The Bright Lights Book Project: The Old Harbor School Library Revitalization Project
Contributed by Alys Culhane
LuAnn and Nat stock the shelves
Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Pam Huyck (a BLBP Board Member and Office Manager) and I traveled to Old Harbor, a bush community located on Kodiak Island. There we participated in a Library Revitalization Project, which was headed up by Head Teacher Summer Rwehumbiza. Prior to our five-day stay, I’d sent 61 boxes of books to the school.
I’d met Summer at the 2024 Anchorage Science of Reading Symposium. Her eyes grew wide when I mentioned that Senator Lisa Murkowski was instrumental in our having gotten a 2024 Senate Appropriation grant; therefore, we had the funding needed in order to send books to villages. Yes, Summer said, the Old Harbor School needed books.
I contacted Summer in October. She reiterated that the library upgrade was underway. I said that I’d send 50 boxes of books her way. I packed up the boxes, and BLBP Board member Pete Praetorius weighed, labeled, and took them to Palmer Post Office loading dock. Pete made my plane reservation, and after he told me that I’d first fly from Anchorage to Kodiak, then from Kodiak to Old Harbor, also on Kodiak Island. The Alaska Airlines flight would take an hour, and the Island Air flight would take a half-hour.
I fretted about the second flight. My fears were justified. I was the last to board the 12-seat Caravan and took a seat next to a beefy middle-aged individual. I searched under his seat for my seatbelt as we taxied down the runway. When the pilot (young, broad shouldered, wearing a brown jacket) said that “It was going to be a bumpy flight,” I swore, loudly.
I was bounced around like a ping pong ball, the one difference being that ping pong balls don’t go sideways. I held onto the seat rails and closed my eyes. Fear turned to relief when the wheels hit the landing strip.
I stepped out onto the gravel surface and noted that it was sunny, warm, and windless. I greeted Summer saying, “I cheated death, once again.” The Whoopi Goldberg look-alike laughed and remarked that I was lucky that I wasn’t on Cherokee, the Island Air three-seater plane.
Summer introduced me to Ray, a retired schoolteacher and pilot. Ray, 89, brought mail to and from the Old Harbor Post office. Summer added that Pam and I would be staying at Ray and his wife Stella’s Bed and Breakfast. On the drive to the school, Summer, pointing to the right, said that a bison herd resided across the inlet, on Sitkalidak Island.
The Old Harbor school was identifiable as such because there was playground equipment in the front yard. I made a beeline for the entrance as Summer remarked that a sow and her cub had recently cut across the school yard. The inside of the building was more inviting. Children occupied the bright and airy classrooms, which were off a main hallway. Artwork and posters were everywhere. Summer introduced me to Phyllis Clough, the Old Harbor school cook and art teacher. It was lunch time. Clough served me sickyuk, a half-baked, half smoked salmon dish that was traditional to her Alutiiq roots, and explained that Glenn, her husband, had just had knee surgery, adding that he was the custodian, bus driver, and day man.
Together, Nat, Emily, and LuAnn (the other Old Harbor school teachers) and I entered the future library, a large room where metal bookshelves lined the walls. Boxes piled three deep covered the floor. Nat said that the BLBP and school library books had been scanned and were ready to be shelved. Summer and I returned to the main office and went over the library revitalization schedule. When complete, there would be a ribbon cutting ceremony, and then two days of library-related activities. I didn’t say what I was thinking that I was dubious about our being able to get all the books shelved in time for the library opening.
I underestimated what four teachers, an art teacher, and a handful of student volunteers can do. For the next two days, all involved unpacked, scanned, and shelved books, then placed artwork on the walls. On Day Three, there was an official ceremony; those in attendance included educators who flew in from Kodiak, and members of KANA (Kodiak Area Native Association). After the ribbon cutting, the students streamed into the room, took books off the shelves, sat at tables and on floor chairs, and read books.
For the next two days the students, teachers, and educators made books, bookmarks, and masks. The event culminated in a school parade: the children wore masks. Pam and I left that Sunday, reluctantly, for we had made some lifelong friends who too envisioned the power of literacy to change lives. It was a smooth flight back to Kodiak Island on Caravan. Nevertheless, my next trip there will be by ferry.