Earlier this month, the Kuskokwim Consortium Library (KCL) in Bethel received what is known as the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that demonstrate excellence in service to their communities. It’s called the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, and Bethel’s recognition was a result of being nominated by Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
“I’ve been very impressed by the important resources and the personalized services that they provide,” Murkowski said. “This is everything from access to internet connectivity, educational support, help for the homeless and food insecure, as well as cultural preservation.”
Situated in a relatively small space on the Y-K Delta satellite campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, KCL stands alongside giants receiving the award including the LA County Library, one of the largest public library systems in the nation. New Jersey’s Long Branch Free Public Library and the Toledo Lucas County Public Library in Ohio also received the award.
“We were very excited. We were definitely, you know, screaming and crying and laughing and just really happy,” Kuskokwim Consortium Library Director Theresa Quiner said. “We're working with such a small budget and we have a tiny staff. It really, I think, highlights that we're doing what we need to be doing to be selected for this award alongside a huge library system like the LA County Library.”
The national medal also includes a $10,000 cash award, which Quiner said could in part be used to bolster the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, an early literacy program that mails free books to children under five years old. Additionally, some of the funds will likely go to programs in partnership with the Bethel Community Services Foundation. Examples include the community food bank and events like Project Homeless Connect.
“That's the venue that the Housing Coalition has used to collect survey data on homelessness in the community,” Quiner said. “And that's really important, because we didn't have the baseline data on homelessness in the community that's needed for federal funding and for housing projects.”
In July, Quiner will join her colleagues in Washington, D.C. to receive the medal in a ceremony held by the national Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The Kuskokwim Consortium Library was also a finalist for the award in 2022. The last Alaska library to receive the award was the Craig Public Library in 2015. This year, four museums across the country also received the national medal.
