A Vision

What is Salmon River Books?
Why does it exist?
Who runs this blog?

First--short answers.  Then--long discussions.

Salmon River Books is a project with two goals:
1) Compile a bibliography and write reviews of books pertaining to The Salmon River.
2) Showcase and promote public libraries in Stanley, Challis and Salmon.

Why does Salmon River Books exist?

1) To facilitate an understanding of and access to books pertaining to The Salmon River
2) To highlight Salmon River-related collections of libraries in Stanley, Challis & Salmon

Who runs this blog?

John Parsons, a lifelong library lover and book collector from Idaho Falls.

Now for the discussions.  Let's start with the blog author, John Parsons.  Parsons fell in love with books and libraries as a toddler.  He was lucky to have a Mother who revered both books and libraries.  His earliest memories are being read to by his Mother and being lead up the many flights of stone stairs into the imposing Carnegie Library in Lafayette, Indiana.

 Parsons has served on two committees which organized successful support for bond issues that built new libraries in Flagstaff and Cottonwood, Arizona.  His role on the Flagstaff Committee was to research and write the History of the Flagstaff Public Library dating back to the 1880's.  On the Cottonwood Committee, he created the campaign motto, "Books Build Futures" and used his experience running for office in four elections to help the committee successfully get out the vote in the middle of a cold winter January.

Parsons believes a public library is a window to the soul of the community which it serves, much as the human eyes are often said to be the window to an individual's soul.  People who care about themselves , their Families and their Futures will build, maintain, support and patronize a great library.

One of the reasons Parsons and his wife, Susun, moved to Idaho Falls is because of its wonderful library.  Such a beautiful facility clearly shows the people of Idaho Falls care about their community.

Whenever John and Susun visit an unfamiliar city, the very first place they look at is the library.

Salmon River Country has three great libraries, each unique in its own way.  One of the primary goals of Salmon River Books is to showcase and promote those three fine public libraries.

But first, let's get back to the first goal of Salmon River Books: "Compile a bibliography and write reviews of books pertaining to The Salmon River."  

Isn't there already such a resource out there someplace?  Well, the answer to that is both "yes" and "no" and that's really where this idea came from.  We believe a bibliography specific to The Salmon River itself would be a very useful resource for both Custer & Lemhi County residents but also the far flung visitors who wash ashore here during the annual boating and fishing seasons.

The scope and context of this bibliography would be rather narrowly defined to non-fiction references relating to The Salmon River watershed, hydrology, geology, history, natural and cultural resources and other aspects of interest.

Although the coverage area of the "Salmon River Idaho" website extends only from Stanley to North Fork, the Salmon River Books project would eventually encompass the entire river and its tributaries.

Hand-in-hand with the bibliography would be the project's review function.  We envision this as an ongoing, dynamic collaborative activity initially involving the Librarians in Stanley, Challis and Salmon.  Eventually, we envision others becoming involved in the review aspect as well.

If possible, we hope to list each local library's on site collection of Salmon River-related books, as well as to list other places and resources where such books may be viewed, loaned or purchased for private ownership.

We do not view this project as a strictly scholarly endeavor.  We would like to design and implement the project so that is is easy-going, user-friendly and proceeds at a pace that's enjoyable and comfortable for all involved.  We foresee the project as taking months to begin and years to finish.  Most of all, we foresee the project being quite fun for all.

Under the "why" of Salmon River Books, we stated we wish "To facilitate an understanding of and access to books pertaining to The Salmon River."

In our Age of The Internet and Social Media, there are many venues and more potential than ever before to accomplish the above objective.  Once the rudiments of a Salmon River bibliography reach critical mass, we believe we will be able to bring about a wide awareness of its availability to local, state and national individuals who may have a curiosity or need to know about such resources.

Finally, from a practical standpoint, this is a very large undertaking that is largely beyond the abilities of a single individual to accomplish.  Therefore, we are soliciting initial support from the Librarians and Staff of Stanley, Challis and Salmon to begin this ambitious project.

It is very important to realize there is no timeline or deadline for completion of this project.  If it isn't fun, it shouldn't be done.  Frankly, we envision this project as a wonderful winter pastime, especially on a snowy day in Idaho or a rainy day in Arizona (where we spend our winters).

We certainly hope this project sparks the imagination and participation of the three keepers of Salmon River Country's public libraries.  We would love to work with you over the years to come putting the pieces of this educational and entertaining puzzle together.

Thank You for reading.

Sincerely,

John Parsons
Idaho Falls
john@salmonriveridaho.net

PS--We almost forgot to mention that we see this project as being a commercial and ad free enterprise.  We do see the inclusion of promotional material related to the activities and programs of the 3 libraries.  We also see that "donation buttons" for each library could be placed within the context of the project.  However, we do not want this project to be colored by commercialism or advertising.