In it together

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, April 2020; written by Michelle Lampton.

Quarantine is a bummer. Social distancing sucks.

But here’s the thing: Despite being more ‘separated’ than ever, we’ve never been more ‘in the same boat’ together. Yeah, I have library ‘things’ to talk about (including an upcoming Facebook Live Ask UAS presentation by Barbara Morgan on local berries), but first, I want to talk about library ‘people.’

I want to talk about you, me, and us.

For your Public and Campus Libraries, no theme comes through louder and longer among our emails and online staff meetings than the fact that we miss you. We miss each other very dearly, but we miss our patrons just as much: the babies and the elderly, the teens and tweens; our students and faculty; those who regularly come to our events, and those whom we have to Outreach to see; the noise of T.A.G. meetings; the fellowship with Friends of the Library; those who only come in to read the paper, and those who check out dozens of books at once; those who stop in just to use the computers, and those who come by to visit and commune.

Whatever your quarantine circumstances might be, please just know, in spirit, that you are not alone.

You are not alone.

Because you are remembered and you are missed. We are actively, acutely looking forward to the day we get to see your face again.

I guess that’s all. Just, you know, believe me that I speak from the heart for all of us.

Alright, enough of the mushy (as I literally wipe my eyes), and on to the library ‘things.’

Ask UAS: Coming up, Prof. Barbara Morgan’s Ask UAS presentation, “To Eat or not to Eat, That is the Question: Wild Berries Edition,” will be held through Facebook live on Thursday, May 7th at 6:30pm. Additionally, we’ve been able to use this quarantine time to format and post a ton of previous Ask UAS presentations to YouTube for your listening and viewing pleasure. Find those by visiting the University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan Campus Youtube channel, or visiting the Ask UAS page on our Ketchikan Campus Library website.

National Library Week: Today marks the last day of National Library Week. Just like the Public Library, we at the UAS Ketchikan Campus Library celebrated it despite social distancing policies as best we could, reaching out to connect with you through our Facebook page. The highlights were videos talking about the services we offer and what we do. We even did a Facebook video where we spoofed “House of the Rising Sun” into a library-themed ballad! We piled on posts and videos going through the Library’s past Wearable Arts performances and what each year’s themes represented. For example, “The Librarians of Alexandria,” celebrating how libraries preserve knowledge through the ages despite changes in technology, or “Showgirl Librarians,” which had the ladies decked out in every ounce of feathered-boa glory you could hope for, touting, ‘What happens in the library stays in the library,’ because your check out history is private no one else’s business.

Also, if you didn’t see the amazing videos the Public Library staff posted over the week, be sure to head over to their Facebook Page and do that today. It will do your heart good to see their faces and hear their voices.