My blogging has been pre-empted by my new job as coordinator for the Haines Borough Energy & Sustainability Commission. I have been buried in numbers. I know exactly how many gallons of heating fuel municipally owned facilities consumed over the past 2.5 years; and exactly how many kilowatts were used. And exactly how much it costs. Next stage: how to reduce that use by 5-7% percent. Stay tuned.But right now, let's consider the "rack," because Thursday, October 16, at 9:05 AM I have to introduce the rack to the Haines Borough Library Board of Trustees. Not that they aren't already well aware of the rack. They have, in fact, rejected the rack. At the September Board meeting, the Board declined to allow Cooperative Extension materials to be available, in the rack, at the Haines Borough Public Library. The reason: if one organization is allowed to disseminate materials at the library, then all organizations should be allowed a similar privilege. Then it follows that the library may be overwhelmed, and, perhaps, even forced to become host to some unacceptable broadsides.
There's a little history here. Interest in Cooperative Extension services and information was re-awakened in Haines as a result of the Master Gardener's class that was held in May, minting 17 new Master Gardeners, adding to the group graduated about 5 years ago. We re-discovered the volumes of Alaska-centered growing, gathering, and preserving information published by the University of Alaska, Cooperative Extension Service. It used to be that you could browse these publications in Enid Verbon's Community Education Office, or in the Garden Shed at Haines Home Builders. No longer, no more.
After leaving Haines, the Cooperative Extension service notified me that they had received a grant to buy pocket shelves to put materials in outlying sites. Would Haines like to put a shelf in its library? I checked with the former director, who checked his policies, and said, "Sure. That works." Time passed. The rack and materials arrive. The director moves on. The status of the rack is brought before the Board in September and the Board says, "No, that won't work," for the reason stated above.
What am I to do with the rack? I would like the Library Board to reconsider. I think making University of Alaska Cooperative Extension materials available in the Haines Borough Public Library signals a linkage between the University and the Library - a sensible linkage, perhaps even the beginning of a meaningful partnership. I think that the offer of the rack by the Cooperative Extension Service is an opportunity and it would be a shame to miss it. What do you think? Take the survey. Thanks.
