At the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival session "American History Is Native History" on August 24, American Library Association (ALA) President Cindy Hohl received a warm welcome and enthusiastic response when she asked panelists to speak about the importance of libraries in researching Native history, especially now as university and other library types being closed due to a lack of funding or support.
“We’re at a critical point where libraries need to be supported,” said Hohl, who is Dakota of the Santee Sioux Nation. “And we need our authors to have access to information and these bodies of knowledge.”
“History would be lost without archives and libraries,” said panelist Kathleen DuVal, professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America.”
Watch Duval and fellow panelist Ned Blackhawk, Howard R. Lamar professor of history at Yale University and author of “The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History,” discuss Hohl’s query below or at CSPAN online.
Learn more about tribal libraries and ALA’s support and resources for them here.
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