We're excited about the addition of the museum to the library department of the City! Most of all, we're excited about the prospects of combined programs and new connections to Seward's history. As with every new partnership, new responsibilities and new policies emerge. Amongst these adjustments, the library will be cutting back on some of our hours. Starting Sunday, February 5th, the library will be closed every Sunday. Additionally, our opening time on Monday through Saturday will be at 11 a.m. As for the museum, stay tuned for summer hours. Thank you to all our supporters, both of the library and the museum. It won't be long until the new building is open, and a streamlined relationship will fall into place.

Every summer we offer a reading program for children and teens. But now it's time to include the adults and let them win prizes just for reading! Starting January 8, 2012 and running until February 18th, adults can drop their name in a jar every time they read a book. Weekly drawings will take place, as well a grand prize drawing for an Amazon Kindle at the end of this 6-week program. No need to sign up, just "Book Your Escape" and read!

Looking for a story the whole family can enjoy? Drop by the library to check out a Junior or Young Adult audiobook to share with the entire family. We carry popular series, such as "Twilight" and "Harry Potter", as well as Newbery Medal winners like "Moon Over Manifest" and "Because of Winn Dixie."

The Alaska Library Network has added a new service to their Digital Pipeline page (http://sled.alaska.edu/databases/home.html) called Mango. Mango offers 37 different languages, including Spanish, French, Russian, and Tagalog. As an Alaskan library patron, access the Mango foreign language courses via Digital Pipeline's Education tab. It's free to you. Just create an account, and you're ready to begin! It even keep track of your progress and time spent learning the languages you choose.

Thank you, Alaska Library Network!