The Bright Lights Book Project: A Visit to Mountain Village, Alaska
Contributed by Alys Culhane
The Bright Lights Book Project Books to the Villages program has been supported by a 2025 Senate Appropriation grant, courtesy of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. The grant included funding for book distribution and on-site visits.
I travelled to Old Harbor, off Kodiak Island in November and assisted in the school’s library revitalization program. And I travelled to Mountain Village, on the Yukon River in January and hosted a BLBP book fair.
I’d planned on spending four days in Mountain Village, then returning to Bethel, where I’d visit three additional schools. Bad weather kept me in Mountain Village for ten days. I cancelled my Bethel appointments.
On Thursday, the first day of my Mountain Village School stay, I met first grade teacher Amanda Queenie. The books proceeded me. After class, we went to the library and laid out the books that a month previously, sat on the shelves in the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel.
As we set the books on five round tables, the books that I, by sight, knew so well, reappeared. As planned, there were enough books on hand for all grade levels. On Friday, the following day, the teachers and their 200 students, class-by-class, entered the library, and picked out the books that they’d then take home. That evening and on Saturday the book fair was open to the public.
I assisted the children in selecting books. I explained what the book of interest was about, and what I liked about it. This further sparked their interest. By late Saturday evening, a handful of books remained. I placed the leftovers on the free book rack in the school hallway.
I camped out in Ms. Amanda’s first grade classroom. I’d brought food with me and slept on a mat. There was a microwave handy. I was to leave Mountain Village on Sunday morning. I knew, upon awaking, and looking out the classroom window, that I wasn’t going anywhere. The snow and rain were blowing sideways and obscuring the nearby Yukon River. I did what became routine. I called Grant Air and got no answer. I was told that AT&T cell service is spotty at that end of the world and that GCI is preferable. So, three times a day, I borrowed a cellphone, called the Bethel office, cancelled the next flight, and rescheduled my flight.
In between calls I watched as Ms. Amanda worked tirelessly with her first graders. I was impressed with the fact that they were all hard workers and functioning at a higher-than-average reading level. Ms. Amanda made learning fun for her students, by varying the class activities, and being clear in her directives.
On Wednesday there was a break in the weather. I was told the 5:55 p.m. flight would be coming in from Bethel. I packed my duffel bag, and the school custodian drove me to the airfield. In the half-hour that we sat waiting for the plane, the weather grew worse. The fog rolled in, and visibility became non-existent. In fact, I could no longer see the two ATVs that held waiting passengers. At 6:15 p.m. the janitor called the Bethel office and was told the flight was cancelled. We returned to the school, and I again set up basecamp.
I resumed reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee reaffirmed for me the importance of parents reading to their children. Atticus Finch instilled a love of reading in his daughter Jean Louise Finch (Scout), by reading to her and encouraging her to read on her own. The narrator, by example, pointed out that there are teachers who discourage reading in their use of rote activities.
On Friday, an additional box of BLBP children books arrived at the Mountain Village Post Office and was brought over to the school by the custodian. Ms. Amada laid the books on the floor, and her students, one-by-one, picked two books. Then, as instructed, each student thanked me. Seeing the gratitude in Ms. Amanda’s students’ eyes made my lengthy stay worth it.
Saturday dawned like the days that preceded it; rainy, snowy, blustery, windy. I made my morning and afternoon calls and was told the flights were cancelled. Late that afternoon, there was a break in the weather. I could sort of see the Yukon River. The Grant Aviation clerk said that the evening flight was on schedule. The janitor again drove me to the airfield, and we again waited for the 5:55 p.m. flight to arrive. By 5:30 p.m. the wind was again blowing hard. The plane, coming from the village of St. Mary plane landed on the runway. I arrived in Bethel, that evening, at 7:00 p.m. I’d missed my connecting flight to Anchorage but did not care, for I was this much closer to being home.
The question that remains is, would I return to Mountain Village? The answer is yes, but only in the fall or summer months.