#tumblarians

Just the essentials!

Music credit: "Cinema Blockbuster Trailer 7" by Sascha Ende Link: https://filmmusic.io/en/song/329-cinema-blockbuster-trailer-7 License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license (CC BY 4.0)

[Video Description: A 26 second video. Orchestral, cinematic music plays. Text reads The library is on fire! Grab the most important things!

A librarian at her computer spins around in her chair in slow motion, a look of horror on her face. Video cuts between various librarians frantically rescuing items. Each scene is labeled with the item:

The South Shore Posters: A librarian completely obscured by a framed South Shore Line poster she is carrying backs out of a room.

The hand chair: A librarian hauls away a large red plastic chair shaped like a hand.

Patron holds: A librarian shovels patron holds off the holds shelf onto a cart.

Benny the library skeleton: A librarian princess-carrying a large skeleton dressed in an oversized t-shirt frantically looks around for an exit before dashing away

The thing that gets me about the many, many times I've seen people recommend Libby (and to a lesser extent, Hoopla) as this sort of magical free place to read books! you can find free books on Libby! so much selection on Libby! Libby has it! have you looked at Libby? it's on Libby! is that Libby is your library.

Not in the metaphorical sense!

Literally, Libby is provided through your library. You get access if your library has provided Libby as a service to its users. It has to buy (well, lease, I think, technically?) ebooks and e-audiobooks for its community, which is why my Libby may have different titles or formats or wait times than your Libby.

Libby is not like Project Gutenberg or the Internet Archive or whatever else it's usually included on lists with, open to Americans across the country (and whatever other countries whose copyright laws allow access). Libby books are a service paid for by your library in the same way that physical books on its shelves are free to borrow, paid for by your library funding and selected by your librarians, and therefore may differ from the physical books at my library with my librarians. Libby is just the digital shelf!

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson (Dakota), 2021

Novel about generations of women and survival of family ties and the land. Fiction for people who enjoy Robin Wall Kimmerer

Rez Life by David Treuer (Ojibwe), 2013

Stark, fascinating, and humorous nonfiction that reads like a series of journalistic essays on sovereignty, natural resources, poverty, casinos, and culture.

Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi), 2003

Noted Indigenous scientist and author in her earliest book for popular audiences. Science writing at its best - beautiful and regenerative, though not without acknowledgement of the destructive power of capitalism, colonization, unequal resource allocation, etc. I read it December 2024 and it was absolutely a balm during a really emotionally tough time. Her other books Braiding Sweetgrass and The Serviceberry are also great reads.

Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal, 2024 (Note: not a Native author)

History of Indigenous nations in now-North America – I learned a lot about what was happening during the 12th-14th centuries, especially in the Southeast, and found it helpful that she brought in context from climate events, astronomy, and comparative societal structures around the world. The book overall aims to reframe European colonization and rule and argues persuasively that Native nations controlled relationships and land for much longer than Europeans claimed. It’s not comprehensive (I especially was disappointed in the lack of West Coast/Cascades region nations, but I can find more of that elsewhere) but coverage is really interesting and extensive.