Recommendations made to improve library services

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A long list of recommendations on how best to increase public library use by Aboriginal people across the province has been put together by the Minister's Advisory Committee on Library Services for Aboriginal People.

A report containing 46 recommendations was released by the committee in mid-February, following a series of public consultations held over the summer to gather input from First Nations and Metis people, the library community, and other members of the public.

The committee was formed to find out how to increase First Nations participation in the public library system, and to increase the number of First Nations and Metis individuals using public libraries.

Among the recommendations included in the report are ensuring people living on reserve have access to the full range of services provided by the public library, and that funding for individual libraries take into account the numbers of on-reserve people within their coverage area. The recommendations also suggest that First Nations should have ownership and primary responsibility for public libraries located on reserve, and that further development of on-reserve libraries be encouraged.

Other recommendations include further research into what barriers exist preventing Aboriginal people from using the library system, and steps to make the libraries more inclusive, including providing cultural awareness and sensitivity training to staff and library board members, adding more Aboriginal content to the libraries' collections, and encouraging Elders to get involved in library programming.

Efforts to encourage more Aboriginal people to become library employees and board members are also suggested.

"I extend our thanks and appreciation to the Advisory Committee on Library Services for Aboriginal People for this report," Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Ron Osika said following the official release of the document. "It will help us to set direction and to form the basis for future development of effective public library services for First Nations and Metis People."

Copies of the final report are available on the Saskatchewan Libraries' Web site at http://www.lib.sk.ca/staff/minaboriginal/ablib/ablibfinal.html.