ELK POINT - ‘Spark & Ignite’ was the theme of the first in-person Northern Lights Library System conference since 2019, and system director James MacDonald welcomed the May 27 audience of library staff and board members from across the Northern Lights region to the NLLS headquarters in Elk Point with the hope that the speakers they would hear “will spark ideas” to enhance library service in all their libraries.
“Alberta libraries are run on the backs of volunteers,” he told the board members in attendance. “We wouldn’t be here without you.”
For the past two years, MacDonald said, “COVID forced us to move beyond the walls of our libraries and changed library service.” It also changed the annual conference to online, and at the beginning of the 2021 conference, “I showed you my illustrated story online. I have another one this year: ‘My Borscht Tastes Better Than Your Borscht.” The pages of the delightful adventure of a bored young camper who turned a decrepit picnic table into a raft that sunk, marooning him far from his friends, written by MacDonald and illustrated by his sister, were shown on two large screens at the Elk Point Allied Arts as he related the happy ending – arriving back at camp after a long hike to find some friendly soup-making seniors were serving lunch to him and his equally hungry friends.
MacDonald’s story was the beginning of a very inspiring day that truly sparked ideas, including many coming from a the first session, which dealt with ‘Non-Traditional Collections’ by Maureen Penn of Lac La Biche Public Library, a site that now has everything from musical instruments and video games and consoles to cake pans, telescopes and binoculars that can be borrowed by library patrons. Penn said the collections promote active learning and inquiry-based learning, and have been funded by donations, grants and from the local library budget.
Next came a session introducing the 2022 Summer Reading Program, which will have as its theme, ‘Enchanted Myths and Legends’ and will add activities such as submitting photos of the summer’s sand castle creations, a pen pal program and a clue based scavenger hunt to the traditional reading logs, which the committee emphasized readers of all ages.
The day’s first keynote speaker was James Jones, the talented hoop and powwow dancer known at Notorious Cree. Originally from High Level, he moved to Edmonton as a youth and experienced severe culture shock.
“One big problem was that there was not a lot to relate to. When you’re from a small place, it’s had to make the transition. And there was a lack of resources related to my culture. I lost a part of myself. There was nothing for Métis, Cree or Inuit kids, and I was very lost, going to drugs, alcohol and street life. One big thing was finding my culture and my identity.”
A big reason for the disconnect, he said, “Was because of residential schools. Most of my family went to residential schools and were taken away from their families. A second generation grew up without their culture.” One of the ways he found his balance “was through culture. In Grade 9 my school implemented an Indigenous program. A knowledge keeper came to talk to us and taught us a lot about the importance of our culture, language and traditions. He took us all to a sweat lodge, and I got really inspired to learn more about myself, and I started powwowing.”
Jones now works with youth, supporting and understanding them and listening to their stories. “I tell them they are going to meet a lot of people who don’t look like you, we all come from different nations but we’re all part of the two-legged tribe.”
Jones, who gave his message decked in full regalia, wrapped up his presentation with two spectacular powwow dances, following the Men’s Fancy Dance with the complicated routines of a hoop dance, both earning him huge rounds of applause.
Following lunch, a presentation on accessibility in public libraries by Camilla Campbell of the Public Libraries Service Branch emphasized the need to provide e-books and other adaptations to serve patrons with diverse reading needs. “My grandparents had to leave school early, my mother was the first in her family to graduate from university. She instilled in us a love of reading.” Campbell developed a brain tumor as a teen and lost 80 per cent of her sight, “and the spark kind of died… I went to college and had the option to have my textbooks in the audio version. A perfect world would see libraries all have adaptive technology,” she said.
A presentation regarding the recent opening of Frog Lake’s Indigenous-led library by Clifton Cross was regretfully cancelled due to illness, but a second session with an Indigenous theme saw Skye Durocher emphasize the importance of ‘Revitalization of the Cree Language.’
“The need has always been there, the fluent speakers are getting older. If’ we’re not putting in the effort to save it, what does that effort look like?” She suggested libraries could offer space for classes, or classes could be held on ZOOM. Indigenous books are not always language-based, she noted. “A lot of our language is oral, we learned it in elementary school, but our brains are wired and we have to change our way of thinking.”
There are many ‘silent speakers,’ Durocher noted, “people who understand Cree but don’t know how to reply to it, we can’t think as fast as we understand. Our brains tell us, ‘we’re not supposed to learn this,’ it’s an inter-generational trauma we didn’t know we had, and didn’t know that it’s OK to be Indigenous. Colonization still exists and we have to change the way we think. I learned Cree my whole life and I still try to use it every day.”
Margaret Law, with a presentation on the difference between library governance and library operations, and Dr. Norene Erickson and Dr. Joanne Rogers, with advice on ‘How to Manage the Emotional Labour of your Public Library Job’ wound up the afternoon, before the last round of door prizes were awarded, dinner was served and the conference wound up with entertainment by magician Sheldon Casavant.
