Projects
Pond Inlet
Best Practices Literacy Programs in Nunavut
Program Name: Various programs at Rebecca P. Idlout Library
Community: Pond Inlet
Program Delivery: Rebecca P. Idlout Library
Goals of the Program:
To encourage residents of Pond Inlet to use the library; to offer programs and resources that people of different ages and backgrounds would enjoy and find useful; to encourage people to explore their culture and history orally and through reading and writing.
Program Partners:
The Rebecca P. Idlout Library and its Library Board have had various partners for their programs. More recently these have included the Nattinnak Visitors’ Centre (the Library being housed in the same building), Parks Canada, Qikiktani School Operations, Inuit Heritage Trust, the Home Care Elder’s program and the local schools.
Description of Programs:
Over the years the Pond Inlet Library has sought funding for and delivered a number of interesting and valuable programs. Here’s a sampling:
- Preschool Program: The library has run a preschool program for 14 years. The preschool happens once a week throughout the school year from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Library staff plans an activity time and story time for small children and their caregivers. Parents are encouraged to stay and participate with their children. This is convenient for parents because preschool is timed so that they can pick up their school-aged children after the preschool session is finished. By participating parents learn valuable ways they can support their children’s language and literacy development at home.
Every year the library has to seek funding to operate the preschool program. If funding doesn’t come through right away in the fall, parents always ask about the program. It has become a regular program in Pond Inlet that people look forward to for their children. - Oral History Program:
In 1994, when the Pond Inlet Visitors’ Centre was in the planning stages, Parks Canada contributed funding to interview local Elders and record their stories. These interviews provided background information for the displays at the Visitors’ Centre. Since the Rebecca P. Idlout Library shares space with the Visitors’ Centre, Parks Canada donated the video recordings of the interviews to the library. Library staff and community residents treasure this valuable resource and there are plans to copy, catalogue, transcribe and translate the interviews when funding and resources allow. In the meantime, people can view the video recordings in the library. An author, Shelagh Grant, has used the interviews to do research for her book, Arctic Justice : on trial for murder, Pond Inlet 1923. - Elders’ Program:
The Pond Inlet Home Care Staff run an Elders’ Program every Wednesday in the Nattinnak Centre when elders can also visit the library. Philippa as librarian, views this as an opportunity to show the Elders what the library has to offer and where to find it. Once a month a special theme is introduced with an historical background, comparing it to events that were taking place in Pond Inlet around the same time. For example, one theme looked at traditional hymns known to the elders through translation by the early missionaries; another theme was silent films from the early days of cinema. The Elders group enjoyed watching Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush - the great thing about silent films being that everyone can enjoy them as language is not a barrier! The Elders of Pond Inlet also participated in a Mapping Project through Inuit Heritage Trust. While that project was underway, Philippa showed the Elders various books that contain old maps of the region. These programs and visits have encouraged Elders to feel quite comfortable in the library and know where to find resources in Inuktitut and those that interest them most. - Photo History Collection: The Pond Inlet Library has an extensive collection of old photographs which they have been gathering since 1993. Many of the photos come from the National Archives in Ottawa and the Hudson Bay Archives in Winnipeg. Private individuals have donated others. These photos are displayed in binders in the library and are available for anyone to look at. In recent years, students attending the Nunavut Sivuniksavut Program in Ottawa have been involved in a project to identify people from old photographs collected by the National Archives. The students interviewed Elders in their home communities to find information about the photographs from their region. This year a young person from Pond Inlet was asked to continue the work on identifying the archival photographs through the Rebecca P. Idlout Library since no local student was currently attending the NS Program. Angela has found this to be a very interesting project, talking to Elders and trying to determine who the people are in the old photographs from Pond Inlet region. Later this year, Nunavummiut should be able to look at many of these archival photographs on the internet through a new website being created by the Library and Archives of Canada.
- School Programs: Each Thursday morning through out the school year the Library is open to school or college class groups. Since this time is very limited teachers have to book ahead and plan what the students’ needs are. Although both schools have their own libraries they are not staffed so Philippa tries to accommodate these groups in order to introduce this age group to good library skills and what is available to them for their school work at the public library. Teachers also benefit from this time, as they must accompany their students and are involved with any presentation given.
- Adult Hours: Wednesday evenings is “adult only” time at the library – a chance for adults 16 years and older to read and explore the resources in a quieter atmosphere. Many adults use this time to ask for assistance with composing resumes or signing on-line for e-mail access.
- Display Boards: The library has a visual display with books related to a certain theme. Philippa changes the display board regularly depending on events that are happening in town. During the Inuit Heritage Trust Mapping Project the display included atlases and books containing world and local maps.
Highlights & Reflections:
With the decentralization of the Government of Nunavut and the increase in visitors to the community, many newcomers have expressed their delight to find such a well stocked and interesting library here in a small northern community. As a Local Librarian I feel happy to hear these comments and this is always encouraging. I add that our young people have as much right to access current and accurate information as youth in any other part of Canada, after all they still need to write the same final examinations at high school! Literacy is important for all in any language and the library in Pond Inlet tries to encourage this through programs such as those mentioned here.
Philippa Ootoowak,
Local Librarian
in collaboration with The Nunavut Literacy Council