The National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) Internship Program is a partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) and other Federal agencies with cultural resource protection and public land management responsibilities. Its purpose is to accomplish needed and important work on federally protected lands while providing program participants with professional experience in their chosen fields. Interns work under the guidance of agency staff to complete projects or undertake programs in furtherance of the park’s mission.

To be eligible, applicants must be between 18 and 30 years old (or 35 if a veteran) when starting the internship, a college student or recent graduate (within the past 12 months at the time of application), enrolled in a degree-seeking program, and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.  

Sitka National Historical Park in Sitka, Alaska, is seeking an intern to work a total of 800 hours (4.5 months) to perform library improvement and cataloging at the park. Core duties include an evaluation of the park library, review of the library’s scope and collecting mission, setup of NPS LIBRIS cataloging software, migrating and cataloging publications, and collection refinement. The library currently holds over 1200 publications, plus a backlog of approximately 400 volumes, and rare books that are part of the museum collection. Work will be performed under the direction of the park’s Chief of Resources.

Sitka National Historical Park’s enabling legislation directs the park to preserve a totem pole park, a historic Native American village site, a historic battlefield, and properties associated with the history of Russian America. The park’s library provides published resources that document all aspects of Russian America and the local Indigenous community, the Tlingit people, and the history and resources of Sitka National Historical Park.

This is a paid internship. The position includes up to $2000 for relocation assistance, a living allowance for days worked, paid time off (PTO), and free park housing. The location is beautiful Sitka, Alaska, an international tourism and cruise ship port. The city is walk- and bicycle-friendly, and bicycles are available for checkout from the park during the internship. The park provides office space and a computer to perform official duties. Note that a background security investigation may be required prior to the start date.

Qualified NCPE interns who complete their internships may count their position towards earning a Public Land Corps (PLC) Non-Competitive Hiring Authority certificate.  Once earned, the PLC certificate may be used to apply for eligible Federal permanent, temporary, or term positions. Visit https://preservenet.org/ncpe-internships/ for details about this benefit. Successful completion of the internship does not guarantee Federal employment.