Honoring lifelong commitments to learning

Published 8:30 am Thursday, April 2, 2026

The Homer Public Library was lively after closing time Saturday evening, as dozens of community members gathered to honor three awardees in the annual Lifelong Learning Celebration.

‘Spirit of the library’

The first award of the evening was given to Jacque E. Peterson, a retired State of Alaska librarian who also served on the Homer Library Advisory Board and continues to support the Homer library and promote literacy through myriad volunteer avenues.

Peterson was unanimously selected by the Friends of the Homer Library Board of Directors to receive the Library Spirit Award, which Lin Hampson — who sits on the board and served as emcee Saturday evening — said is an award given only occasionally. In fact, this year marks only the second time in the Friends’ history that the Library Spirit Award has been bestowed. It last went to Olivia Glasman in 2022 for her work in promoting library programs.

Hampson said the Library Spirit Award is given to an individual who has enriched the library experience and promoted the use and enjoyment of the library.

“The award is a way to acknowledge the impact of the community members who have invested their time and talent into making the library the best place that it can be,” she said. “I think we all agree that this library is the best that it can be, and it’s thanks to individuals like Jacque. She was a clear choice for the award this year.”

Hampson listed several of Peterson’s volunteer efforts, including sending books to military personnel, collecting hundreds of books for HPL’s BOB the Bookmobile, making bookmarks to give away to young readers, and crafting handmade jewelry which she sells at pop-up markets and the library’s annual book sales.

Despite all of her involvement in supporting the library, Hampson said, some may not have met Peterson directly before.

“She prefers what she calls ‘flying under the radar,’ and she does a good job of that,” Hampson said. “According to the dictionary, a spirit is something that can be felt and not necessarily seen — and I think this describes Jacque absolutely. She is the embodiment of the spirit of the Homer Public Library, seldom seen, but whose presence is always felt.”

Peterson said she was “touched and honored” to have been chosen for the Library Spirit Award.

“I have to admit I was surprised to have been chosen, as I work alongside and behind the scenes with so many truly amazing volunteers, many who have supported the work of the Friends and, by extension, the library,” she said.

For her part, Peterson’s involvement with HPL stemmed, she said, from her career as a librarian and her focus after retiring on literacy and doing what she can to spread the joy of reading. Peterson’s own love of reading came from the relationship she had with her grandfather.

“Both my parents were readers, so reading was an activity modeled in our home, though, oddly enough, they did not as a rule read to us. The one person who did read to us was my mother’s father,” she said. “When we would visit, the three of us girls would climb into the guest room bed and settle in, and our grandfather would read us favorite books from his childhood back in England.

“In those moments, my love for story and the ability to slip completely away to enchanted, magical, fanciful places was born.”

She described a particularly significant moment in her childhood, where her grandfather took her on an adventure to the public library.

“As he opened the door and ushered me inside, he said, ‘Jacqueline Elizabeth, this is for you. This is all for you.’ I was five, and over 60 years later, I can still remember the magic of that moment,” she said. “That began my love affair with libraries.”

Peterson encouraged members of the audience to get involved in volunteering at the library and explore volunteer opportunities available through the Friends. She also encouraged them to read to the kids in their lives and introduce them early to the wonders of libraries.

Curiosity that inspires

Homer High School senior Lukas Renner was next presented with the Youth Learner Award.

Renner was nominated by Homer High School band teacher Eric Simondsen and Kenai Peninsula College Associate Professor of Mathematics Jeffrey Johnson for his multiple talents in music, math and athletics and for contributing to Kachemak Bay Campus’ vibrant academic community, where he “models a spirit of openness and curiosity that inspires other learners.“

Not only did Renner receive two nominations this year, but this is also the second year in a row that he was nominated.

Simondsen first became Renner’s band teacher five years ago, when he joined the Homer Middle School band in eighth grade. In those five years, Renner has learned to play the euphonium and the trombone, and this year ranked as the second chair trombone player in the state.

“It’s been a pleasure having him in my class and watching him grow from a curious eighth grader into a confident high school senior preparing to head off to college,” Simondsen said. “This is my 20th year as a teacher, and I can confidently say that Lukas is one of the most engaged students that I’ve ever had in a music class. It’s my pleasure to have nominated Lukas for the Youth Learner Award, and I know he will continue to find opportunities to excel musically and academically.”

Johnson and Renner first crossed paths at the Homer Middle School MathCounts program when Renner was in seventh grade.

“We have a lot of little things in common, and one of them is that Lukas speaks math,” Johnson said. “When I say he speaks math, he has a knack for the language of mathematics at a higher level.”

He further shared that Renner has written “some fairly sophisticated” security protocols “that the ordinary person isn’t going to be able to do” and that he was accepted to both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology, which Johnson said “shows the level that Lukas really is.”

“His work is clean and intentional. He has a kind of calm approach to problem solving that shows his success,” he said. “He’s an honest, genuine, smart person and he’s going to do wonderful things.”

Renner thanked Simondsen and Johnson for nominating him for the Youth Learner Award, and for their support.

“I am very fortunate to have Mr. Simondsen and Professor Johnson as my mentors,” he said. “They exemplify the kind of person I hope to be.”

He also thanked his parents for their support, and spoke on how the Homer Public Library shared a role as well in shaping his education, from his participation in summer reading programs, chess clubs and coding camps to using the library as a space to work on homework and college applications or to simply relax.

