Outreach Archivism in Alaska
“Social justice work happens in libraries of all kinds…libraries of all kinds are focused on diversity and inclusion and you can do social justice work from a variety of settings, not only in public libraries.” – Julie Varee
Meet Julie Varee. Julie has paved herself a successful career path in nonprofits, where she spent over 35 years in philanthropy and development. But a lack of work with other people of color wore on her. The moment she realized she would rather be working in libraries occurred when she visited her local library branch and saw people from different walks of life engaging in a variety of activities. At age 60, she courageously enrolled in a Masters of Library and Information Science online program. And so her professional story in libraries begins.
Julie identifies as African-American and she currently resides in Anchorage, Alaska. She has seen the African-American population in Anchorage increase since moving there in 1988. She says there are over 90 languages spoken in Anchorage public schools, so it is a very diverse community but it can often feel segregated, similar to many cities across the United States. So her current work as the Outreach Archivist for the Anchorage Museum is very important. Julie’s efforts are dedicated to improving their collection of archives to be more reflective of the diverse Anchorage community.
Her position as the Outreach Archivist is new to the Anchorage Museum. It was created after the Museum Director took notice of a lack of diversity reflected in their staff, leadership, and audience. Even their programs and exhibitions were not showcasing the rich cultures inherent to Anchorage life and history. The realization was long overdue, Julie claims. Her position started in early 2020, right before the pandemic hit, and it is currently funded by a grant through M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. They are anticipating the position to be fully funded by the museum after the three-year grant period.
Julie works in the Atwood Resource Center of the Anchorage Museum. The center consists of mostly photographs, over 800,000 of them, but there are still many voices missing from their collection. Therefore, some of Julie’s main responsibilities include:
Understanding and determining which communities make Alaska the place that it is and engaging more of those communities in the work of archives.
Supporting communities who have collected their own archives over time through educating them on proper archival care and examining how the museum can help them share their materials with other communities.
Expanding on oral histories and incorporating more sound in their archives to make their collections from indigenous cultures stronger.
Since the position is relatively new and starting in abnormal times, Julie has not been able to attend as many in-person community events and outreaches. Despite the challenges, Julie has still been able to make meaningful contacts through what she calls “detective work”, identifying contact points from underrepresented communities and those doing similar outreach and archival work in the general community. She has met with several videographers and photographers who are capturing and documenting this moment in history (i.e Black Lives Matter, COVID-19). To her pleasant surprise, large amounts of social justice work happens in libraries of all kinds.
To learn more about the design and civic responsibilities of the Outreach Archivist position at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, tune in to this podcast episode with Julie Varee. Julie discusses her position in depth and shares her insight on outreach archivist work through a social justice lens. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Julie Varee at jvaree@anchoragemuseum.org.