This manual is intended as a guide and a resource for staff and volunteers in small public libraries in Alaska. It is for libraries managed by local residents that have not had training in operating and managing a library. Some of the chapters may be useful to other types of libraries, such as a small school library or a church library. The guide provides information about establishing a library; the library building, equipment and supplies; administering the library, including planning, budgeting, and publicity; the library collection, including how to evaluate and select books, periodicals, and media; how to operate a library, arrange the collection, set up circulation procedures, and secure interlibrary loans; how to develop a policy for selecting materials; special programming, such as story telling or reading programs; and suggestions for developing procedures for library operations. Appended to the manual are helpful examples and additional information divided into the same sections as the manual itself. The appendices include sample policies; legislation and regulations applying to Alaska libraries; evaluation forms; a basic reference bibliography for a small library, including Alaskan reference materials and general materials; filing rules for card catalogs; examples of selection policies developed by three small libraries; paper games used in three children's summer reading clubs; and examples of 27 written library procedures, from circulation to use of the photocopy machine. Also appended are a resource address list; a glossary of library terms, and an index. (Contains 74 references.) (KRN)