By SUZANNE DOWNING
The Anchorage Public Library is inviting children to help design a new set of stickers for its branches, pitching the effort as a fun, community-driven project.
But the announcement comes with a familiar question for Anchorage residents: when the municipality asks for public input, how much of it actually counts?
Between Dec. 15, 2025, and Jan. 10, 2026, the Anchorage Public Library is accepting 2-inch-by-2-inch sticker designs representing individual library locations. Anyone may submit artwork, but only youth ages 5 to 18 who are residents of the Municipality of Anchorage are eligible to win.
Library officials say they want “unique stickers” they can proudly give to locals and visitors alike. Designs must be original, appropriate for all ages, and include the Anchorage Public Library logo. Copyrighted images are prohibited, glitter and shiny effects won’t reproduce, and no AI-generated art is allowed. Multiple entries are permitted, though an individual may win only once.
Winners will be selected in two stages. Library staff will choose one design for each library location. Those finalists will then advance to a “People’s Choice” round, with public voting scheduled for Jan. 20–31. Voting details will be announced via social media. By entering, participants grant the library permission to use the designs in promotional materials in perpetuity.
On paper, the process sounds straightforward. In practice, Anchorage residents have reason to be skeptical.
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Just last month, the Anchorage Assembly solicited public feedback on a redesigned city seal, only for that outreach to unravel under scrutiny.
Reporting by The Alaska Story showed photographic evidence that a new city seal was already in use before a public poll on designs even concluded. In a separate episode, Assembly Chair Chris Constant dismissed thousands of survey responses after the results did not align with his preferred outcome, effectively discarding public input that conflicted with the leftist Assembly’s direction.
Those episodes left residents skeptical of city-run “engagement” efforts, particularly when officials retain broad discretion over which responses advance and which are ignored. In addition, the city now has the largest budget in its history. The Anchorage Library has over 90 employees and a budget of $10,032,286 in 2025, which was an increase of more than 6.21% from the 2024 revised budget.
That comes at a time when the mayor of Anchorage and liberals on the Assembly are trying to convince the public to approve a 3% sales tax in Anchorage.
The library sticker contest places key decisions in the hands of the library staff, with the public vote limited to a final round after initial selections are already made. Will the librarians eliminate all stickers that have planes or boats on them, the way the Anchorage Assembly did when it “indigenized” the city seal?
While the project involves children and centers on something as small as a sticker, it still raises the question Anchorage has yet to answer convincingly: When the municipal leaders ask for community creativity or opinion, are they truly seeking guidance, or simply the appearance of buy-in? Can the public trust the Anchorage Municipality’s interpretation of the public process?
Designs must be submitted by library closing time on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.
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4 thoughts on “After the city seal debacle, will Anchorage really let public pick the new library stickers?”
Its kabuki,intended so they can say”we gave you input, now shut up and go away”, just like management consultants play
Rather than begin what will be a flawed voting process to create stickers intended to draw children to the three libraries north of 36th Avenue (why are there no libraries south of 36th, except in Girdwood?), attention should be paid to enforcing the posted rules and behavioral expectations at the Loussac Library. Library staff there do nothing in response to people sleeping in the easy chairs on the third floor, showing off half-consumed liquor bottles, taking over disabled persons restroom stalls, being malodorous and disruptive, and hanging out for no reason other than to charge their cell phones. According to the local security company’s lead manager, the responsibility of the security personnel at the libraries is to “observe and report” and nothing more than that.
Suzanne Downing is always on top of issues that matter most to Alaskans./s
Watch King Constant, he’s always up to some social engineering scheme that’s prohibitively expensive and against the wishes of the taxpayers.
It’s routine with him.