multi-faceted, focusing on the innovative application of technology to educate rural Alaskans about the impacts of drug and alcohol abuse on individuals, families and the community. The goal is to increase awareness, encourage civic participation, and create a network of partners among the participating organizations to improve community services related to substance abuse. The project will promote lifelong learning and social engagement for patrons and listeners in Haines, Klukwan, Skagway, and 20 rural Alaska towns reached by Community Radio of Alaska.

The grant has three main components. First, to seek and train community members who are interested in sharing their personal stories about substance abuse using “radio diaries.” The stories will be combined into a series of documentaries to be broadcast on KHNS and throughout the state on Community Radio of Alaska stations. Second, the library will host a number of presentations and forums on substance abuse and its effects. Experts from various fields on substance abuse from around the state will travel to Haines to share their knowledge. The programs will be recorded and broadcast on KHNS and shared throughout the state. Third, The Dragonfly Project will teach radio production skills to community members interested in telling stories with digital audio technology.

Lynn Canal Counseling Services, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, Haines School District, Police Department and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Community Education Project will collaborate to share their expertise and resources in program planning and implementation.

The $212,367 grant is funded by a collaboration between the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Out of 132 eligible applicants, only seven were awarded. The grants, totaling $1,447,022, will fund museums, libraries, and public broadcasters as they work together to address specific, jointly identified community needs.

“Public broadcasters, libraries and museums have a unique ability to connect people to their communities, and communities to the resources, ideas, and knowledge that they need to solve problems,” Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB said. “Using these grants, public broadcasters, museums, and libraries in the seven communities will be able address local concerns in tangible and valuable ways.”

The Partnership for a Nation of Learners (PNL) is a Corporation for Public Broadcasting- Institute of Museum and Library Services leadership initiative. The shared mission is to serve America’s communities by encouraging and enabling museums, public broadcasters, and libraries to work together to address locally-identified lifelong learning needs and opportunities. Working together, they can be catalysts for vibrant, energized communities and build a foundation for an educated and informed citizenry. Visit http://www.partnershipforlearners.org for information about funding.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,000 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related on-line services.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries in America. The Institute also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums.

Art and Inspiration
Two inspiring works of art have been installed at the Library recently. John Hagen & David Svenson's "Helping Hands: Seven Donors Soul Catcher" funded by a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation. The piece depicts a soul catcher, a shaman's amulet used to hold the spirit of a patient during healing.

The donors are represented by seven pairs of hands, deeply cut in glass along the top of the piece. Their names will be etched in glass along the lower edge of the piece. The central face and hands, and both figures "in the mouths" is carved in wood and then cast in glass. The remainder of the piece is carved in yellow cedar. The entire piece is back-lit with polychrome neon which will add color to the glass figures and enhance the depth of the cut glass hands and lettering, with a subtle "glow" thrown all around. See the Slide Show.

Kerry Cohen's "Guiding Our Way" commissioned by Haines High School teacher JoAnn Ross Cunningham for her parents Rod and Alice Ross and all those who guide our way.

Best Small Library in the Nation - Celebration Photos
Thanks to everyone who made the celebration a success. These photos are courtesy Matt Davis.

Best Small Library in the Nation
The Haines Borough Public Library is the winner of the “Best Small Library in America.” The Library won the first annual award for the “public library that most profoundly demonstrates outstanding service to populations of 25,000 or less.” The award is cosponsored by Library Journal and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The library was selected from a group of more than 140 applicants nationwide. Applications were judged by members of the editorial board of Library Journal, librarians from around the country, and a representative from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition to this national honor, the winning library receives a $10,000 cash award, membership and conference costs for two library representatives to attend the Public Library Association Biannual Conference in Boston in 2006, and a gala reception at the conference.

The Haines Borough Public Library is featured as the “Best Small Library in America" in the cover story of the February 1, 2005 issue of Library Journal magazine.

Library Director Ann Myren, said: “This award is all about Haines and what we can do when everyone works together. It’s wonderful recognition for the community, library staff, board, Friends, funders and all who have made it possible to win such an award.” Myren said a number of partnerships with organizations such as the Chilkoot Indian Association and Haines Borough School District help the library to be responsive to community needs. She noted that the continued support of the Haines Borough along with grants from funders such as the Alaska Humanities Forum, Alaska State Library, Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Rasmuson Foundation allow the board and staff to provide something for everyone at the library. “This award recognizes that the library is the place where community happens,” she added.

A Report to Our Patrons
It's been an exciting year for the library. Read about what our community has accomplished in
A Report to Our Patrons.