Written by Ryan Flaherty for Sask Lotteries
When most people think of a library, they tend to think of it primarily as a place where people can borrow books and other media or learn about a specific subject. And while that’s certainly true, libraries also serve an important role as community hubs that bring people together and connect them with a wide variety of resources.
That role is especially vital to folks living in rural areas, and in west central Saskatchewan it is filled by the Wheatland Regional Library (WRL), which serves more than 100,000 residents in 130 communities with 45 branches throughout the region.
For the last three years the WRL has held a Truth and Reconciliation speaker series as part of Culture Days celebrations across the province. This year, with funding support from Sask Lotteries and Sask Culture, the series featured a more hands-on approach led by Indigenous educator and knowledge keeper Jasmyn Albert, who brought her Teepee Teachings workshops to six different WRL branches.
“Consistently, we’re hearing more people saying, especially around Truth and Reconciliation, yes it’s been a national day for a few years now but still many of our smaller communities especially are feeling like they didn’t learn about it when they were in school and are feeling very lost with regards to where to start,” WRL branch manager Desirae Munro said. “Offering something that allows people to come out, we’ve been getting really positive feedback.”
Workshop participants learned about the cultural significance and modern usage of the teepee for the Plains Cree people and took part in a teepee raising. The funding from Sask Lotteries allowed the WRL to expand the number and geographical range of the workshops, and as a result more than 200 people were able to take part. Being associated with Culture Days and having access to its marketing and advertising portals further strengthened the reach and impact of the speaker series.
The additional funds also provide a trickle-down benefit for the WRL that extends beyond the workshops themselves.
“We can then take some of the budget money that was set aside for something like this and redistribute it to other library services that we’re able to offer,” Munro explained.
That, in turn, helps support the WRL’s mission to create spaces that connect people to resources and strengthen communities. While this year’s speaker series visited six library branches, there’s hope that it will continue to grow in future years.
“Obviously we’re not able to send somebody to all 45 branches but it would be amazing to be able to do that someday,” Munro said.