BC’s Library Federations and the BC Library Trustees Association are very pleased to be able to offer the province’s library staff and trustees continued access to the Indigenous Awareness training offered from the Indigenous Corporate Training.
There is no registration fee.
Key learnings of the Indigenous Awareness training include:
- Understanding how history impacts Indigenous Peoples
- Understanding how current Indigenous issues impact Indigenous communities
- Understanding Indigenous self-government
- Understanding the constitutional, political and legal context of Indigenous issues
- How Indigenous and western world views impact decision-making
Registration
Contact ndiebel@interlinklibraries.ca to register. In your email, library staff should use the subject heading -“BC Public Libraries – Indigenous Awareness Training” and provide the name of the registrant, email, phone number and library.
If you are a trustee, please indicate that when specifying your library affiliation. Trustees will be provided with a registration code specific to their library. Registrants may complete the course at their own pace. However, registrants have 30 days of access, so they must complete the course within that time frame.
The Indigenous Awareness training was first offered starting in November 2021 with funding from the Public Libraries Branch. To date, over 300 staff from libraries across BC have completed this training opportunity.
Feedback on the first round of training included:
- Thank you, Bob Joseph, for this valuable training. I was introduced to the important issues Indigenous Peoples face today in Canada and the history of racism and cultural genocide that led to them. I didn’t know about the ‘Sixties scoop,’ the long road to voting rights, or that there are 7 distinct Indigenous Peoples languages in BC alone. I’m eager to learn more in the spirit of reconciliation and healing.
- I think this is a valuable learning tool and should be made available to everyone. By taking this webinar I realized how little I do know about the history and journey of our aboriginal peoples. Thank you for helping educate me.
- I am an Indigenous person working for the public library system. I have spent years sending out this kind of information, and in 2021, our library was inundated with non-indigenous peoples DESPERATE to learn some true facts about First Nations. This is a great start for people like that, and so many others. I loved this course and what it offers to the unknowing.
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs