Quick Summary
The Medweganoonind Library, located inside Red Lake Nation College (RLNC), is the library for RLNC students and the Red Lake community as well as home to the Tribal Archives. It opened its doors on August 15, 2015 when the new college building was completed. Before this library opened, the closest public library was Bemidji Public Library, about a 45 minute drive from Red Lake.
The Medweganoonind Library, located inside Red Lake Nation College (RLNC), is the library for RLNC students and the Red Lake community as well as home to the Tribal Archives. It opened its doors on August 15, 2015 when the new college building was completed. Before this library opened, the closest public library was Bemidji Public Library, about a 45 minute drive from Red Lake.
In the past two-and-a-half years, the library has expanded its collection from about 1,500 to nearly 7,000 resources. The collection is made up of a large Native section (Fiction, Non-Fiction, Biographies, and Language materials), children’s and YA sections, General Fiction and Non-Fiction sections, and the very popular DVD and Audiobook sections.
RLNC is currently in the process of acquiring independent accreditation. Because of this, the library's priority is to ensure that student needs come first. This has involved setting up a computer lab and Learning Center connected to the library and providing information-literacy workshops to assist students with their college-level research and writing.
The biggest challenge over the past few years has been getting the word out to community members that this library is for them! In September, 2016, the Medweganoonind Library was awarded a two-year IMLS Enhancement Grant for $140,000 to focus library efforts on community building and community engagement within the library.
The library is currently staffed by two full-time employees, Cassy Leeport, Director of Library Services & Tribal Archives, and Jen Hart, Library Technician. The library is open 44-50 hours a week, depending on the schedule, and has a monthly calendar of events including beading classes, technology workshops, LEGO Club, and story times.
The library is open once each month on a Saturday to host a free community event. Some of these events have included a Grinchmas Candy Cane Hunt, Halloween movie & crafts, paper moccasin making, Dr. Seuss’ birthday, gift making for Mother's Day and Father’s Day, and coming soon, Winter Storytelling.
Establishing a monthly calendar of library activities has really helped improve community usage of the space, and community patrons are the most frequent borrowers now! The big spike in community patrons has been very exciting for library staff. The library has added an average of six community patrons per week over the past year.
Although the library has seen steady growth and the future looks bright, we face the challenges that most tribal libraries do, such as sustainable funding. Being dependent on grant funding makes planning for the future difficult, but with the continued support of RLNC staff, students, and members of the Red Lake community, the Medweganoonind Library hopes to become a fixture of the community.
