Why can't I just call it SLAM?

Here at the Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum, we're having a bit of an identity crisis, in that nobody knows how to identify us. Since the early phases of our new facility project, the building has been called SLAM, an acronym of State Library, Archives, and Museum. I've always liked SLAM. It's easy to remember and fun to say. When I worked as a SLAM Project Assistant, I received an email that I had "the coolest job title ever."

Now that construction is finished and we have an official name, we've transitioned away from SLAM to the APK, an initialism of Andrew Petrovich Kashevaroff, our eponym. We usually have to add "formerly known as SLAM" for anyone to know where we're talking about, but we hope that it'll catch on with time. Father Kashevaroff was the first curator and librarian of the Alaska Territorial Library and Museum, which eventually evolved into the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum. He gave 20 years to this institution and laid the foundation for everything that we do. It's an honor to be part of his legacy. So if you're headed to our beautiful building, help us out and call it the APK.

Studio portrait of Kashevaroff taken by Calvin Studio in Sitka, circa 1934. "The Very Reverend A.P. Kashevaroff, Curator and Librarian of the Alaska Territorial Museum and Library in Juneau." Alaska State Library Historical Collections, PCA 243-3-005.

Father Kashevaroff and another man with a large spruce round in the Alaska Territorial Library and Museum. This object is currently on view in the timber section of the Alaska State Museum. Alaska State Library Historical Collections - PCA 243-3-008.

Or, if you want to be official, you can go with the whole mouthful: The Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum. And if you're unsure about how to pronounce it, you're not alone. Although Russian-speakers might cringe, we say it: