First Nations children’s books in a public library context – considerations for sharing

Abstract

First Nations children’s books should be read and enjoyed, and should be promoted and made accessible by library professionals. However, hoping that all library professionals will just ‘get out there’ and work with First Nations children’s books, risking criticism and disapprobation, may be unrealistic – and here an addition to current practice could help. Crystallizing corrective input is demanding, painful though rewarding, and subtle – it is not something that happens easily, without effort and thought. Appropriately-led workshops designed to help librarians inform themselves more fully about First Nations children’s books, and to develop good practices around how to share them, would garner real benefits in effective, confident promotion and sharing of these valuable collection materials.