Each year the British Columbia Library Association (BCLA) invites the BC library community to nominate organizations for awards recognizing outstanding work in libraries throughout the province of BC. This year the awards were presented during the recent 2024 BC Library Conference, and the Salt Spring Island Public Library was awarded for the BCLA BUILDING BETTER COMMUNITIES AWARD. This award is for an organization responsible for increasing the relevancy and impact of library services through partnership, collaboration, and building trust where little had previously existed. This year’s recipient, nominated by Pender Island Public Library, was for the Salt Spring Island Public Library’s Reconciliation work: “Salt Spring Island Public Library formally began doing Truth & Reconciliation work in 2018, with an UNDRIP series, Indigenous author readings and Indigenous displays, and expanded in 2019 with the formation of their Reconciliation Reading Circle, which continues to this day. Most recently, in January, they opened ITOTELNEW̱ HÁUTW̱ Tatul’ utew’t-hw, their new Indigenous Learning Area. The Awards Committee was impressed by the ongoing commitment and leadership Salt Spring Island Public Library has demonstrated to Truth & Reconciliation, and what they have been able to achieve as a relatively small library”.
Library Director, Karen Hudson, alongside Library Board Chair Adrian Wright, and Indigenous Coordinator Caroline Dick, accepted the award during the BCLA Conference keynote sessions. In her acceptance speech, Hudson encouraged other libraries to take steps in Reconciliation. She said, “This year’s Conference theme is Commitment – Courage – Community, and it takes courage to stand up for what is right, take risks, and pursue innovation”. Hudson said they learned that building relationships with Indigenous Peoples is ongoing, takes its own time and the way of working is based on trust and patience, and to be successful, you need to be flexible, respectful, and change the way you work. Hudson also mentioned the Library’s ReconciliActions, including completing the Indigenous Mural with Quw’utsun artist Charlene Johnny, to raise awareness of local Indigenous communities and to be a symbol of the Library’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation in 2021, making the Library’s commitment to Truth & Reconciliation a Strategic priority, with a focus on policies, operations, and programming that support the Calls to Action of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report in 2022, and hiring Indigenous staff Caroline Dick in 2023. After thanking the long list of supporters, and Indigenous partners, Hudson encouraged the everyone to attend the Conference session the next day with herself, Caroline Dick, and Amelia Boissoneau from Surrey Libraries, Committing to Community Reconciliation at a Public Library, which was attended by over 100 persons.