By Andrea LaPointe
Developing a Locally Focused Indigenous Peoples Collection: An Act of Reconciliation
Abstract
This thoughtful paper describes the personal and professional journey of a teacher-librarian in British Columbia in the process of recognition and action in the decolonizing of Indigenous stories and knowledge books in SLLC collections. An inclusive district committee was formed to focus on the question “How can we honour the land and Indigenous people through the reclassification of Indigenous resources AND increase student and teacher access to Indigenous resources?” Read about resources used and how the committee is formally developing the first Indigenous Peoples Collections using the Indigenous Peoples Classification System and labeling them to meet their goals.
Andrea LaPointe has been a teacher-librarian for 16 years and currently is the Teacher Librarian Helping Teacher in the Surrey School District. Her current professional focus includes building community through authentic connection and working towards equity and reconciliation through the teacher-librarian role.