Libraries come in different sizes whether they are big or small, from public to special libraries, they are suited for the benefit of all people! In the State of Arizona, many are located within the cities, rural areas, and even, in the heart of tribal communities too! Coming from a large tribal community that is the Navajo Nation, the need for libraries has never been greater to address and fight falling literacy rates, and culturally empower our Diné citizens to connect with our traditional culture and heritage language. Tribal libraries are at the greatest advantage of being self-governing to make decisions that hear out their respective communities and implement necessary changes.
For far too long, the Navajo Nation Library (NNL) has stood as an institute with nearly 120,000 items cataloged and a quarter of the items being checked in and out. The NNL being seen as just the Library within the heart of the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, AZ. With new leadership and taking over nearly 4 years ago, the push to establish a public tribal library district is afoot. Currently, the Navajo Nation Library has 3 branches located in Window Rock, AZ, Kayenta, AZ, and Torreon, NM. The NNL has oversight of the Community Libraries at the Navajo Nation Chapter Houses, nearly 40 sites online and in use by community members across the Navajo Nation!
The new direction of the Navajo Nation Library has been a daunting task especially when the reset and refresh button has been pressed. The decision to start from scratch and to implement the idea that each library will no longer be the old idea of just a place for books, but community spaces that are geared towards enhancing and promoting our Navajo culture and language. Working with partners that are Navajo Nation based programs and outside organizations like Arizona Humanities, First Things First – Navajo Region, UAZ Cooperative Extension – Apache County, to name a few, each partner also highlighting their need to address literacy, creativity, and supporting the retainment of Indigenous cultures and languages.
I had the benefit of attending and promoting at the Arizona Library Association Conference 2024 in Ft. McDowell, AZ, at the We-Ko-Pa Casino & Resort, an enterprise of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation from October 17th to the 18th. This year’s theme: “Rising to the Challenge: Building a Sense of Belonging”. A fitting theme as it was great to see what many other libraries and organizations were doing as their programs and services could be adopted into our own libraries.
Here’s an overview of my experiences and how we can either adopt or how we can enhance our services at the Window Rock Library in Window Rock, AZ:
Thursday, October 17th, 1st Session: Young Adult to Forever Young: Mastering Intergenerational Program, 10 am – 11 am. The presenters were: Megan Carbiener, Stephanie Oplinger, and Megan Sparks.
They highlighted many of the programs and services they highlighted ranging from their ‘Rubber Duck Cosplay’ which they would dress up rubber ducks as their children’s programming to outreach programming such as ‘Java and Workshop” where they would work with local coffee shops to host trivia with adult and senior age ranges. They also highlighted the marketing aspect and provided tips such as creating appealing yet relevant graphics and making sure to change to appeal to the audience and limit text on the posters to focus on the programs. For all their successes in being able to trial and error to gauge what has worked and has not, they have seen that registration can be an issue especially if its opened 2 months ahead of time, staff scheduling, having more presenters for their programs, and having a good mix of ages attend.
Essentially, the Window Rock Library (WRL) does serve a wide range of ages, the key term that they highlighted and stood out to me, “intergenerational”. When we think about how Navajo language and culture are passed down generation to generation through oral traditions. Different generations are responsible for the transmission of traditional knowledge and culture. With that in mind, the WR Library is looking to explore more programs that are intergenerational and focus strongly on Navajo language and culture, and combining with programming. The wide range that was laid out through the session provided great examples of how we can also expand our services and programs too.
Thursday, October 17th, 2nd session: Baby Time! Creating Enriching Program Opportunities for our Youngest Patrons from 11:30 pm – 12:30 pm, presented by Lila Garza.
The WRL is embarking on including more ages, including early childhood ages. We have been looking into ways we could include storytime and the 0-5 age range. As Ms. Garza had presented, the program had elements of Baby Time, which can include repetition, songs, a lead puppet, and does not always have to be completed. The Baby Time program needs the caregivers relaxed and engaged not only with the lead, but also, their littles too. Ms. Garza had explained that ages 0-2 can feel like they are isolated because their little ones have not developed a form of independence and would feel welcomed and relaxed.
Ms. Garza also mentioned that having a group baby time can help with the little ones learning language, hearing their names, all can learn each other’s names, and the experience becomes more personable for all involved. Engagement was seen as important, as play can be done through the events and the little ones are always learning and moving too! She provided tips that creative modeling can be helpful, modelling will be new to littles, that play is important, and that the program can focus on quality interaction rather than the structure of the program.
The session proved very valuable for the WR Library to explore and provided better insight as to what can be done to reach out to caregivers and parents who are looking to assist their littles in developing their cognitive skills. Seeing real-life examples’ a breath of fresh air, at times, how we program and what programs we feel confident in can be daunting because it is new, not only for the library, but the caregivers too! Talking with Ms. Garza also proved essential as her advice after the session will certainly help the WR Library’s direction as to how we can start our Baby Time programming too!
Thursday, October 17th, 3rd session: Voice Lessons: Library Advocates are Louder Together from 1:45 pm – 2:45 pm, presented by: Erin MacFarlane.
The session led by Ms. MacFarlane had reminded me of the great need to figure out how we as a program under the Navajo Nation to advocate on our behalf to the Navajo Nation Council and the NN Office of the President and Vice President. Her advice to create successful relationships has been on our list of how to bring both Council and President into the fold as our stakeholders. It also generated ideas of how we as a public tribal library system can also connect with our State and Congressional House and Senate Representatives to invite them into the Window Rock Library, experience our programs, and see where our need is most needed too.
