The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Ojibwe-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. More
Claire Settee
Who are you? Claire is an Indigenous Librarian Intern at the University of Manitoba Libraries (Nov 2023-Nov 2027).
Where are you from? I am from Winnipeg which is on the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. I am Anishinaabe from Hollow Water First Nation (Wanibigaw) and Swampy Cree and Scottish Metis from Fisher River Cree Nation (Ochekwi Sipi). Both of these communities are on Lake Winnipeg.
What are you doing in school? I have finished 4 of my 13 courses in my Master of Library & Information Sciences degree from the University of Alberta. I will graduate in Spring 2027.
What do you want to do after graduation? I want to serve my community and be a proud Indigenous person!
Shirley Delorme Russell
Who are you? Shirley is one of the Indigenous Librarian Interns (Sept 2022-Sept 2026).
Where are you from? I am a proud Métis woman from my momma (Delorme). I am from the heart of the Red River Métis Nation. My home territory is Winnipeg and I am proud to live and work in my own territory. I am a humble Anisinaabekwe from my dad (Russell). My dad comes from the land of the Sleeping Giant by way of Blind River First Nation. I was raised in my momma's territory, as a Métis woman, but I always remember I am also my dad's "mygirl" (not a spelling error, in my family we are myboys and mygirls).
What are you doing in school? I have finished 6 of 13 classes in my Master of Library & Information Sciences degree from the University of Alberta. I will graduate in Spring 2026.
What do you want to do after graduation? I hope to create a library for my nation or work in my local city archives. I am also considering a small public library.
Photo: Shirley & Claire at University of Manitoba Elizabeth Dafoe Library. May 2025. Copyright Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee.
Why do we visit:
Gaudet, J.C. (2019). Keeoukaywin: The Visiting Way- Fostering an Indigenous Research Methodology. Aboriginal Policy Studies. DOI: 10.5663/aps.v7i2.29336
Promoting ebooks with QR code displays
Fiction books to support student wellness
Photo: Oct 2024 by Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
Assiniboine College student study rooms were given names of local plants in local Indigenous languages. This room is called Wiigwaasaatig- the birch room.
Photo: Oct 2024 by Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
By adding a simple piece of art or painting in addition to the sign outside, Assiniboine College has added Indigenous knowledge to the space.
This is the interior of Wiigwaasaating- Birch room.
Photo: Oct 2024 by Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
Assiniboine College worked Indigenous community and named their Indigenous collection Elders. As sources of knowledge, books act as teachers like Elders do.
Photo: Oct 2024 by Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
CMU serves a small population of under 1000 students. In their new library they installed rolling shelves for half of their shelving. CMU told us that it saves their space but can be a challenge if more than one student wants to be in adjacent rows.
Photo: Feb 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
CMU has smartly created magnetic labels for filing cabinets. Here is an example of one for music.
Photo: Feb 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
CMU is known for their music program. It was interesting to see their music scores (not including oversize) in filing cabinets.
Photo: Feb 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
As CMU is a Mennonite university, they have a very large collection of Mennonite resources. Mennonitica is the study of or writing about Mennonites.
Photo: Feb 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
BU has a beautiful, open atrium space over the stairs with natural lighting made the library feel very welcoming.
It seemed like a place the community can have pride in and a place where students would love to spend their time.
Photo: Oct 2024 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
BU had a prominent poster promoting reference librarians in the entrance.
Photo: Oct 2024 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
We also forgot to take photos at Red River!
At RRC Shirley was excited to see the back end of the library she used as a student! (Aboriginal Languages, 2007).
She learned about:
Photo from: https://www.rrc.ca/library/2020/09/16/rrc-library-the-ideal-study-space/
Claire and Shirley visited Lise at UStB in November 2025.
They learned about the size of their students and faculty and the interesting connection between being a separate university and a founding college of the University of Manitoba.
Photo: Nov 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
At the joint service and reception desk, there is are reserves as well as laptop and cord loans.
Photo: Nov 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
This is UStB's laptop locker.
