There's No Place Like Nome


Staff
Dale Brandt, Director
Stephanie Curtiss, Library Assistant
Charlene Lewis, Library Aide

Contact
Email: library@ci.nome.ak.us
Phone 907-443-6628
Fax 907-443-3762

Address
P.O. Box 1168
223 Front Street
Nome, Alaska 99762

Hours
Monday through Thursday: Noon - 8:00 pm
Friday and Saturday: Noon - 6:00 pm
Closed Sundays and official holidays


Thadeus Steve "happy patron"

Library Programs
Preschool Story Hour begins 1st week of October.
Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. It's fun, it's free.
Parents must be accompanied by children.

Library Services
Got questions? Reference service is an email, fax or a phone call away. We also offer internet, fax, photocopying, topo maps, tax forms (online), videos, interlibrary loans, periodicals, news books and old, rare books on Alaska and the Seward Peninsula.


Highly Recommended

The Alice Green Collection
The Kegoayah Kozga Library has a collection of old & rare books that were purchased in 1983 from retired Presbyterian Minister, Alice Green. Green began amassing books and articles on Alaska and neighboring regions around 1963 while serving as the Presbyterian Minster for Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island.

Among the books are many rare volumes including numerous autographed first editions, government reports, early Eskimo ethnographies on St. Lawrence Island, popularly written books on Alaska life and biographies of famous and not-so-famous Alaskans. Most of these publications are dated between the 1800s and 1975. The following are examples of just a few titles:

  • The King Island Journal: the 1951-52 Journal of Juan and Rie Munoz, Teachers on a Bering Sea Island by Rie Munoz (2007)

  • Hunting in Alaska: A Comprehensive Guide by Christopher Batin (2006)

  • Alaska Eskimo footwear by Jill Oakes (1952)

  • ALASKA: Saga of a Bold Land by Walter R. Borneman (2003)

  • The Race to Nome: the story of the heroic Alaska dog teams that rushed diphtheria serum to stricken Nome in 1925 by Kenneth Ungermann (1963)

  • The Great Trek: the story of a five-year drive of reindeer herd through the icy wastes of Alaska and northwestern Canada by Max Miller (1935)

  • Roadhouse Tales by M. Clark, 1902, is a collection of stories gathered from conversations of "mushers," who sat by the fire during the cold, dark evenings of a long winter in Northern Alaska.

  • The Eskimo and his Reindeer in Alaska by C. L. Andrews, 1939, with lots of old photos and illustrations.

  • Voyage of the Jeannette: the ship and ice journals of George W. De Long (1813) in two volumes

  • Nome and the Seward Peninsula: history, biographies and stories by E.S. Harrison (1905)

This collection can be searched by title, author or subject with our in-house computer system. All materials are for use in the library only. Inter-library loans from this collection are not available. They are not checked out and they do not leave the library building. Photocopies can be made; copyright laws must be followed where applicable.


Library Internet Policy Click here for pdf file.

Kegoayah Kozga Name Interpretation
There is not complete agreement regarding the meaning of the words Kegoayah Kozga. However, in Ella Higginson's book /Alaska: the Great Country /(1926) there is little room for argument. The following is found on page 525:

Nome has a woman's club. It is federated and it owns its club-house, a small but pretty building. Its name is Kegoayah Kosga, or Northern Lights. It held an open meeting while we were in Nome. Bishop Rowe described a journey by sled dog and canoe, Congressman Sulzer gave an informal talk, and the ladies of the club presented an interesting programme. The afternoon was the most profitable I have spent at a woman's club.

Library Mission
We strive to inform, enrich, and empower every citizen of Nome, Alaska by creating and promoting free and easy access to a vast array of ideas and information and by supporting lifelong love of reading.