Skagway librarian retires after 25 years

Julene Brown had just had her second child when she became Skagway’s librarian in 1995.

“I had a degree in English to teach and had come back to Skagway where I grew up. And, yeah, it just seemed like it’d be a good fit,” she said.

Good fit turned out to be an understatement. Locals speculate she may be the longest serving librarian in the town’s history. But after 25 years, Skagway’s librarian has turned in her keys.

Much has changed since Brown started. During her tenure, the library expanded, started a teen night, and began renting out instruments as well as books. Library Board member Wendy Anderson said those programs are part of Brown’s legacy.

“Everything from teddy bear tea parties for the kids, to elaborate shadow puppets, plays recreating Where the Wild Things Are out at Liarsville in their Hippodrome… She’s just done a lot of really fun and innovative things over the years. So she will definitely be missed here at the Skagway library,” said Anderson.

The library building itself changed while Brown was at the helm, with a huge expansion project. Brown said the library is pretty much a new building–they bumped out three walls and re-sheetrocked the interior. She recalls they had to close and empty the entire facility. They operated out of the school library and housed the entire collection in the old clinic, which was slated for demolition.

“We asked them to hold off a little bit on tearing it down, so we could put the collection in there for a winter,” said Brown.

“But we moved all of the shelves and we set up the entire collection in order in that space. So while we served the public out of the school library, we were able to go to the storage and easily find and retrieve items for people while the library was closed and get them to them.”

The library is providing a similar service again, while the building is closed as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19. Library employees gather requested materials and leave them for curbside pickup.

Brown said technology has in some ways reshaped the way libraries run and the services they offer in the last quarter century. For example, during this closure the library can offer virtual programming, like storytime. But she said the core of the service stays the same—a place that serves and welcomes the whole community.

She turned in her keys last Thursday, and said she was missing it by Friday.

I’ve been thinking of it lately more like a child that you have to just let go and let it go do its own thing. But you’ll still you still get to go hang out with them. So I’ll definitely be patronizing the library… [I’ll] volunteer, if they’ll take me!” said Brown.

And she added that she takes comfort in knowing the library is in good hands. Jennifer Sasselli, formerly the library assistant, will guide the Skagway library from here.