Interview with Patty Lawlor, Program Coordinator of
"First Nation Communities Read"

by Sally Ito*

Patty Lawlor has been Southern Ontario Library Services’ First Nations Consultant since 1999, assisting First Nation communities with the establishment and development of local public library service. In the public library field since 1974, she first worked with aboriginal peoples through the Northwest Territories’ Department of Education and is currently coordinator of the First Nation Communities Read Program.

Patty has developed courses, programs and publications, and much of her career has involved advocacy work relating to children, teens, the aging population, and First Nation communities. She is a frequent presenter at conferences, and a long time reviewer of children’s and young adult materials for Quill & Quire, Canada’s Magazine of Book News and Reviews.

In 2007, Ontario’s First Nations public library community honoured Patty with the presentation of a Friendship Feather through its Friends of Ontario's First Nation Public Libraries' Honour Program. In 2009, Mariposa In The Schools and Inner City Angels honoured Patty with a Lifetime Passion for the Arts award for her commitment to promoting traditional arts programming through public libraries in First Nation communities.

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Can you tell me how the First Nation Communities Read Program came about?

The First Nation Communities Read concept emerged during the course of some brainstorming that a First Nations Public Library Week planning committee was doing in Ontario, in 2002. The committee, focused on “growing” its fairly new celebratory Week, had no budget whatsoever, and so had to think very creatively. With programs like “One Book, One Community” and “Canada Reads” coming into their own at that time, the idea of a First Nation Communities Read program was not only contemporary but also achieved several other crucial goals. It would promote reading in First Nation communities. It would promote, to both First Nation and non-native communities, books either written and/or illustrated by aboriginal creators, or featuring aboriginal content. Ideally, it would also bring people in First Nation communities into their public libraries to attend a reading or borrow the book.

Nailing down the idea was the easy part. Since most First Nation public libraries have little or no book budget, the challenge became how to get the same book into all First Nation public libraries at the same time so that the program could live up to its name. The solution was to approach a publisher about donating 50 copies of a book – one per First Nation public library. Luck was with us. Our first “ask” resulted in a  “yes.” The publisher was HarperCollins Canada. The book was Dragonfly Kites written by Cree author and playwright Tomson Highway and illustrated by Brian Deines. All of a sudden, for launch in 2003, we had a program!

Since that time, the program has been able to grow with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program. Now publishers donate copies of their books to the jury panel, and our grant funding allows us to purchase copies of the selected title for distribution to the First Nation public libraries.

As an organization, you are based in Ontario, Canada.  What is the scope of the program’s work?  Does the work mainly occur with First Nation communities in Ontario or on a national level? 

The program “belongs” to the First Nations public library community in Ontario. However, Southern Ontario Library Service, an organization largely funded by the Ontario Ministry of Culture, provides enormous coordination support. The funding First Nation Communities Read receives only allows for subsidized program rollout in Ontario.

In 2005 and 2006, first steps were taken to expand the program gradually to all provinces and territories in Canada. However, shortly afterwards, circumstances changed, the program “missed” a year (2007), and when it re-emerged in 2008, it was with funding for the Ontario component only. The good news is that First Nation Communities Read continues to develop popular profile through its web site and its wonderful annual posters. Most libraries across Canada and beyond can manage to purchase one or more copies of each year’s selected title. Some years, other provincial governments or organizations “find” funding to piggyback on our poster run and then distribute the poster to their public and school libraries. There’s always demand for any small surplus we might have. So, although the program’s practical scope is provincial, its philosophical scope is international. We want everyone to be aware of and participate in our First Nation Communities Read program!

The program appears to work somewhat like a book prize.  How many titles did you get submitted the first year?  And has it increased?

We certainly consider the First Nation Communities Read program to be a book prize and the response we receive to our annual call for submissions indicates that publishers consider it to be an honour. Although they receive no cash award, the selected book creators have the opportunity to travel, subsidized, to a major library conference and to several First Nation communities in Ontario. And, of course, program promotion contributes to book sales. In 2003, we had the one title we requested. Since then, we have issued a call for submissions with the following results: 6 titles in 2004, 8 titles in 2005, 16 titles in 2006, 21 titles in 2008, and 31 titles in 2009.

What do you do with the titles once they have been selected?  How do you promote the reading of these titles by First Nation readers?

Since the program’s start, we have ensured that all First Nation public libraries in Ontario receive up to three copies of the selected title each year. Every year, First Nation librarians organize readings of the title in their libraries, at schools, and at other community events. We ask them to let us know, for grant reporting purposes, how many readings they organized and how many people attended. We compose a “Tips” sheet each year that suggests book-based programming and beyond-the-book programming ideas inspired by the book. Since 2004, we have been able to promote the “selected and other recommended titles” on the annual First Nation Communities Read poster. And each year, several First Nation communities are fortunate enough to have the book’s creators visit for readings and workshops.

Can you tell me a story of how a book has affected a young First Nation reader? 

