Petersburg library totem pole to be installed in mid-May

PETERSBURG – The library in Petersburg is about a month away from unveiling its 20-foot storyteller totem pole.

The Petersburg Public Library is adding a roughly $40,000 red cedar totem pole called the "Storytellers Pole," carved by Tommy Joseph, a Tlingit carver from Sitka.

Joseph had an idea about 11 years ago to build a totem pole that caters to children and the storytellers they grow up with.

He pitched the idea to the Petersburg library about four years ago, and it stuck, but the library had to wait for it to be funded. With help from the Rasmuson Foundation, Petersburg Community Foundation and individual donors, the library is ready to install the pole.

From top to bottom, the pole has animals etched in the cedar. They all associate with children's books and include a bear, rabbit, goose and raven. The hope is they will be broad enough for children to relate them to whichever character they have grown up with, Joseph said.

"I posted an image yesterday and somebody had written 'I hope Disney doesn't come down on you,'" said Joseph, who ensured the characters won't be exact replicas of Disney characters. "It's not Winnie the Pooh on there, but if you want it to be Winnie the Pooh, guess what, it's Winnie the Pooh."

Joseph, who stopped counting 12 years ago after he had carved about 30 other totem poles, said there's a few characters on the pole he is saving for when it's unveiled, which is scheduled midway through May.