Photo: Nov 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
UStB has student study rooms with large screens, whiteboards and plenty of seating.
Photo: Nov 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
UStB has invested in new student furniture along with power towers
Photo: Nov 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
UStB has a beautiful atrium with rows of popular student study space.
Photo: Nov 2025 by Shirley Delorme Russell and Claire Settee
We forgot to take photos at UW!
UW was one of the first academic libraries Shirley visited. It was the site of her undergrad (BA/BEd 2010) and it was informative to see the back side. Shirley had met a UW librarian at an event and she asked them for a tour .
It was during this tour that Shirley met Danielle! (Danielle Bitz, Indigenous Engagement and Liaison Librarian)
Photo from https://library.uwinnipeg.ca/collections/index.html
UM Libraries is requested by Vice President- Indigenous annually to participate in Indigenous Student Orientation.
Photo: Indigenous Student Orientation 2023 with:
UM Libraries are asked by Vice President- Indigenous to participate yearly in Louis Riel Day activities.
Shirley was asked to be on the organizing committee.
Claire was asked to provide a pop up library.
Photo: Louis Riel Day event 2024.
Lyle Ford, Indigenous Studies Librarian and Indigenous Lead for UML, has supported Shirley and Claire as Indigenous Librarian Interns as they learn about working at UML, earning their MLIS and being Indigenous people in large academic systems.
Photo: Louis Riel Day event Feb 2025
This is one of the new Indigenous art pieces in UM library spaces. In brilliant neon, Indigenous students are seen with Cree syllabics and all music students learn about one of our writing systems with a reminder not to give up!
Joi Arcand: “ᐁᑳᐏᔭ ᐸᑭᒌ
ēkāwiya pakicī / Don’t Give Up
How to find a library to visit:
Be intentional when you visit:
The Manitoba Archives includes the Hudson Bay Company Archives
Both archives are open to the public.
This was a visually pleasing scroll and map storage wall.
Photo: Manitoba Archive storage wall, 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
This is a section of finding aids which remain but are no longer updated.
Photo: Finding aids, 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
We visited the HBCA vault. Because Manitoba Archives and HBCA are located within a historic auditorium, the vault is located under the stadium seating. The vault is also built as a "box within a box" to support archival quality storage.
This page as seen through the display windows is an Ininewmowin (Cree) to English dictionary that a Hudson Bay Company fur trader created.
Photo: vault display, 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
The vault display includes windows, foreground and background displays.
Photo: vault display, 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
At SHSB/SBHS Claire and Shirley were brought to the archive vaults. We learned that SHSB/SBHS has the best environmental control of any archive in Manitoba. It is one of the newest and like other archives it is a box within a box for fire safety.
Like many archives there is much processing of donations still to be done.
The director shared with us that SHSB/SBHS is the archive of the Oblates of Marie Immaculate (OMI), a church order that ran many residential schools. Because of this, and as a an act of reconciliation, SHSB/SBHS allows any community or community member to search through their archives, even unprocessed collections. That community may have had a residential school run by OMI or that community was talked about in OMI records; these are some of the reasons communities or members might want to search these archives.
The director showed us the various major collections they had, especially religious, local (St. Boniface has been / is a diocese, archdiocese, parish, town, city and now neighbourhood) and architectural.
Photo: SHSB/SBHS archive shelving, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
As a historical society, SHSB/SBHS has a large in house library. Some of their resources include scrip documents which are extremely important for genealogical research.
Photo: SHSB/SBHS scrip binders Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
In the SHSB/SBHS library there are myriads of community resources. SHSB/SBHS does genealogies for anyone but especially Franco-Manitobain and Métis people.
Photo: SHSB/SBHS community resources, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
As an archive SHSB/SBHS accesses multi media in a variety of historic formats. This is a station for reading resources.
Photo: SHSB/SBHS technology resources Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
Tim from MGRSC saw Claire & Shirley present at Manitoba Library Association conference. Because Claire & Shirley put out an open invitation to visit libraries, Tim answered!
