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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 2017)
6A • June 9, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com From the love of libraries to state leadership Seaside leader elected to top library post By Brenna Visser Seaside Signal When Esther Moberg was 17 years old working as a page in the Astoria Library, the thought of becoming one of the most infl uential librari- ans in Oregon was not on her mind. Starting in September, Moberg will take over as the president of the Oregon Li- brary Association. She is the director of Seaside Public Li- brary, and has been working in the library world for more than 14 years. The library association elected her at the end of May for a year long term. As president, it will be Moberg’s job to advocate for the health and well -being of all academic, public, school and special libraries through- out Oregon, she said. She will often be at the same table as government offi cials and pub- lishers and will organize con- ferences to help give Oregon’s libraries a unifi ed voice . “It’s such an honor. It says your peers respect you enough to give you this kind of re- sponsibility,” Moberg said. “It’s all about giving back.” She said she decided to run after the nominating commit- tee reached out to her, recom- mending her as a viable candi- date. Before this, she had been involved with the library as- sociation for about fi ve years, serving on a variety of confer- ence and award committees. — which runs with only one paid staff person — a priority. “Sometimes people don’t realize how critical these grants and resources are to libraries like these,” Moberg said. Early childhood literacy Love at young age Her love for libraries start- ed at a young age, she said. She was home-schooled, which meant going on mul- tiple trips to the library for learning materials. “I think I read through the entire children’s section of the Astoria Library,” Moberg laughed. The former library director Bruce Berney offered her a job as a page because “he was seeing me in the library every week anyway,” she said. Her experience in working with rural libraries will end up being an asset as presi- dent, current president Elsa Loftis said. “She knows the dynam- ics. We like to have broad COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP Library Director Esther Moberg meets with a colleague. Moberg was recently elected presi- dent of the Oregon Library Association. geographic representation of communities outside the Portland and Salem corri- dor and we’re always trying to fi nd ways to support rural and special libraries,” Loftis said. “I know she’s passionate about all libraries, and that’s what it takes.” Some of Moberg’s goals Video development kicks off for Seaside I f you spend any amount of time online these days, or perusing a social media app on your smart phone, you know that video is a big part of the social and web experience. It comes in all forms too. From taped content produced with big, small or no budget to live content that streams a sunset or an event on Facebook or Instagram, it’s nearly impossible to scroll through a social news feed and not see video content within the fi rst 30 seconds. With that trend in mind, fi ve months ago I wrote briefl y about a few projects that we’d be working on in 2017. One such project was the development of new videos, thanks in part to a funding grant we received from Clatsop County. Before I get into that project, it’s important to know that video isn’t new to Seaside. We developed a series of 10 videos about four years ago that we entitled the “Seaside Experience.” It was a video only journey, set to light music, exploring as much of Seaside as we could condense into 30-60 second video vignettes. We’ve also done work where crews come to Seaside and help us tell a story that includes interviews and SIDE RAIL JON RAHL taped segments. One such segment aired on the Motor Trend YouTube Channel and has had close to 250,000 views to date. I’ve even been told twice recently that the episodes are now available on Netfl ix. These videos have one thing in common. They offer us a platform to tell the Seaside story and offer a view into life on the Oregon Coast, its history and the many offerings we have for visitors. One missing piece to our video li- brary has been a branded story. But fresh off a 2016 year that saw the develop- ment of new print, digital and radio ads for our “It’s Easy to Seaside” campaign, we made the decision that the timing of a video series telling people how to do some of these great Seaside activities was lined up perfectly. A little over three weeks ago we began production on six “how to” videos that will show consumers just how sim- ple it is to walk, bike, kayak, catch your dinner, treasure the beach and – when the weather is a bit damp – have a good time indoors too. That last segment will have a title card called simply, “How to Seaside Inside.” It’s exciting to report that three days