The session also provided a better perspective of where the Arizona Library Association and their political liaisons help to build capacity for all libraries in the State. The strong point was that local advocacy is just as, if not, more important than trying to get a state legislative assistant! Tribal communities all have a unique situation where many Tribal Library programs are supported by their Councils or generally funded by their respective Nations. Tribal Library advocacy is also key, yet bridging collaboration between Tribal, State, and Federally entities will prove very valuable too! Although, what Ms. MacFarlane advised that local advocacy can sometimes be the toughest to work towards as ideas and directions can be different than your own as a library.
Thursday, October 17th, 4th session: Signs of Success: Strategies for Impactful Library Messaging from 3 pm – 4 pm, presented by: Betty Murphy.
Having a career as a graphic and web designer has proven extremely beneficial and working as a Communications Assistant for the University of Arizona Libraries in Tucson, AZ has also helped me understand the need to improve the user experience whether both in real-life and digital. Ms. Murphy’s session helped remind me of the need to balance out usable design through signage. What helped me understand the need to make improvements to conduct a signage audit, less is more, be strategic as to where signage is placed (high traffic areas, entrance area, reference/information desk, etc.), do not overwhelm visitors, and have accurate information available.
The session overall had helped me wonder what must be done at all of our branch libraries and what must be done through our website as well. A much needed reminder that much like the advent of the digital library, we must also make change too. The need for accurate signage and information will greatly benefit our patrons as they will be available to remember what’s in the shelves, where they can find certain titles on the shelves, and why they are placed in adult fiction or children’s non-fiction. Another important aspect was sharing results with staff and having the involvement as the front desk staff will understand what patrons and visitors are looking for too.
Friday, October 18th, 5th session: Lift-Off with LSTA! from 9:30 am – 10:30 am, presented by: Chris Guerra.
The LSTA fund on the State of Arizona Library website is often a tab and webpage to see more information as at times, it can be tough to fully imagine what your own project would look like if funded by the LSTA funds. An overview of the LSTA funds was helpful and how one can apply, and how to shape your project to fit the parameters for LSTA had only created the need to apply for next year’s funds. Overall, the presentations that were showcased and highlighted had certainly assisted in fully understanding what can be done with the funds.
During the presentation, I had reflected on how the Navajo Nation Council could be presented to cost match with the State of AZ in order for the Navajo Nation Library to be considered, and hopefully, fully funded! The Navajo Nation’s investment into the Library is our ultimate goal yet assistance from an external source might encourage their willingness to support. The real-life examples of what can be done to benefit not only the library but the patrons, and in a sense, the wider Navajo Nation can see the library as a community lifeline and more than just books.
Friday October 18th, 6th session: Knowledge Exchange: Learn how libraries across Arizona created successful health and wellness programs, from 11 am – 12 pm, presented by: Lisa Lewis, Debbie Winlock, Donovan Pete (myself), Jason Macoviak, Rayel Starling, and Stephanie Fulton.
The presentation highlighted different rural libraries’ efforts in utilizing funding through the AZ Librarians Enhancing Resilient Rural Communities ̶ Mini-Grant Opportunity, through the Advancing Health Equity, Addressing Disparities (AHEAD AZ) which is a UAZ Center for Rural Health program funded through the AZ Department of Health Services (ADHS) – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Navajo Nation Library had applied twice for the funding opportunity; in the first round we were able to have more new Early Childhood books and ECH friendly shelves that we assembled in the newly founded ECH section of the Window Rock Library.
During the presentation, I was able to highlight our second opportunity of applying and winning the funds to be able to focus on health literacy at the Window Rock Library. One of our previous initiatives was to create more space within the space of the library. We had started to clear out shelves, and the primary focus, clear out books that were in bad condition and were no longer circulating among our patrons. The drastic change reduced our holdings from 120,000 books to 75,000 books which aided in disassembling empty shelves and moving remaining shelves too.
The change at the Window Rock Library had helped clear out our foyer area where we were able to host several health-related programs activities: Yoga at the Library, Senior Walking Challenge, Health Active Movement, Chair Yoga, Breathwork, and Zumba at the Library. Many of our programs and events were well attended and still being carried on to today. The funding had helped us make purchases towards yoga mats, water bottles, fitness journals, free weights, kettlebells, hand blenders, and exercise bands too. We were able to do quite a bit with the funds and appreciate the assistance of both Laura Schweer and Lisa Lewis!
Friday October 18th, 7th session: Advocating for Your Digital Budget with Data, from 12:10 pm – 1:10 pm, presented by Kate DeMeester-Lane and Stephanie Everett.
The Navajo Nation Library (NNL) is a member of the Navajo County Library District, based in Holbrook, AZ. As part of the membership the NNL is provided access and usage of the Integrated Library System and the digital library that is made up of Libby, Hoopla, Freading, and Tumble Book Library. Setting the stage for the digital library portion is a new concept for tribal libraries, especially those that have been solely focused on books and encyclopedias that still find life within their shelves. The session had provided insight as to how one can better utilize OverDrive Marketplace to create reports and to overview trends that could flesh out a narrative.
As a member of the Navajo County Library District, we are not able to take a look at the data and information that Ms. DeMeester-Lane had walked through. It is unfortunate as that would have assisted our efforts to further see how the Navajo Nation Library (NNL) would create a narrative to increase our collections both physically and digitally. Yet, the prospect to invest into our own Libby collection provides a path for the NNL to create our own digital library too.
The AzLA conference has proven advantageous to consider our next steps and the notes taken from the sessions can be formulated into usable plans, scalable policies, standard operational procedures, and most importantly, guiding our continued evolution. The NNL is at a point where the future is to truly become self-reliant and our staff ready to learn all they can to embolden our path forward. The sessions have proven that every library had a small step whether they were in more densely populated areas or sparsely populated, our goals are all very similar and achievable. It is up to us to make changes where we see fit and ask questions along the way too.