Born in Alaska, Julianna Elise Braund-Allen always loved taking trips to the “lower 48” states when she was younger because she was amazed by the amount of libraries they had. Libraries, to her, are about education, knowledge, transmissions, and freedom. She also loves both literature and helping others, so a career in library science seemed only natural. Goal in mind, Ms. Braund-Allen got to work. She earned a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, in 1977 and a Master of Library Science, summa cum laude, from Louisiana State University in 1986. She then obtained her first job in the field, reference librarian at the Anchorage Municipal Library, and the rest was history.
Ms. Braund-Allen’s devotion to her work quickly attracted the attention of her peers. She became a highly-sought after team member, leading to a number of promotions. Ms. Braund-Allen joined research library at the Environment & Natural Resources Institute at the University of Alaska in 1988 and added the titles of program manager of the institution’s Arctic Environmental Information and Data Center (AEIDC) and reference librarian and associate professor of the Consortium Library in 1993 and 2000, respectively. She remained in all three positions until 2006. During this time, Ms. Braund-Allen also worked as the interim program manager for the university’s Alaska St. Climate Center and as a special library representative of the Governors Library Advisory Council. She continues to thrive with the organization to this day. Her roles include reference librarian and professor of the Consortium Library and management team librarian of the Alaska Resources Library & Information Services.
The highlight of Ms. Braund-Allen’s journey was occurred while she was working at the University of Alaska’s AEIDC. It was a small library that specialized in wildlife resources and frequently worked with federal and national libraries. The AEIDC was severely impacted by the economic downfall, however, so they were forced to keep shorter hours and to send their resources to other states. Ms. Braund-Allen worked with her team and was eventually able to figure out a solution to keep the resources in Alaska. She was thrilled with the victory.
Outside of the library, Ms. Braund-Allen spent a lot of time contributing her own publications to the field. She co-authored “Best Practices for Creating Bibliographic References in the Integrated Resource Management Applications Data Store” for the AK National Park Service, Natural Resource Report in 2014, prepared “Pebble Digital Repository” for The Pebble Partnership in 2012, and edited “Icebreakers: Alaska’s Most Innovative Artists” in 1999, among many others. She was also the editor of Vizual Dog in Anchorage, Alaska, from 1994 to 2003. She was thrilled these projects allowed her to use her editing and graphic design expertise.
In recognition of Ms. Braund-Allen’s achievements, she was honored with a variety of accolades over the years. Some notable ones include a citation as an Exceptional Service Citizen of Alaska from the Alaska State Legislation in 2002, the National Award for Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in 2001, and both the Hammer Award for National Performance Review from Vice President Gore and a Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1997.