Calgary Public Library welcomed its first Indigenous Services team member in 2017. This growing team focuses on Indigenous engagement, ensuring Library programs and services are designed around community needs.
Partnership is critical to the Library’s approach to reconciliation.
For opportunities to partner and collaborate, or to share ideas and suggestions, please contact the Indigenous Services team by email at indigenousservices@calgarylibrary.ca.
The Library has an open and ongoing call for Indigenous artists, art teams, performers, musicians and craft-makers within Treaty 7 Territory to submit music/performance/workshops/artist talks/film and storytelling for the Calgary Public Library’s social media channels.
The Calgary Public Library wants to support local Indigenous artists and musicians that live within the Treaty 7 Territory, by posting and sharing their work through our social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram or Instagram Stories, and Twitter. This could include the sharing of websites, photos, stories, YouTube, Vimeo links, and recorded workshops or performances.
To submit, send a short 100-200 word description of the proposed work you would like to share, the age/demographic the work is intended for, links to online content, examples of past work and already produced video content.
Submissions can be sent, along with any questions about criteria or medium, to indigenousservices@calgarylibrary.ca or jared.tailfeathers@calgarylibrary.ca.
Submissions will be reviewed by the Indigenous Services staff from the Calgary Public Library on an ongoing and weekly basis; those submissions selected for posting and the timeline for submitting will be notified.
All content displayed on Library Digital Media will be family-friendly and appropriate for the public. No content will be shared on Library platforms if it has inappropriate language, subject matter, graphic content, or hate speech.
What is a land acknowledgement? Children can learn this simple statement, including gestures, to understand its importance.
Watch the Video
Visit the Indigenous Languages Resource Centre on Level 4 at Central Library to meet with Elders, share stories under a night sky installation, view traditional items, and learn Treaty 7 languages.
Learn more
Indigenous languages have long been underrepresented in literature — especially in children's books. This year the Library worked with aspiring Treaty 7 writers to start changing that, helping them create children's books in their traditional languages.
Learn about the authors and their books
The Elders’ Guidance Circle is now available as an online experience. Individuals and small groups, including students, can meet virtually with an Elder to share in history, stories of the land, culture, and guidance.
Upcoming meeting times are:
Monday, December 7 between 1 pm and 4:30 pm
Tuesday, December 8 between 10 am and 4:30 pm
Monday, December 14 between 10 am and 4:30 pm
Tuesday, December 15 between 10 am and 4:30 pm
Please email indigenousservices@calgarylibrary.ca or call 403.801.6084 to book a time.
The Elders’ Guidance Circle is supported by Suncor Energy Foundation.
Visit Central, Forest Lawn, and Signal Hill libraries to view both traditional and contemporary art installations by Indigenous artists. Supported by Suncor Energy Foundation.
View Indigenous Placemaking
The Calgary Public Library is committed to providing exceptional Library experiences to all residents of Mohkinstsis and surrounding area. For this reason, all residents of Alberta Indigenous communities and Métis settlements can receive their Library card for free, regardless of where they live.
As part of this commitment, the Library has released two limited edition Library cards featuring family photographs of Tsuut’ina artist Glenna Cardinal, who was previously denied a free Library card before they were made freely accessible to Indigenous communities across Alberta.
These cards are available to new and existing members. Ask a staff member at your Library about switching your card to this new design at no cost.
Essential titles by Indigenous authors to better understand Canadian history and support residential school survivors.
The authors' explorations of who they are and how they belong in their cultures and societies is punctuated with the vision of the outsider, rebel, resistance, resilience, and redemption on their own terms.
These Indigenous poets tap into a world rarely thought about in the dominant Canadian story. They write about what poetry means for their life experiences, perspectives, and identity as well as the roots of poetry in their culture.
The Library worked with aspiring Treaty 7 writers to create children's books in their traditional languages. These books are now available as part of the Library's permanent collection!
Whether you are personally affected by this crisis or want to become an ally, these resources can be a source of information, reflection, action, resilience, and hope.
Cree, Objibway, Navajo and Choctaw Code Talkers were essential to both world wars, where they used their languages to create unbreakable code.
The annual Orange Shirt Day on September 30 is part of the global conversation on all aspects of Indian Residential Schools.
Explore the powerful music of Indigenous musicians who use music and song to reclaim their culture.
Curl up with your kids and enjoy this collection of storybooks from Indigenous authors.
Delicious recipes to try out at home created by Indigenous chefs across Turtle Island.
Books about empowering Indigenous women through writings about feminism, decolonization, reclaiming identity, and sovereignty.
Tune into the love, life, history, and perspectives from the Two Spirit and Indigiqueer communities.
These selections rely on strong oral and written sources, and focus on de-colonizing the historical practice.