Claire & Shirley invited Grace - Geology Liaison librarian from UM to come with.
Photo: Tim (MGSRC), Grace (UML librarian), Shirley, Claire (UML Interns), Peggy (MGSRC).
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
MSGRC collects maps produced by cartographers at Manitoba Geological Survey. These maps are made of mylar and hanged in cabinets.
The MSGRC also had numerous folding papers maps.
As per Grace, the UM Jim Peebles Science and Technology Library also has all these resources.
Photo: Hanging maps.
Copyright Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
The Manitoba Legislative Library is in two locations- one on Vaughn Street with the Manitoba Archive and the Hudson Bay Archive (Library), and another at the Manitoba Legislature (Reading Room).
Their is public access to the Library, but not the Reading Room. Both locations serve Members of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
Photo: Shirley and Claire at Legislative Library, Feb 2025.
Copyright Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
As we walked from the Manitoba Legislative Library to the Legislative Reading Room we approached the enormous Canadian flag. This was installed at the Manitoba Legislature as a response to the US President called Canada the 51st states.
The Legislative Reading Room is in the Manitoba legislature.
Photo: Manitoba Legislature with Canada Flag, Feb 2025.
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee.
The Manitoba Legislative Library serves both MLAs and the public. It is located one block from the Manitoba Legislature in building shared with Manitoba Archives and Hudson Bay Company Archives.
Librarian Stuart is showing us one of many biography and local history scrapbooks that are at the library. Librarians today still create vertical files. They don't glue newspapers in scrapbooks anymore, but they do print newspaper pages and collect them.
Photo: Stuart, Manitoba Legislative Library, Feb 2025.
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
The library provides finding aids for all the scrapbooks. They come in a binder as well as in card catologue.
Photo: Manitoba Legislative Library finding aid, Feb 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
The library maintains their card catalogue collection up to 1989. After 1989 the catalogue is electronic. The librarian told us that their card catalogue is very well used.
This is the card catalogue for the scrapbooks.
Photo: Manitoba Legislative Library card catalogue finding aid, Feb 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
The archive includes all city records from the original city of Winnipeg and the 13 cities, towns and rural municipalities that it amalgamated with in 1972.
Photo: City of Winnipeg Archives shelving, Mar 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
We had a brilliant tour of the City of Winnipeg Archives. They are in temporary location while their original building is being renovated.
The archive is part of the city clerk departments and includes records from the city. The city also has a library (Winnipeg Public Library) so this archive is very aware of what they do not need to collect.
This building permit was pulled in an example of work archivists are asked to do. In order to pull this permit, archivists had to consult current city plans, then work backwards through fire insurance maps, city amalgamation maps until they arrived at this permit.
Photo: Building permit held by City of Winnipeg Archives
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
This section includes records from the rural municipality of East Kildonan. The area and year are written on the fore edge/ bottom of the book.
Sections like this exist for every community that amalgamated in 1972.
Photo: City of Winnipeg shelving
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
The archive includes item like cornerstone time capsules. This cornerstone contains lead which is clearly noted.
Photo: City of Winnipeg Archives shelving
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
We learned that:
All Libraries
Library staff shared:
We learned about:
The St.B Branch is at a major intersection, in front of a bus stop and within a building.
St.B is the French language branch of WPL. They also have English and other languages as their neighbourhood needs, but they have the most French resources in the system.
The librarian told us that when St. Boniface city amalgamated with Winnipeg city one of the results was that French language resources would not be diminished. (At almagamation the city of St. Boniface had three branches- St. Boniface, Windsor Park and Norwood). Until the late 1900s St.B branch managed all the French resources; now Millennium branch does so.
Photo: Claire and Shirley at St. Boniface branch entrance, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
St. Boniface branch serves many under resourced patrons and many patrons who use substances. Always in the aim of providing the information their patrons need, and in harm reduction, St.B branch has bathroom signs in English and French for safer needle injection sites, along with a sharps disposal container.
