Decolonizing the Rare Book Library (Presentation): Indigenous librarianship is a rapidly growing subfield and among the most urgent practices and policies within the space is the need for reparative cataloging. Rare book libraries should not be exempt from this practice. Indeed, the historicity of the rare book library, which typically prioritizes materials that are written (and cataloged) from a settler/colonial point of view, are excellent candidates for reform. In this project I will illuminate the need for decolonizing Indigenous materials housed in non-Native repositories and provide a suggested workflow for identifying problematic titles and re-cataloging with new, more appropriate subject headings and keywords. This work is supported by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and informed by the Brian Deer Classification System, the Mashantucket Pequot Thesaurus of American Indian Terminology, and Traditional Knowledge Labels. See also additional materials.

Diane E. Curtis is approaching her final semester in the MLIS program, and serves as an associate editor of Archeota, and as a Peer Mentor for INFO 203. She holds a B.A. (Hons) in the History of Ideas from Kennesaw State University and a Master of Theological Studies in Islamic Studies from Emory University Candler School of Theology. Previously, Diane worked as an editorial assistant and program director for the Society of Biblical Literature, and as an archival assistant at Emory’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. She is primarily interested in community and institutional archives, memory keeping, LGBTQIA+ issues, and data sovereignty in Indigenous collections. She lives on a two-acre hobby farm in the North Georgia Mountains with her spouse, mother, dog, and several chickens.