About Alaska Reads...
What is Alaska Reads?
Alaska Reads is a biennial statewide reading program that features a selected publication by a living Alaskan author. The initiative began in 2015 through the efforts of Frank Soos, 2015-17 Alaska State Writer Laureate, and seeks to build excitement around contemporary Alaskan authors and the stories they tell. Spanning genre and sharing the work of diverse authors, Alaska Reads bridges vast distances through a shared story.
The Alaska Reads Team
Alaska Reads is a program of Fairbanks Arts Association in partnership with Alaska Center for the Book and is funded in part by the Stroecker Foundation, the Alaska State Library, and the Alaska State Council on the Arts. The success of Alaska Reads also depends on dozens of librarians and community liaisons around the state.
Fairbanks Arts Association is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that has served Interior Alaska through the arts since 1966 and is the official arts organization for the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the City of Fairbanks. Fairbanks Arts is a resource to arts organizations, individual artists, and arts participants and believes in creating more vibrant, healthy communities through the arts. Learn more at www.fairbanksarts.org.
The Alaska Center for the Book is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization and an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book promoting literacy and the love of reading in Alaska since 1991. Learn more at www.alaskacenterforthebook.org.
How is the book selected for Alaska Reads?
Alaska State Writer Laureate Frank Soos started the Alaska Reads program in 2015 as a way to celebrate living Alaska authors and connect Alaskan readers. “We began with a committee of 7 people from diverse personal and geographic backgrounds, all of whom cared about books and reading— a mix of librarians and writers of various types,” said Soos. The Alaska Reads selection committee includes both writers and librarians so that both writers producing books and librarians familiar with Alaska readers would have input in the selection. Each committee member makes several initial nominations, and the committee works to reach consensus for the final selection.
2017-2018 Selection Committee
Chair:
Frank Soos, Writer, Fairbanks
Writers:
Carolyn Servid, Sitka
Erin Hollowell, Homer
Lynn Schooler, Juneau
Librarians:
Valarie Kingsland, Seward
Marguerite La Riviere, Nome
Rayette Sterling, Anchorage