Tribal College Librarians Institute facts for kids
The Tribal College Librarians Institute (TCLI) is a special week-long event. It helps librarians from tribal colleges in the United States and Canada learn new skills. This event usually takes place in Bozeman, Montana.
History of TCLI
The idea for TCLI started in 1989. Kathy Kaya, a librarian from Montana State University – Bozeman, talked with librarians from Salish Kootenai College. They discussed how there weren't many chances for tribal college librarians in Montana to get more training.
Kathy decided to do something about it. She worked with Montana State University Libraries and the Department of Native American Studies. Together, they created TCLI. The very first TCLI event happened in 1990 at Montana State University in Bozeman. Librarians from every tribal college in Montana attended.
Over time, TCLI grew from a three-day event to a five-day event. Now, it's open to all tribal college librarians and staff. It also welcomes any librarians who help tribal college students. Montana State University Libraries provides most of the money for TCLI. Other groups and government organizations also give grants. A lot of the money helps pay for participants' travel costs. Most people who attend are from the U.S., but librarians from New Zealand and Canada have also joined. So far, about 200 different people from 60 colleges have attended TCLI, with nearly 500 total participants over the years.
What TCLI Sessions Cover
TCLI offers many helpful sessions for librarians. These sessions teach about things like:
- How to find and use information well (called information literacy)
- How to write applications for grants (money for projects)
- How to build a good collection of books and resources (called collection development)
- Making rules for libraries
- Turning old documents into digital files
- Keeping old books and items safe
- Using new internet tools (like Web 2.0)
- Finding government information
- How to use library databases
Besides library topics, TCLI also includes sessions about different cultures. In recent years, there have been talks about the American Indian Movement, the Navajo Code Talkers, and Ho-Chunk plant knowledge (called ethnobotany).
Where TCLI Events Are Held
TCLI is mostly held in Bozeman, Montana. However, sometimes it takes place in other cities. For example, in 2001, the National Agricultural Library helped fund an event in Washington, D.C.. In 2006, the National Museum of the American Indian also helped fund an event there.
The TCLI event in 2008 was held from June 9–13 in Bozeman, at the Montana State University campus. That year, the cultural theme was about native languages. This was because the United Nations had declared 2008 as the International Year of Languages.
TCLI Event in 2007
In 2007, 38 people from 27 different colleges and institutions attended TCLI. Some of these included:
- Blackfeet Community College Library
- College of Menominee Nation Library
- Diné College Libraries
- First Nations University of Canada’s Libraries
- Fort Belknap College Library
- Fort Peck Tribal Library
- Institute of American Indian Arts Library
- Little Priest Tribal College
- Ojibwa Community Library
- LCO Ojibwa College Community Library
- Little Big Horn College Library
- Salish Kootenai College D'Arcy McNickle Library
- Sitting Bull College Library
- Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Library
- Tohono O'odham Community College Library
- Turtle Mountain Community College Library
- United Tribes Technical College Library
- White Earth Tribal and Community College Library
