Red Cliff Librarian, Nancy Newago, once told us that the Creator will provide what you need, but not always when you want it or in the way you were expecting. This advice rang particularly true on our trip to Red Cliff, last month.
It was in many ways, a typical weekend trip—2 ½ fast days filled with equal parts hard work, deep thought, stories, and many laughs. Our crew this time included Omar, Louise, Megann, Carmella, and the first 8th generation TLAM student, Abigail Cahill.
The first afternoon was spent planning out the next two days, working on the catalog, getting Abigail acquainted with the library, and catching up with Dee, Nancy, and Krystle.
Sunday morning we each set out on different tasks—Abigail and Carmella working on the catalog and Megann mocking up a new website for the library—while discussing grant funds and the programs Nancy was planning. As part of the grants received so far, there will be regalia-making and beading workshops and storytelling in the winter. They are also beginning to work on a more long-term family history database project. The idea behind the latter is to help tribal members scan old family photos and create a database where they can begin to build and share family histories. Eventually, they would also like to include oral history videos of elders taken by teens in a cross-generational program.
In the afternoon, we met with Mike Sheehan, Assistant Director at Northern Waters Library Service (NWLS), the library system which provides technical support, trainings, and facilitates resource sharing across the 8 northern Wisconsin counties. Red Cliff’s previous tribal library that closed had been a part of NWLS and we wanted to see what it would cost to rejoin.
There are few different options for rejoining. The option that would cost the most would be to join in full and have access to the online shared catalog, which requires the computer software Merlin. Another option, however, is for the library to join the NWLS system without being a part of the joint catalog, thereby avoiding a large cost. This would still allow Red Cliff to participate in the interlibrary loan system and receive other benefits of membership, such as opportunities for continuing education and trainings for Nancy. Additionally, being a part of NWLS would allow the Red Cliff library to have the status of a public library, which in turn opens the door to more county and state funding options. With this option, it would take only about $100 and a letter bidding for the reestablishment of their status to make joining possible, which was very exciting news!
After Mike left, we spent some time talking with Nancy, Dee, and Krystle about the long-term, intermediate, and short-term outcomes for the interim library. This focusing session helped us all to envision the future direction of the library. Some key points of this discussion included:
- Red Cliff and Ojibwe history, culture, and language
- Empowering tribal members to learn and tell their story and their family history
- Creating a space and collection that serves all generations for lifelong learning, from cradle to grave
- Creating a space for stronger collaborations and community between elders and youth
Looking at the library’s collection so far, the community’s reactions to it, and the outcomes of our discussion, it became clear that a strong focus on Native American and Ojibwe-specific materials are key in the library’s purpose. While the library will still provide other materials, such as popular fiction and recent non-fiction, the focus would now be on building a premier collection of books on Anishinaabe culture, language, and history along with a robust collection of fiction and media by Native American writers, musicians, and filmmakers. Such a collection would serve the needs and desires of the Red Cliff Band, contributing to the revitalization of their culture and language.
We were all very excited about the prospect of a developing such a collection, but were also well aware that such endeavors take time and funding. However, while discussing budgets, we learned of remaining collection development funds to be spent. Suddenly, the dream of a robust collection of Anishinaabe materials was not a distant goal, but a reality on a near horizon. Our mission for Monday became to spend that money!
We set to work first thing Monday looking at reputable book lists, awards, favorite publishers, and tapping into our own knowledge of quality materials. It was a dream come true to suddenly have money to purchase the materials we knew would be so good for this collection and would support the language and cultural needs of the community. We purchased many materials through Birchbark Books and Wisconsin Historical Society Press, before looking to Amazon.
It is surprisingly easy to spend money on books, and we were happy to do it. We never would have expected to have our dream of developing a premier Anishinaabe and Native American collection become a reality so quickly. Just as Nancy once said, the Creator certainly provides in very unexpected ways. While the collection still has plenty of growing to do, we were delighted to get a solid jump-start and hope to continue drawing more people to the library with these new materials.
It was a productive trip in a short amount of time. Just hours before we had to return, Omar and Louise even got to join Dee and Nancy in a meeting with the architect for the multi-use cultural center where the library will be housed. They listened to updates on possible eco-friendly building techniques that could make Ginanda Gikendaasomin a very unique and cutting-edge structure. We look forward to hearing more as the tribe moves forward with the building process. We are all very grateful to get to be a part of this wonderful project with so many dedicated, talented, and hilarious people working on it.
-Megann, Carmella, and Abigail