of video shooting has already produced rough cuts of four of the six videos. We hope to have the other two videos shot in the next six weeks and all six videos ready for launch by late July or early August. All videos are set to a music bed that aligns with our fun branding and feature some locals – or near locals – that volun- teered their time to help tell the story as our video talent. Most of the videos will also feature drone videos by Morrisey Video Productions. It’s been a lot of fun watching it come to life and I’ll be sure to report back once the fi nal product is ready for release. as president are tackling lack of funding for libraries across the board, as well as making the needs of small, rural libraries like Warrenton DINING on the NORTH COAST Great Restaurants in: GEARHART SEASIDE CANNON BEACH Have a thought or a question about tourism in Seaside, or maybe an idea for a future column? Drop me an email at jrahl@cityofseaside.us. Jon Rahl is the director of tourism for the Seaside Visitors Bureau and assistant general manager of the Seaside Civic & Conven- tion Center. Exploring artifacts from a beaver’s world Naturalist expounds on beavers’ role in habitat restoration By Rebecca Herren Seaside Signal As part of The Wetland Conservancy’s “Beaver Tales: A Celebration of Beaver Art,” traveling exhibit, local wild- life photographer and con- servationist Neal Maine pre- sented “Beaver Life,” a slide presentation demonstrating the importance and impact beavers have on streambed habitats and the signifi cance they play to local ecology at a lecture held on May 25. Maine’s love of the beaver was apparent throughout his slide presentation, at times pausing to refl ect on the be- guiling faces starring back at REBECCA HERREN Neal Maine at a lecture he gave on “Beaver Life” and the positive outcome beavers can have on salmon restoration, riparian habitat and waterway ecology. him. “The young have no fear of humans yet and they would swim right up to me,” he said stretching his arm out as an il- lustration of the close proxim- ity between him and the kits. Maine began with a brief explanation of the fi nancial role beavers played when set- She also hopes to focus on her longtime passion of supporting early childhood literacy. Moberg has been a main player in the Libraries Reading Outreach in Clatsop County program that helps rural kids get access to pub- lic library cards for free. She also hopes to develop ways to help libraries be more pro- active about securing more modern technology resourc- es, she said. But what Moberg is most excited about is what she fi nds the most rewarding as- pect of the job: honoring peo- ple in the industry for exem- plary work. “I get the great job of be- ing the one who gets to say ‘thank you,’ ” she said. “(Li- braries) do a lot of things well, but we’re not great about always telling people about it. It’s my job to let ev- eryone know.” tlers migrated to the Pacifi c Northwest. “Beavers in our area have been around for thousands of years,” he said. Prized for their fur, beaver pelts were “very signifi cant and used as the monetary exchange for products. You could sell a mule full of mate- rial for a beaver pelt.” Due to their value, beavers were over-trapped by early settlers and eliminated from much of its original range. In 1969, the Oregon Legislature declared the beaver its state animal. Maine shared a display of beaver artifacts includ- ing gnawed branches, beaver teeth and sculls. Beavers’ in- cisors, he explained are made up of an iron oxide in front and calcium (or soft dentin) in back, resulting in beveled teeth that are ideal for slicing through wood and stripping away bark. This combination aids in the continuous growth of the teeth so they won’t be worn down by chewing on wood. Beavers are primarily noc- turnal and do their best work at building dams and lodges at night. But, one might won- der how can one beaver do so much work in only a few hours? Taking into consider- ation the razor sharp strength of their incisors, these lum- berjacks can fell an 8-foot tree in about fi ve minutes. For this steadfast ability, Maine refers to them as “King Kong of the logging industry.” Though lodges are built to dam waterways, they are also used for protection from area cougars and coyotes, provide shelter, a place to raise their young and to travel. The exhibit will be avail- able to see during the June 10 Astoria art walk at the As- toria Art Loft then travel to the North Coast Recreation District in Nehalem where it will be on display from Aug. 4 through Aug. 31. powered by Excellence in family dining found from a family that has been serving the North Coast for the past 52 years Great Great Great Homemade Breakfast, lunch and pasta, Clam but that’s dinner steaks & Chowder, not all... menu,too! seafood! Salads! Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days) Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily) Astoria • 146 W. 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