Mini-library: Indigenous Voices Collection
The Mini-Library: Indigenous Voices Collection consists of 50 titles by Indigenous authors, including a variety of genres: graphic novels, fiction, photography, poetry, memoirs, historical and contemporary literature, Indigenous research and methodology, children and youth literature, short stories, essays and more. The Mini-library: Indigenous Voices Collection was curated by EaSEIL partners Kayla Lar-Son and Karleen Delaurier-Lyle at Xwi7xwa Library and several titles were kindly donated by this library branch.
The collection lives at UBC-Teck Geological Field Station, which is located on Syilx Okanagan Nation’s lands. Various books in the collection represent Syilx Okanagan voices with the intention of inviting users to connect with the culture, Knowledges, ways of knowing, traditions and more of Indigenous communities local to the Field Station. The Mini Library: Indigenous Voices Collection was first unveiled to more than 40 students and 3 faculty members in the EOSC328 Field Geology course on May 13, 2024 (article in EOAS News). At the time it was featuring the local history book One Hundred X One Hundred/ x̌cəcikst X x̌cəcikst co-edited by Jenna Bower, General Manager of the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre.
EaSEIL held one Community of Practice meeting with instructors at Xwi7xwa Library (March 20, 2024), in which Kayla Lar-Son gave us a tour of the branch and introduced the Mini Library: Indigenous Voices Collection to the group.
Students and instructors in other field courses held at the UBC-Teck Field Station (CONS 451 – Conservation Integrated Field School; GEOS 309 – Geographical Sciences Field Course), have engaged with the collection. Feedback from students and faculty has been very positive.
The Mini Library: Indigenous Voices Collection emerged from a collaboration between EaSEIL leadership, Xwi7xwa Library (Kayla Lar-Son, Acting Head Librarian & Indigenous Programs and Services Librarian and Karleen Delaurier-Lyle, Information Services Librarian), the Department of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) at UBC-Vancouver campus, and EOAS Facilities (Sebastian Medrano, Assistant Director of Facilities and Lindsay Nelson, Earth Science Educational Field and Laboratory Coordinator). Equipment was funded by EOAS.