John Trigg Ester Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The John Trigg Ester Library is a small membership library, located in Ester in the U.S. state of Alaska, and held by the Ester Community Association. It was founded in the summer of 1999 and has developed its collection almost exclusively from donated and found books, videos, DVDs, and audio books. As a result, the collection is eclectic, reflecting the reading habits of members of the community. The family of John Trigg has been a major donor both in books and funds. Much of the library's collection of science, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery titles were originally from Trigg's private library or donated by his family. The library has approximately 4,000 volumes in its collections, and is constructing a new library building.
Library membership is separate from membership in the community association; dues are $5 per year. The library is staffed by a small group of volunteers. An annual fundraiser held in March, the Library Lallapalooza and Book Bash, earns income for supplies, rent, and for land and a building.
The Ester library is a member of the Alaska Library Association.
[edit] Collections
The library has a small Alaska nonfiction/reference section, with special attention to books published in Ester or by or about Ester residents. This includes the only periodicals in the library, those published in Ester: Mushing Magazine from founding through 2005, Alaska Handywoman, and The Ester Republic.
The library also has several foreign language and Alaska Native language titles. These are not separated from the regular collections (primarily due to the lack of space) but are integrated into the main sections: Reference, Fiction, Nonfiction, Circumpolar nonfiction, Young readers, Literature, Metaphysics & philosophy, Video/CD fiction & animated, Video/CD nonfiction, Books on tape/CD. Languages include: Athabaskan, Yup'ik, Russian, French, German, Danish, Hungarian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The library also has an extensive collection (for its size) of non-English dictionaries, grammars, and language self-study books.
