Interior View of Haskell Library
Don’t you get bored reading
books all day?
Or
What a Tribal
College
Librarian does
Not Really……very interesting…
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Library Director.
History and Geography Instructor.
Assistant advisor of Culture Club.
Assistant coach of Knowledge Bowl Team.
Community Relations committee member.
Census Information Center Director.
GED test administrator.
Intermission
2005 SBC Pow Wow
Tribal College Librarians:
Renaissance women and a few
men
• Most tribal college librarians have ties to
the colleges and communities that they
work in.
• Some ride Harleys, some search for plants
in the backcountry.
• Many bring additional skills to help their
institutions in other ways beyond the
library.
Why we like it?
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1. Working with people.
2. Autonomy and flexibility.
3. Making a difference.
4. Working one on one with students.
5. Pride in our library and work.
6. Diverse tasks.
Opportunities
• Tribal colleges continue to increase their
efficacy as centers of indigenous culture.
• Tribal colleges continue to move toward
adding more advanced degrees.
• Tribal colleges continue to move toward
increased resource sharing.
Quotes from librarians
• “the libraries multifaceted service
population results in equally multifaceted
work”
“This job provides a much wider and more
interesting variety of job duties. There is
always something to do, so if I get tired of
one thing I can always move on to another
project
Dilevko, Juris, Gottlied, Lisa (2002) Making a Difference in Their Own Way: The
Role of Library Directors and Non-Directional Staff a Tribal College
Libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship. Vol 28:5
More Quotes
• “…former students …return to thank me
for my help while they were here”
• “Larger institutions can’t provide the one
on one assistance that we can here”
A New Study of Tribal College
Librarians
• Former tribal college librarian Richenda
Wilkinson, currently at Linn-Benton
Community College in Albany OR, is
conducting an ongoing survey of tribal
college libraries.
• When finished she hopes to publish her
findings in a major library journal.
Survey of Tribal College
Libraries
• Created with input from tribal college
librarians; some questions modeled after
the NCES public libraries survey
• 77 questions regarding services and
collections for the previous 24 months
• Collected in paper, by email, and on the
phone
• Identified institutions primarily by using the
directory maintained by TCLI
Tribal Colleges
• 80% - Open to the general public and
check out materials to the public
• 16% - Recognized as public libraries
• 64% - Tribal libraries
• 76% - Solo librarians
Adult Services
• Virtually all libraries provided the services
typically associated with libraries, e.g. reference
services, book collections, computers w/Internet,
etc.
But…
• 20% - Did not provide ILL service
• 12% - Did not offer Information Literacy
instruction
• 16% - Did not subscribe to online databases
• 16% - Did not subscribe to scholarly journals
Adult Services
• 20% - Offered literacy programs
• 24% - Provided programs for the elderly
• 36% - Delivered materials to incarcerated,
elderly, or disabled individuals
• 44% - Provided genealogy
resources/assistance
• 80% - Collected popular fiction
• 84% - Maintained a vertical file of tribal or
local information
Children’s/YA programs
• 32% - Had story time in the past two years
• 32% - Had a summer reading program
• 32% - Provided programs in partnership
with local schools
• 64% - Collected YA materials
• 80% - Collected children’s materials
• 40% - Collected toys and games
Preservation (Collections)
Collected:
– Manuscripts - 52%
– Photographs - 60%
– Transcripts or recordings of oral history
interviews/oral traditions - 60%
– Cultural artifacts - 32%
Housed:
– The college’s historical records - 52%
– The tribe’s records - 20%
– The records of another local group/agency - 24%
Preservation (Services)
• 48% - Had cataloged and/or provided
access to an archival collection
• 40% - Digitized documents or photographs
• 76% - Organized or participated in a
language preservation program
• 16% - Provided records management
services
• 32% - Had exhibited artifacts, archival
materials, photographs, etc.
Additional Services
• 36% - Proctored tests
• Order/check out textbooks, art supplies,
multimedia equipment, rocks, etc.
• Distribute garden seeds for a local
program in partnership with a diabetes
prevention program
• Create language games
• Maintain messaging for the college’s
electronic sign
Tribal Colleges and the Information
Age
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Old AIHEC Virtual Library
AIHEC Virtual Library proposed
Tribal College Journal
Tribal College Librarians Institute
D'Arcy McNickle Library - Salish Kootenai
College
• Diné College Libraries
Dine College in Tsaile AZ
“Let us put our minds together
and see what we can build for
our children”
-Sitting Bull--
References
Dilevko, Juris, Gottlied, Lisa (2002) Making a Difference in Their Own Way: The
Role of Library Directors and Non-Directional Staff a Tribal College
Libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship. v 28:5
Pavel, Michael. (1992) The Emerging Role of Tribal College Libraries in Indian
Education. Eric Digest.