Truth and Reconciliation

Community-led programming can be an incredibly powerful way to connect with vulnerable communities. But how do you actually do it? There are lots of templates for leading a toddler storytime or starting a kids’ book club, but few nuts-and-bolts resources available about community-led programming, and no one right way to implement it.
In this panel session, we’ll talk with library staff who are building relationships and doing community-based work with children and families in a variety of settings. We’ll explore different models for community-led programming, discuss the barriers that can make this work challenging to initiate and sustain, and hear about the rewards that make it meaningful. Audience participation is encouraged; please bring your questions and your own stories so that we can support and inspire each other in this important, exciting work.
 
Handout with panel participant contact information and links is attached and is also reproduced below:
 
Connecting the Dots with Children and Families:
The Principles and Realities of Community-Based Work in (and out of) Libraries
Children and Teen Services (CATS) Conference
Kelowna, BC
October 7, 2019
 
Session Participants:
Facilitator: Els Kushner, Vancouver Public Library

• els.kushner@vpl.ca
• (604)-665-3945

Panelists:

• Ruth Cooper, Assistant Librarian, Hazelton District Public Library
  • hdpl.ruth@citywest.ca
  • (250) 842-5961
• Ellie Reynolds, EASEY Coordinator, Creston Public Library
  • easey01@gmail.com
• Beth Dimond, Prince Rupert Public Library
  • beth@princerupertlibrary.ca
  • (250) 627-1346
• Stephanie Thoreson, Vernon Branch, Okanagan Regional Library
  • sthoreson@orl.bc.ca
  • (250) 542-7610 ext 6829

 
Links:

• Connecting the Dots: A Guidebook for Working With Community, from the Vancouver Public Library
  • https://www.vpl.ca/sites/vpl/public/20151117_VPL_ConnectingTheDots_SinglePages.pdf

VPL’s guidebook for staff doing community-based or community-led work. Includes numerous honest real-life examples of successes, challenges, roadblocks, and stumbles, as well as tools and resources for dealing with such.

• BCLA SRC Serving First Nations And Communities resource page:
  •  https://kidssrc.libraries.coop/bc-src-serving-first-nations-children-and-communities/

Notes and links stemming from a BCLA Conference session on SRC programs serving First Nations communities, a panel discussion which included two of today’s panelists, Ruth Cooper and Beth Dimond. Includes excellent resources relevant for wishing to build stronger community connections.

• Edmonton Public Library Community-Led Service Philosophy Website
  • https://www.epl.ca/vision-mission-values/#community-led

Includes links to a comprehensive Community-Led Toolkit; a shorter Community-Led Service Guide for staff; and a page on Top Five Barriers to Library Access and Recommendations for Eliminating those Barriers

• Community Led Libraries Toolkit, by the Working Together Group
  • https://www.vpl.ca/sites/vpl/public/Community-Led-Libraries-Toolkit.pdf

An in-depth examination of the barriers that can keep  low-income and marginalized people and communities from accessing library services and resources, the ways in which library culture often exacerbates these barriers, and some methods for identifying and addressing those barriers, based on the work of the Working Together Project starting in 2004.

The Truth and Reconciliation Committee was the first committee formed by the CFLA-FCAB and was formed with nominees from CFLA-FCAB member associations and the larger library and archival community. The Truth and Reconciliation Committee had a mandate from September, 2016 to February 1, 2017, when a report was delivered to the incoming CFLA-FCAB Board at the AGM. The report contained recommendations on further actions that the CFLA-FCAB should consider to promote education on Indigenous issues, to support reconciliation, and to meet the needs of Indigenous communities. One of the recommendations was to form a Standing Committee on Indigenous Matters to implement these recommendations. This session will give an overview of the CFLA-FCAB Truth and Reconciliation Committee report and an update on the new Standing Committee on Indigenous Matters. For more Information please see http://cfla-fcab.ca

Learn more about the personal experiences and professional journeys of librarians practicing truth and reconciliation in their work and daily practice.
Participants will talk about their role as an individual and the role of the library in bringing educational and professional transformation to all the communities they serve.

Like most large academic libraries in North America, University of Alberta Libraries (UAL) currently relies heavily on Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and Library of Congress Classification (LCC) for subject access to both our print and digital collections. While the use of LC standards comes with many recognized advantages, it understandably causes challenges in terms of adequate and appropriate representation of the Canadian context. In the fall of 2016, the Decolonizing Description Working Group was formed to investigate, define, and propose a plan of action for how we could more accurately and respectfully represent Indigenous peoples and contexts through our descriptive metadata practices. This presentation will provide an overview of the group’s process and recommendations and subsequent plans and outcomes.

Some additional resources recommended by Rachel and Vicki include:
Authentic First Peoples Resources – First Nations Education Steering Committee
http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PUBLICATION-61460-FNESC-Authentic-Resources-Guide-2016-08-26.pdf
BC Books for BC Schools – Association of Book Publishers of BC
http://books.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/BCBooks_2016_forWeb.pdf
Canadian Aboriginal Books for Schools – Association of Book Publishers of BC
http://books.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/AbCat_2016_Final_forWeb.pdf

Marigold Library System recently received a grant from Alberta Municipal Affairs, enabling them to provide library services to on-reserve populations. This session focuses on the process of building relationships with First Nations communities. We will discuss how buy-in from member libraries was encouraged and recount how barriers were overcome to extend public library service in ways it had not been before.
Learning objectives:

• Best practices for engaging on-reserve populations, overcoming barriers, and encouraging library staff buy-in
• A regional library system perspective on extending library services
• Outreach ideas

When a Children’s Librarian from the Vancouver Public Library and an Aboriginal Infant Development Consultant from the YWCA got together to co-create a weekly early literacy program for Aboriginal families with young children, the planning process, by all appearances, took only an hour over coffee. But the relationship-building behind that coffee hour had started almost two years earlier, and involved intention, reflection and effort from  the two professionals, as well as considerable support, conscious policy creation, and staff development on the part of their respective organizations.
In this session, we will present a model of community engagement and collaboration between a public library and a local organization serving Aboriginal families, including the background principles and policies that the Vancouver Public Library and YWCA Crabtree Corner brought to the process. We will discuss the values that facilitated our partnership, including a shared belief in the importance of individual relationships, a commitment to process over product, and knowledge of and respect for Aboriginal culture. Finally, we will share guidelines that other libraries can apply and adapt when working with Aboriginal and other marginalized groups in their own communities.
The attached files include our slide presentation, which is quite brief, as well as our handout, including:
1) A table of the handout of values, policies and procedures that supported and enabled our program, "Rhymes, Rhythm and Read"
2) A short bibliography of links to supporting materials, including the Vancouver Public Library's Guidebook for Community Engagement
3) Contact information for both presenters