Now I have been rehearsing in my head (where else) what I will, as MC of the All Aboard the Concert Caboose, say.

Kudos first:

Bill Schmidtkunz who was a project founder.

I will begin by thanking a few people, Pete included.

Cathy Stone, artist in residence

Becky Myrold, who inspired the train theme.

Lynsey who is our poster artist, and Logan who is our videographer.

The owners of the Eagle Hotel who have watched us expand with bemusement

And so many others.

I will then have the BLBP board members, then volunteers stand up.

I’ll follow this with an overview of the BLBP programs, these including bookcases in the community, bookcases in the schools, books to villages, and books overseas.

I will say that the library’s metaphor is the Little Engine that could, and we are the caboose, right now broadly defining literacy by making books accessible to appreciative readers.

The BLBP has since its inception more “broadly defined literacy,” which is going beyond sitting a child down and reading him or her a book, although we do this upon occasion.

I see this happen on a daily basis, in the former banquet room of the former eagle hotel. Volunteers who clean books talk about what they’re reading. They also talk about what they’re reading. Sometimes it gets loud and raucous, particularly when someone (guess who) starts reading books.

Volunteers bring children, some of whom are now regulars. Javid comes to mind. He first came to an event, “children read to dogs,” and said to all that he hated reading.

He, who was surrounded by books and reading, is now a reader, not because he was forced to read, but because he, in seeing others read, took an interest in this activity. That there was a connection to his favorite subject, dinosaurs, was not coincidental.

Another example – two high schoolers, juniors. Alexi and Melissa approached me after the fair last August and asked if they might do volunteer work. I put them to work, cleaning books. They came, they saw, they took to the project like fish take to water. They were instrumental in our getting books to Kenya (the books are on their way).

They got a bookcase in Wasilla High, and they now stock it regularly.

This, becoming comfortable around books and taking the initiative to work at a project like this, is the cornerstone of literacy.

Another example. We are partners with the Alaska Literacy Program. Their focus is on workplace literacy. Lawrence Giron works for them and for us. Lawrence has told me that he previously mostly listened to books on tape. A week ago he came up to me and read me a passage of a book he was reading. And now he’s assisting individuals in selecting books.

And there’s me. I continue to pass books on to others, and in this way engage in two-way conversations about various topics, some book related and some not.

I am ashamed to admit that until recently I knew little about the solar system. In talking with and exchanging books with ALP math specialist Skye Harding, I have learned about the placement of the planets and about relative gravity. My world view has obviously broadened.

Next: 107. 4/19/26: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow