Two recent journal articles published by the Smithsonian Magazine and Library Journal brought a local library preservation issue to my attention: the digitization of thousands of hours of Diné oral histories, songs, and stories recorded in the 1960’s and later discovered stored in an empty jail cell. The Navajo Nation Library in Window Rock, Arizona, hopes to preserve the voices of Diné elders whose interviews from half a century ago survive on gradually decaying audio tapes.

In autumn 2016, Delaney Library undertook a research project on library user experience in order to find if we need to make changes to the content or organization of our collection. We were particularly concerned with the perceptions of Native American students, who are important stakeholders as well as a key user group of the library, representing about 36 percent of the current student population of Fort Lewis College. Survey tools addressed questions about representation, browsability, and problematic material on public shelves.

The first in a series of blog posts related to Delaney Library and the Center for Southwest Studies.