The City Museum’s new interactive History Mystery exhibit at the Mendenhall Valley Library examines ideas about technology in relation to the Juneau Public Libraries’ Big Read and Discover Tech projects.
From mid-September through mid-April 2018, several objects from the Museum’s Education Collection will be on display. They are all pieces of technology that were once considered innovative solutions that improved people’s quality of life or made a profession’s work easier and more accurate. While operational, not all of these objects are still in everyday use, many having been replaced with more technologically-based modern alternatives.
The public is invited to use their imagination and powers of observation to envision what these objects are and to write their own museum labels, either imaginative or historic. Label templates may be picked up at the Valley Library front desk. Completed labels need to be turned in to the library before Nov. 30. People may fill out and turn in as many labels as they wish. City Museum staff will choose two labels for each object, best historical and most creative, and these will be posted in the display case from January to mid-April.
During September and October, the Juneau Public Libraries encourage the community to join in the Big Read. The selected novel, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, examines what happens to our society and its technology in the face of catastrophe. Station Eleven takes place in a future America where a devastating flu has wiped out much of the population. Technological objects such as cellphones and laptops become pieces in a “Museum of Civilization,” no longer useable and reflecting a past era. Other items, like musical instruments, continue to have importance, and still others are adapted to fill new needs in a world that has gone through drastic changes. NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. To learn more about Juneau’s Big Read events through the end of October, visit bigreadjuneau.org.
In January, the Juneau Public Libraries will host the second national tour of the interactive traveling exhibit Discover Tech: Engineers Make a World of Difference. This exhibit will show “how engineering provides solutions to better meet human needs and develops sustainable innovations for the future, and how engineers create new technologies to solve problems.” It will also address critical issues that engineers will face during the remainder of the 21st century.
More information about the City Museum can be found on the museum’s website, www.juneau.org/library/museum. The City Museum is located at 4th & Main Streets. Summer hours are: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Summer admission is $6 for general admission, $5 for ages 65 and older, and free for ages 12 and under and Friends members at the Family level and higher. Winter hours begin Sept. 28, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and winter admission begins Oct. 2.
