F03 - Can We Decolonize Library Education?
Session Description
Five years have passed since Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) issued its Calls to Action. Since then, we’ve seen an increasing number of professional publications and programs focused on decolonizing (or indigenizing) library practices. And yet, Canadian research still places the number of Indigenous librarians with their MLIS degree at 30 or under (CAPAL, 2019; No Librarians Allowed, 2018). Currently there are no comparable statistics for Library Technicians. Without question, addressing this diversity gap in our profession is a necessary precondition to authentic decolonization efforts. This session asks: How are MLIS and Library Technician programs honoring the TRC’s Calls to Action, and principles of diversity and inclusion more broadly? How can we ensure Indigenous students feel represented in library school curricula and at home within their future profession? How can we foster intercultural competency among non-Indigenous students and address feelings of inadequacy that often lead to missteps or inaction? Participants are invited to explore these questions in conversation with panelists engaged in decolonizing work at their home institutions. We will leave with ideas about how we, as a professional community, can foment grassroots change and move forward together in a good way.
Speakers
Curated by Lindsay Tripp, snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ - Langara College
Biography
Lindsay Tripp is a librarian at snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ - Langara College, located on the traditional unceded and ancestral lands of the Musqueam peoples. She specializes in copyright management and open education, and serves as the library’s liaison to Indigenous Education & Services and several academic departments on campus. Lindsay is a settler of English, Irish, and French descent and uses the pronouns she/her.
Ashley Edwards, Simon Fraser University Library
Biography
Ashley Edwards graduated in 2009 from UFV’s Library and Information Technology program. Shortly thereafter she worked for three years at the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre, before beginning her academic library career in 2013 with Simon Fraser University. In April 2020, she will complete her MLIS (University of Alberta, online) and begin a new position at SFU as the Indigenous Curriculum Resource Centre’s term Librarian. Ashley has Métis-settler heritage, and uses she/her pronouns.
Amy Perreault, iSchool at UBC
Biography
Amy Perreault is a proud Métis woman with ancestral ties to the original Red River settlements in Manitoba as well as the original Métis settlements in Saskatchewan. Amy is an alumna of the First Nations Curriculum Concentration (FNCC) at the iSchool at UBC and currently serves as the FNCC Coordinator. In her work as Sr. Strategist for Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology Amy continues to explore ways Indigenous perspectives, values and contemporary contexts can be centred in the classroom and other learning spaces. It is with gratitude that she continues her work and journey at the University of British Columbia on the traditional and unceded lands of the Musqueam peoples
Sarah Dupont, Xwi7xwa Library, UBC
Biography
• Sarah Dupont is the Head of Xwi7xwa Library at UBC. In addition to administrative, collections, and strategic Indigenous initiatives work, she also manages the Indigitization program (@indigitization). Sarah has previously served as the UBC iSchool’s First Nations Curriculum Concentration Coordinator and co-taught Information Practice and Protocol in Support of Indigenous Initiatives with Amy Perreault at the iSchool. She is the COPPUL Chair of the Indigenous Knowledge Steering Committee and the BCLA First Nations Interest Group convenor. Fun fact: she is celebrating her 10th anniversary from the University of Alberta’s SLIS program. Sarah has Métis-settler heritage and uses she/her pronouns.