The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 2015 Calls to Action and the CFLA-FCAB Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s 2017 Report and Recommendations provide libraries with information for furthering reconciliation and decolonization efforts. Public libraries in Canada have responded to these documents by undertaking various initiatives, which are communicated by libraries, for example, through websites. This paper analyzed website content of five Canadian public libraries. The findings suggest that libraries have taken various initiatives in different areas including online and physical spaces, collections, and programs. Interestingly, decolonization and reconciliation related work also features in some public libraries’ strategic plans. Les appels à l'action de 2015 de la Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada et le rapport et les recommandations de 2017 du Comité de vérité et réconciliation de l'ACFL-FCAB fournissent aux bibliothèques de l'information pour poursuivre les efforts de réconciliation et de décolonisation. Les bibliothèques publiques du Canada ont répondu à ces documents en entreprenant diverses initiatives, qui sont communiquées par les bibliothèques, par exemple, par le biais de sites Web. Cet article analyse le contenu des sites Web de cinq bibliothèques publiques canadiennes. Les résultats suggèrent que les bibliothèques ont pris diverses initiatives dans différents domaines, y compris les espaces physiques et en ligne, les collections et les programmes. Il est intéressant de noter que les travaux liés à la décolonisation et à la réconciliation figurent également dans les plans stratégiques de certaines bibliothèques publiques.

In 2020 we have experienced movements to support local creators, restaurants, and businesses; how can the library community support local authors? This extended abstract discusses research conducted about how public libraries support local authors, with a focus on how these works are included in library collections and made findable to community members. Twelve public libraries from British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan were selected for analysis of collection policies and item metadata. Qualitative content analysis is used to code collection policies, and systemic analysis of item metadata is used to understand methods of identifying locally-authored items. The results of this research indicate that collection policies provide both opportunities and barriers for including locally-authored items and there is a lack of consistent methods for identifying items as locally-authored within item metadata. Some of these barriers can be attributed to the challenge of identifying and defining “local authorship”. This extended abstract will conclude with recommendations for how libraries can modify collection policies and methods of identifying items as locally-authored in order to support local authors and make these items more accessible to the community.

CFLA-FCAB’s Truth and Reconciliation Report and Recommendations (2017) has galvanized Canadian libraries and library associations to undertake initiatives to decolonize libraries. Similar efforts are happening internationally as libraries work toward reconciliation. This paper presents findings of an environmental scan and analysis of library association websites from Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The findings demonstrate that library associations are taking a number of initiatives such as providing access to resources, initiating guidelines and policies, hosting events, offering financial support, and other initiatives.

This research explores how public libraries support local authors, with a focus on if and how these works are included in library collections and made findable to patrons. Twelve public libraries, four each from British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, were selected to analyze collection development policies and item metadata. Qualitative content analysis was used to code collection policies, and systemic analysis of item record metadata was used to understand methods of identifying locally-authored items. The results of this research indicate that collection policies provide both opportunities and barriers for acquisition of locally-authored items, including those items that are self-published. There is a lack of consistent methods for identifying items as locally-authored within item metadata. This research discusses some of the challenges associated with identifying items as locally-authored, and concludes with recommendations for modifying collection policies and methods for identifying items in order to make locally-authored items more accessible and discoverable to the local community.