Sunday February 13th, 2011 First Nations Public Library Week

First Nations Public Library week runs Feb 14 – 19. The theme this year is “Speak up for First Nation Public Libraries”. In First Nation communities, the week provides an opportunity to promote public library services and celebrate cultural uniqueness through creative library programming. But the week also encourages all Ontario libraries to join in its celebration. The Thunder Bay Public Library has been celebrating Aboriginal culture through this designated week since 2005. At that event, Aboriginal Artist Moses Beaver shared his talents with the program attendees and from that shared work a stunning artwork was created. Come and see this painting for yourself on the lower level of the Waverley library.

This year, the library is hosting a program entitled Finding your Spirit Self, on Feb 15, 7 pm at the Waverley Library auditorium. Celebrate with the Grey Wolf Traditional Teaching Lodge. “It is the mandate of the lodge to be inclusive and I would be very honoured if you would join me, Cindy Crowe, to learn more about the Medicine Wheel. How do you fit into the universe? I will share the stories of my sacred items and we will begin the session by smudging to ground us before our discussion.” Contact Cindy at 473-9851 for more information.

If you are interested in learning more about Aboriginal culture, the library has much to offer. The music CD collection is a great place to start. The collection contains pow-wow music, fiddle music and drumming, just to name a few. Of course, we celebrate our local/regional talent and so you can enjoy the music of Shy-Anne Hovorka and Kashtin. Our fiction collection has the works of Drew Hayden Taylor, Ruby Slipperjack, Tomson Highway, Richard Wagamese and the very popular Joseph Boyden. These writers are all Canadian and many have close ties to this region of Canada. In our non-fiction collection you can find books that teach beading, quilling, and moccasin creation as well as titles which promote alternative medicines and herbal remedies. Historical texts can also be found.

First Nation public libraries play a key role in community development, overcoming illiteracy, and championing lifelong learning within their communities. The Speak Up campaign seeks to increase public awareness of the significant challenges First Nation public libraries face. In Ontario, there are 133 First Nation Communities but only 50 of those communities have public libraries. To learn more about the Speak Up campaign visit www.speakuptoday.net. The Thunder Bay Public Library is proud to be supporting this endeavour. We join these communities in their celebrations and welcome people of all backgrounds to visit a branch this week and learn more about the rich and vibrant First Nation culture.

Barbara Philp, Head of Adult Services