As a consultant, I no longer work in a library or community so am not as close as I once was to witnessing the impact individual books have on young readers. However, working with the librarians, I have heard their testimonials about why the program’s books are so important to young readers and their families. The First Nation Communities Read books convey aboriginal sensibilities and teachings. They present aboriginal faces, activities, and environments. Most of them depict aboriginal people living contemporary, rather than “historical” lives. Touring with the books’ creators to First Nation communities, I have witnessed the importance to people – young and old – of meeting aboriginal people who believe in and are committed to the medium of books as a means of conveying and preserving stories, ideas, information, and images.

Has the program ever worked with First Nation storytellers?  I know that storytelling is a different art than story writing, and not all First Nation storytellers have written books on the stories they tell.

The First Nation Communities Read program is about celebrating and encouraging aboriginal storytelling. While the stories it celebrates may be “told” in print and image, one of the program's goals has always been to encourage family literacy, intergenerational storytelling, and intergenerational information sharing. The story or inspiration for some of the First Nation Communities Read selections actually belongs to or comes from a storyteller who has collaborated with an author to bring a story or song to life in print. We know that attending a First Nation Communities Read reading leads to the recollection of and telling of stories at the family and community level. When on tour, the First Nation Communities Read authors encourage local storytellers to consider also “telling” their stories in print to contribute to preserving them and sharing further afield.

There seems to be a decline, generally, in reading, by children and youth, in particular when so much cultural content is conveyed through visual media like TV and the Internet.  In talking to Inuit storyteller, Michael Kusugak, I discovered that the advent of television really killed the storytelling impulse that used to exist in their communities before. It seems his work involves telling not only non-aboriginal communities about the Inuit but also younger generations of Inuit themselves stories that only their grandparents knew.  Do you find that your program has resuscitated or recovered old ‘stories’ for new audiences? 

Certainly; we hope our program contributes both to the preservation of old stories and creation of new ones. That’s why we invest considerable energy in encouraging librarians not only to read and display the selected stories but also to launch discussion, draw out reminiscences, and program further with the books. I’m sure Dragonfly Kites led to parents and grandparents telling children and grandchildren stories about the internal creativity they drew upon in order to have “toys". I’m equally certain that Sky Sisters written by Jan Bourdeau Waboose and illustrated by Brian Deines led to the telling of many stories about the magic that occurs on cold winter nights. In fact, I heard Brian Deines tell Jan Bourdeau Waboose a story that sent shivers down the spines of everyone present. I hope Solomon’s Tree inspired by master carver Victor Reece, written by Andrea Spalding, and illustrated by Janet Wilson has inspired new stories for the telling based on the undertaking of carving projects and hunts for hummingbird nests.

How accessible are libraries and library materials for First Nations living on reserves?

In Ontario, there are 133 First Nation communities. Only 50 of them offer public library service in their communities. While the have-not number seems shocking in this day and age, most aboriginal communities in Canada don’t have local public library service. There are many reasons why: legislative issues, minimal or no funding, and, in some communities, critical conditions that take precedence. The First Nation public library community in Ontario is just launching a “Speak Up for First Nation Public Libraries” advocacy campaign to bring attention to the situation and garner public support for improving it. As for collections, where they exist, they tend to be small, often based on donations, and, often, not too current.

I imagine there must be some wonderful cross-cultural communication achieved through this program between various aboriginal First Nation writers and the reading audiences they encounter. Do you have any stories about how this kind of cross cultural communication has occurred with the dissemination of your program’s books?

I defer to aboriginal authors and readers for the absolute answer to this question. However, I think it’s likely the First Nation Communities Read program contributes to the ways in which aboriginal peoples become aware of and relate to their similarities and differences. I have sensed the strong connection some Ojibway friends feel to As Long as the Rivers Flow written by Cree author Larry Loyie with Constance Brissenden and illustrated by Heather D. Holmlund. I have seen a First Nation librarian from northern Ontario brought to tears by the relevance to her community of the teaching in Which Way Should I Go? written by Sylvia Olsen with Ron Martin, both Vancouver Islanders, and illustrated by Kasia Charko.

Can you tell us a little bit more about Which Way Should I Go, the program's most recent selection?

Which Way Should I Go? is a wonderful story inspired by Ron Martin’s memory of a song and dance he and his siblings learned from their grandparents. It combines simplicity and everyday-ness with depth and emotional appeal. Together, authors Olsen and Martin, and illustrator Kasia Charko draw readers into the loving relationship young Joey has with his grandmother. Singing and dancing, Grandma teaches Joey about choices, attitude, and decision-making. With Grandma, Joey joyfully embraces the choices he faces each day. However, when Grandma becomes ill and dies, Joey feels alone and betrayed – until he realizes how well Grandma has prepared him. He can be sad and angry or he can honour Grandma by practicing her teachings. There is a choice and he is responsible for making it!

Any new developments in store for the First Nation Communities Read program?

We have recently adopted an alternate-year system to support a separate focus on children's titles and young adult/adult titles. This year, 2010, for the first time the program's call for submissions requested children's books only. In addition to this change we have also shifted the tour component of the program from February to June. First Nations Public Library Week is now strong enough to stand on its own, so a separate celebration of First Nation Communities Read program will be a welcome additional "spotlight" on First Nation public libraries during the year. June is the month during which Canada celebrates National Aboriginal Day (June 21) – and June's weather is a better bet for successful travel than February's!

*Sally Ito is a PaperTigers' contributor.

Posted April 2010

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