Renner also shared four “fundamental truths” about education that he’s learned over the course of his high school years.

“Firstly, memorization is important, but that’s not what you need, really. A deep understanding of something is really more valuable — then, if you don’t remember it, you can figure it out again on your own,” he said.

Practice and asking questions are also important, he said, as is teacher encouragement and support — though, he added, in order to succeed, the student also has to be interested in what they’re learning and be able to motivate themselves. Finally, learning outside the classroom, not just inside it, “is also very important.”

Renner offered a parting joke to the audience before concluding his speech.

“I asked a librarian for some advice — they told me to believe in my shelf,” he said.

A life spent studying and mentoring

Finally, the Lifelong Learner Award was presented to Ed Berg.

Berg holds a wide range of knowledge and academic accomplishments, including multiple advanced degrees in philosophy, geology and ecology, a Masters degree in statistics and a doctorate in botany. He has taught climate change and Kachemak Bay geology, volunteered with the Homer Drawdown Peatland Project, led nature walks, and is writing manuscripts on Kenai Peninsula ecosystems.

Local historian and former Homer News and Peninsula Clarion reporter Shana Loshbaugh nominated Berg for the award, citing his curiosity and dedication that continues to inspire others.

“I don’t remember exactly how or when I first met Ed Berg, but it was shortly after I first moved to Homer in 1981,” she said. “Later, he told me he first came to Alaska in 1977. In those early years, he worked as a carpenter, but it soon became clear that he was far more educated than most nail-bangers.

“I took his Geology of Kachemak Bay class and remember it as a lively learning experience with lots of outdoor lessons (and) walking the landscapes, including beach walks and hiking across the bay.”

Loshbaugh also recalled Berg’s volunteer work “in multiple arenas” such as fostering friendly ties between Alaska and the Russian Far East. When she started writing for the Clarion after her family moved to Kasilof in the 1990s, she came back into contact with Berg in his role then as staff ecologist at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Later, when Loshbaugh returned to school at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Berg wrote a letter of academic recommendation for her.

“When my husband and I moved back to Homer four years ago, I was happy to reconnect with Ed and also sad to learn that unspeakable tragedy had befallen him and his late wife, Sara,” she said, referring to the 2019 murder of the Bergs’ daughter, Anesha “Duffy” Murnane. “I was newly impressed, however, with how they used the horrible experiences to build community and to help others.

“Now, in our senior years, Ed has survived these and many challenges, and he is still learning, teaching and writing. I thank him for his kind heart, community service, contributions to learning and for being my friend.”

Berg thanked Loshbaugh for the nomination, and thanked the library and community members for supporting the Loved and Lost Memorial Bench that rests outside the Homer Public Library.

When thinking about what to present in his speech on Saturday, Berg said he thought about his upbringing, education and the mentors he had throughout his life, and decided to focus on the importance of mentorship in one’s life.

“My first experience of mentoring was in the seventh grade when I got interested in ham radio,” he said, noting that part of what makes mentorship possible is a common shared interest.

Berg had put together a simple radio but found that it didn’t work. His father suggested he take it in to a radio repair shop, and there he encountered his first mentor in the shop’s owner, who helped him take the radio apart and clean it up before re-soldering it together again using the proper materials.

“This actually took a couple of visits. But it led to more visits, and once we got the radio running, he had other radios for me to work on,” he said. “We shared this interest, and he knew I was interested in electronics and that was his main interest. That was the bond there.”

Berg illustrated a few other influential mentors he encountered in his young life that fed his plentiful and varied interests, including geology and geophysics, cave exploring and homeopathy. He also described a program he’d written at one time on mentoring in project-based education, taking inspiration from Georgia’s Foxfire program, where students have for over 50 years recorded disappearing Appalachian traditions and stories.

“This occasion tonight prompted me to haul out that proposal and look at it,” he said. “I think there are so many talented people in Homer. They may be working as roofers or carpenters, like I did, fishermen and so forth, but they have interesting backgrounds, or maybe they have some very specific fishing skill that could be mentored. We have intern programs, which are kind of the first step on this, but they really aren’t based on that commonality of interest between the mentor and the mentee.”

Berg encouraged members of the audience to think about how they could be a mentor to someone, or how they could connect with a mentor that could help them along in their own interests and pursuits.

“To this day, whenever somebody comes up and says, ‘I’m interested in such and such,’ and if I’m interested in that, there’s an immediate bond and I’m thinking about ‘how can I assist this person? Who can I direct them to, what article can I send them?’ And then I try to follow up,” he said.

In addition to the awards themselves, the evening also featured a live music performance by local students Daniel Christ and Sophie Williams, a trivia tree contest, a silent auction, and a small showcase by the Homer High School Swing Choir.

The Lifelong Learning Celebration also serves as a fundraiser for HPL’s annual summer reading program. In addition to the silent auction, attendees were invited to purchase token paper tulips to support this year’s program, themed “Plant a Seed, Grow a Reader.” Each tulip purchased supports one summer reader, and HPL Youth Service Librarian Cinda Nofziger said that the program will aim to “plant seeds and plant skills, giving kids a chance to try out things that maybe they haven’t tried before.”

“We’re thinking about planting seeds as growing community, so we’re going to do programs that bring people together,” she said. “We’re going to think about planting seeds in a whole lot of different ways that really befits all of our community kids.”

For more information about the Lifelong Learning Celebration, visit friendshomerlibrary.org/.