Tribal College Librarians Institute

The Tribal College Librarians Institute or TCLI

^{A Brief History of TCLI}

The Tribal College Librarians Institute (TCLI) is a week long professional development experience for tribal college librarians from all across the U.S. and Canada. The groundwork for [http://www.lib.montana.edu/tcli/ TCLI] was formed in 1989 when Kathy Kaya, a recently retired [http://www.montana.edu/ Montana State University-Bozeman] reference librarian, had a conversation with tribal librarians at [http://www.skc.edu/ Salish Kootenai College] about the lack of Professional Development opportunities for them in Montana. Kathy turned words into action and worked with the [http://www.lib.montana.edu/ Montana State University Libraries] and the [http://www.montana.edu/wwwnas/ Montana State University Department of Native American Studies] to create TCLI. The first Institute was held in 1990 at Montana State University in [http://www.city-data.com/city/Bozeman-Montana.html Bozeman] and was attended by librarians from every tribal college in Montana.

In the Institute’s 18 year history, TCLI has grown from a three to a five day institute and is currently open to all tribal college librarians, tribal college library staff, and any librarians whose mandate it is to serve tribal college students. Funding for TCLI is provided by MSU Libraries and supplemented with grants from private and government institutions. The bulk of the budget is spent on providing travel funds to participants. To date, the Institute has been able to offer limited travel funds to all those requesting assistance. While the majority of participants are from the US, librarians from New Zealand and Canada have also attended. In all there have been approximately 150 different participants from 50 institutions and a total of nearly 400 participants overall. In 2007, TCLI was attended by 38 participants from 27 institutions.

Some Participating Libraries:
[http://www.bfcc.org/library/index.html Blackfeet Community College Library]
[http://www.menominee.edu/ College of Menominee Nation Library]
[http://library.dinecollege.edu/ Diné College Libraries]
[http://www.firstnationsuniversity.ca/default.aspx?page=36 First Nations University of Canada’s Libraries]
[http://www.fbcc.edu/Library/index.html Fort Belknap College Library]
[http://www.fpcc.edu/library.htm Fort Peck Tribal Library]
[http://www.iaia.edu/college/library/ Institute of American Indian Arts Library]
[http://www.lptc.bia.edu/ Little Priest Tribal College]
[http://www.kbocc.org/flashpage.htm Ojibwa Community Library]
[http://www.lco.edu/library/index.html LCO Ojibwa College Community Library]
[http://lib.lbhc.cc.mt.us/ Little Big Horn College Library]
[http://skclibrary.skc.edu/ Salish Kootenai College D'Arcy McNickle Library]
[http://www.sittingbull.edu/Library/ Sitting Bull College Library]
[http://www.sipi.bia.edu/acadprog/imc/ Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Library]
[http://www.tocc.cc.az.us/library.htm Tohono O'odham Community College Library]
[http://www.turtle-mountain.cc.nd.us/library_home.htm Turtle Mountain Community College Library]
[http://www.uttc.edu/library/ United Tribes Technical College Library]
[http://www.wetcc.org/library/index.html White Earth Tribal and Community College Library]

The Institute has offered sessions on information literacy, grant writing, collection development, [http://www.lib.montana.edu/tcli/policyslides.pdf Building Library Policies] , digitization, preservation, [http://www.lib.montana.edu/tcli/07hollyspresentation.ppt Web 2.0] , government information, database training and a host of other subject areas and topics. In addition to the library related topics, the Institute attempts to include sessions on cultural topics as well. In recent years, there have been sessions on the American Indian Movement, Navajo Code Talkers and [http://www.lptc.bia.edu/dft3/main.htm HoChunk Ethnobotany] .

TCLI is primarily held in Bozeman, Montana: however funding was received from the National Agricultural Library in 2001 and from the National Museum of the American Indian in 2006 to hold the Institute in Washington, D.C.

TCLI 2008

TCLI will be held June 9-13 in Bozeman, Montana on the Montana State University campus. We are currently seeking proposals for presentations on various topics.

Please contact [http://www.lib.montana.edu/people/about.php?id=17 Mary Anne Hansen-Coordinator TCLI] or [http://www.lib.montana.edu/people/about.php?id=53 James Thull-Assistant Coordinator TCLI] for more information or if you would like to submit a proposal. Our cultural theme for 2008 will focus on native languages and coincides with the [http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/ga10592.doc.htm United Nations declaration of 2008 as the International Year of Languages] .

External links

* [http://www.lib.montana.edu/tcli/ TCLI Homepage]
* [http://aila.library.sd.gov/ American Indian Library Association]
* [http://www.aihec.org/ American Indian Higher Education Consortium]
* [http://www.aihecvl.org/ American Indian Higher Education Consortium Virtual Library]
* [http://www.pnla.org/quarterly/Fall2006/Fall2006.pdf "The Tribal College Librarians Institute: Providing Professional Development and Networking in a Close-Knit Environment." PNLA Quarterly, 8-9.]
* [http://tribalcollegejournal.org/themag/backissues/winter2003/winter2003oc.html "College Librarians Gain Skills at MSU Institute." Tribal College Journal, 15-2.]
* [http://www.mtlib.org/focus/Focus10-06.pdf "MSU Libraries Tribal College Librarians Institute Goes to D.C." Montana Library Focus, October 2006, Page 3.]