Developing a Locally Focused Indigenous Peoples Collection: An Act of Reconciliation
by Andrea LaPointe
This thoughtful paper describes the personal and professional journey of a teacher-librarian in British Columbia in the process of recognition and action in the decolonizing of Indigenous stories and knowledge books in SLLC collections. An inclusive district committee was formed to focus on the question “How can we honour the land and Indigenous people through the reclassification of Indigenous resources AND increase student and teacher access to Indigenous resources?” Read about resources used and how the committee is formally developing the first Indigenous Peoples Collections using the Indigenous Peoples Classification System and labeling them to meet their goals.
Andrea, I really enjoyed your story, and I admire that you honoured the topic by emulating the cyclical style of writing.
ReplyDeleteSchool districts across the country are starting to think about this challenge, and have little to no guidance. I'm so impressed with the level of research and consultation that you did in Surrey. From the CSL perspective, we are wondering if there is a way to help school districts handle this challenge. We do touch upon Indigenous resource selection and guidelines for weeding older editions telling the story through a colonial lens. But cataloguing and classification present a whole other level of challenge.
The Canadian Federation of Library Associations has done some work in this regard, and as a member association, I am wondering if there is an opportunity to work with them on resources and guidelines. So we may be calling on you for participation, if we are able to proceed with this huge task.
Thank you for engaging with our story Anita! I would be very happy to help in any way I can to move this conversation forward in Canada.
DeleteAndrea,
ReplyDeleteThis approach feels so much more inviting than a traditional (Western) academic paper. I really like how patient you and your working group were and understood that it was going to be a lengthy, imperfect process. Those two goals set out early on really guided the efforts and kept everyone on a solid path. I'd be so in a hurry to "get to the end" that I'd ignore important aspects. Your group didn't ignore. All of you took your time and did it in such a inviting and humble way. I've read the article about the Xwi7xwa / Brian Deer classification system before and appreciate how it informed your understanding yet realized how different the public and school library systems can be. Will there be places in the IPC for things such as science topics? Who is permitted to decide where a book goes? (i.e. Chad Solomon's Rabbit and Bear Paws graphic novel series?)
Diana M
Thank you for your time engaging in our story Diana and for taking the time to reply with thoughtful questions! At this point, and we are open to suggestions, the first consideration for where a book goes in the IPC is based on the author/illustrator's people group. Since we are only including authentic or endorsed resources the people group that the author/illustrator is a part of is where it would land (Chad Solomon's books would be in the First Nations section). The goal is that each section is a collection of books that represent the people, the land and the culture or the topic. If a book represents more than one people group or a topic (ex. Surviving the City would be in the topic section Missing Murdered Indigenous Women) then it would be placed in the appropriate topic. At this point it means the teacher-librarian has a lot of autonomy to determine where each book goes. In Surrey we will be collectively working on this and supporting each other in that determination. Hope that answers your question and happy to speak more to this at the symposium!
DeleteLila Armstrong
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I'd like to echo the words of Anita and Diana. Your letter was simply the perfect medium to share your experience. A thoughtful reminder to consider how to share important messages. Diana, I chuckled because my submission was a traditional (semi) academic paper and that is my comfort zone. Important to consider our audience when we are writing!!
ReplyDeleteRe-aligning our purpose in the library seems to be a recurring theme here, and part of our constantly changing job description. It is so important to be asking hard questions like this, and preparing for a hunt that might take a year, or more! Andrea, your documentation shows how one interview leads to questions, and to a new path to find answers. Being prepared for an inquiry to take twists and turns is something we all hope to teach students. Here you have become the student again, with the tools of a teacher.
I really enjoyed reading this paper, and look forward to hearing more from you.
Lila
Thank you Lila! Respect and appreciate your insight!
DeleteSide reply to Lila from Diana - I can "do the academic paper route" like you. Maybe that's why I did 2 for TMC7 - one oral and one written!
DeleteAndrea, thank you for sharing your journey. I loved that it was written as an invitation to join you on this journey. I'm reminded of one Singleton's norms of collaboration while I read this "expect and accept non disclosure". This truly is a journey where one question will lead to the next - there's always something we can do to accelerate learning. I have a lot to reflect on thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi, it's Mel, my comment was above :) Just learned how to add my name.
DeleteIt took me a while to figure that out too Melanie :) Thank you for reading and engaging in reflection. Would love to hear any more insights that result from your mulling!
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