Photo: signs for safer injection, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
In the bathroom (information and harm reduction) there are also signs for patrons about how to handle found needles. There is also a sign in English and French about the resources that patrons can ask librarians about.
Photo: sign about patron resources, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
St. B branch serves many under resourced patrons. Like Millennium, this branch also has Community Safety Hosts. At the Hosts' desk there is a large collection of resources about everything from free meals to rental listings. These resources are always there even if the host is not.
The Community Safety Host who was there the day we went was very generous with his time. He told us what he does for the St.B branch. He will chat with and make feel welcome the folks with deep social needs who are at the library. He will support patrons so that they all can have a safe time at the library. He will support folks who are not sober. Community Safety Hosts support all patrons to feel welcome and safe.
Photo: Community Safety host table with resources, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
Like all WPL branches, St.B has a large collection of community resources. They actually have two walls of resources. one is on the main floor beside the service desk. This one is beside the washrooms. Having this set in a more private area allows patrons to look for resources with some more privacy.
Providing information and harm reduction.
Photo: resource wall by bathrooms, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
This is the children's area. There is new low seating for children and a new activity board.
Programming for children happen in a large programming room that the St.B branch has.
Photo: children's area, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
In the children's area their language section is very well organized and attractive.
This is Spanish and Arabic sections. Note that the languages are written in French and English.
Photo: Spanish and Arabic children's books, Nov 2025
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
In the children's language area there are also bilingual Indigenous language books as well as books only in an Indigenous language.
Photo: children's languages area; Indigenous
Copyright: Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
This is small town public library in a town with elementary and high schools.
This is a small rural library
This is a very small public library in a rural town
Jake Epp is a very large stand alone library with generous space and staffing in a Steinbach, a large city.
Some of what we learned:
This branch is within a very busy mall in a former Payless location. Some of the things we learned about this library includes:
It's shopping for free at the mall!
This branch is in the space of a former department store and as a result has generous floor space as well as generous equally sized basement for storage.
Some things we noticed in this library included:
This is the 2nd largest branch in Winnipeg Public Library (WPL). Drew showed us around the library. Some very interesting things to note included:
Photo: Feb 2025
Millennium is the central and largest library of the Winnipeg Public Library (WPL).
We were given a generous 2.5 hour tour of the entire system of Millennium.
Some of the interesting things we learned:
Photo: Feb 2025 in front of Untitled public art by Cliff Eyland
Millennium offers lots of social support and in our generous 2 1/2 hour tour we learned about some of them, including:
Photo: Millennium lobby Feb 2025
Harvey Smith branch is located within a recreation centre. We really liked that the library, rec centre and skating oval are all named for important Winnipeggers.
Because Harvey Smith is within a rec centre they do not have washrooms within the library, they are in the rec centre. They do not have booking rooms, the rec centre does. They have instant maintenance from the rec centre. When they need to ask patrons to leave, they are welcome to be in the lobby rec centre.
Harvey Smith had excellent and well defined areas for children, youth and adults.
The youth section (also called YA- Young Adult) included:
Assiniboine College Photo: Skoden/Stoodis (2023) by Val Vint, University of Manitoba Libraries, Elizabeth Dafoe Library. Copyright Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee.
Bibliothèque Saint-Joachim Library
South Central Regional Library
Western Manitoba Regional Library
Photo: Claire & Shirley at Westwood Library Feb 2025. Copyright Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
Special Libraries
Photo: Claire at Manitoba Legislative Library and newspaper stacks. Feb 2025. Copyright Shirley Delorme Russell & Claire Settee
International Indigenous Librarians Forum (IILF) is an international bi-annual meeting for Indigenous librarians.
The 2025 Forum is being held in Toronto, Canada in June 2025.
Information about the 2025 Forum can be found HERE.
Information about previous Forums can be found on the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Library website.
This presentation (Visiting) was previously delivered at the 2025 Manitoba Libraries Association Conference in person with a Powerpoint slide deck.
This Poster presentation at IILF 2025 includes the Poster along with this Guide.
