Sweats, Pow Wows, and Indian Tacos: How My Year Out in the Middle of Nowhere Makes Me a Better Librarian

A reflection of the author’s work with American Indian students on a reservation, and how they draw on those experiences in their career as an academic librarian. With the diverse demographics that compose the student bodies in universities and colleges, academic librarians are consistently trying to reach and help students from a variety of different backgrounds and levels of academic readiness. It is one of the responsibilities of academic librarians to reach students who are struggling with adjusting to the standards of higher education. By working on the reservation, the author discovered that feelings of safety, support, and representation were all key factors in reaching students who were hesitant with classwork. Diverse representation in collections and establishing a non-judgmental environment encourages college students to use the library as a resource in their education. The library should provide familiarity and comfort to encourage students to utilize it during their college years, and cultivate the concept of lifelong learning.