ANCHORAGE, Alaska – All it takes is a few words from a storybook to connect kids over the crackle of an AM radio station.
It's not 1950s entertainment, but a nostalgic way children in even the most remote Alaska communities — many with unreliable internet — can overcome further isolation brought on by the coronavirus.
The public library in the small town of Homer got creative when it had to close during the pandemic, partnering with a radio station to bring a popular story hour to preschoolers stuck at home.
Youth services librarian Claudia Haines reads some children’s books — chosen to appeal to older kids or adults listening in, too — Thursday mornings on KBBI, which serves the town of 5,000 and surrounding villages.