Still More To Do

By Erny Zah
Navajo Times

WINDOW ROCK, April 15, 2010

In the back of the Navajo Nation Library sits a room that can only be accessed with a magnetic card. The room doesn't seem like much when the door opens, just dull white walls filled with brown filing cabinets.

But five of the filing cabinets have some archived information that Navajo Nation Library Director Irving Nelson calls "The Navajo Nation Encyclopedia," a collection of about 3,000 hours of recordings of Navajo cultural stories, songs and some ceremonies.

"I want to digitize them," he said. Right now, the recordings are only available on reel-to-reel tapes. Another cabinet houses the English-language transcriptions of the recordings, which give detailed information on songs about horses, sheep and even an entire Yé'ii-Bi-Chei ceremony.

Nelson estimates digitizing the tapes will cost about $350,000.

But this project is one of many in the 30-year career that started when Nelson became a library bookmobile driver.

Most recently, he was named Librarian of the Year by Reader to Reader, a nonprofit organization that donates books and computers to libraries across the U.S.

"He's an amazing person, in my opinion, by the sheer dedication he shows to the Navajo Nation Library," said David Mazor, executive director for Reader to Reader. "I don't think there's another library in the nation with a dedicated librarian like that."

Mazor added that Nelson was selected from a pool of 500 nominees nationwide.

"I was very surprised," Nelson said of learning about the honor, but the new award is just the most recent on a list.

He received the Prism Award from the National Museum for the American Indian and also was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums Conference for his continuous work in building the Navajo library program.

He keeps the awards on a table in his office.

Although Nelson has been recognized, Mazor said librarians as a whole seem to work without recognition.

"Librarians play such an unrecognized role," he said. "Every year we feel that librarians are often unrecognized in the tremendous roles they place in the knowledge that comes from reading."

Nelson said he often would work on holidays cataloging books, a detailed process that includes recording the name of the book, publisher, author, subject and even the number of pages it has.

"It's all part of the hard work of cataloging books. That's something the general public doesn't see," he said.

In all, the Navajo Nation Library now boasts a collection of about 76,000 books, making it one of the largest - if not the largest - in Native America, Nelson said.

His next project of digitizing the 1968 audio recordings and transcripts he wants to complete before he retires, he said.

"It's just amazing," he said of the 250-tape collection, of which he's listened to five tapes.

Nelson hopes the Navajo Nation Council will allocate the money needed for the project, though federal and state funding sources also exist. However, if he were to secure funding from those sources, he said, stipulations would include making the information available to the general public including non-Navajos.

"I don't believe the Navajo Medicine Men's Association would allow that to happen," Nelson said.

Although, he sees the digital Diné encyclopedia as a primary project, his dream is to have every chapter house equipped with a library.

"I don't know if that's going to happen in my lifetime," he said.

And true to his calling, Nelson also understands that the library serves a purpose beyond helping people educate themselves. It is also a clean well-lighted place to go for those who have few alternatives.

On Monday morning, the Navajo Nation Museum announced it would be closing early to repair a water line.

"It breaks my heart," he said, motioning to his chest. "I don't know if (the patrons) have any other place to go ... I wish they'd say 'leave the library open.'"

Copyright © 2010 The Navajo Times Publishing Co., Inc.

Irving Nelson is Reader To Reader's Librarian of the Year

We are pleased to honor Navajo Nation Library Program Supervisor Irving Nelson as Reader To Reader’s Librarian of the Year for 2010.

Mr. Nelson was chosen from the over 500 librarians that participate in the Reader To Reader program for his outstanding service to the residents of the Navajo Nation.

Based in Window Rock, Arizona, Nelson oversees the Navajo Nation Library’s 61,000+ book collection that serves as the primary book resources for an area that covers 27,000 square miles.

Nelson began working at the library in 1978 as the bookmobile driver and over the past 30 years has built an important Native American collection that includes 11,000 books, oral-history tapes and tribal land-claims records that date all the way back to 1675.

“Irving Nelson is an extraordinary individual,” notes Reader To Reader executive director, David Mazor. “This past November he personally flew to Reader To Reader’s headquarters in Massachusetts to drive a truck filled with 10,000 books and 10 computers collected in the Navajo Nation Library book drive back to Window Rock, Arizona. He plans to do it all over again this spring. His dedication to his library and the citizens that use it is unsurpassed. We are so pleased to be able to honor him with our Librarian of the Year award, which he richly deserves.”

Rhode Island Librarian is “Librarian of the Year”

School librarian Lisa Mutter-Gendreau displays her award as Reader To Reader’s Librarian of the Year for 2009.

Ms. Mutter-Gendreau was chosen from the over 400 librarians that participate in the Reader To Reader program for her outstanding service to the students of Henry J. Winters Elementary in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

“Lisa Mutter-Gendreau has worked very hard to make her school library a wonderful place for all her students,” notes Reader To Reader executive director David Mazor. “She is always looking for resources that she can add and is an inspiration to everyone that cares about literacy.”

“Our library at Henry J. Winters Elementary School has grown tremendously due to generous contributions made by Reader To Reader. My students are so excited about all the new titles we have added to our shelves,” Mutter-Gendreau says. “Organizations like Reader To Reader make it possible for schools operating with little or no budget to continuously expand their school libraries. Your donations have made my students enthusiastic about reading. And that is fantastic! My sincere thanks to all of you for making this happen.”

We offer our heartfelt congratulations to Lisa Mutter-Gendreau and are pleased to recognize her with this award.

Carla Clauschee Honored as Librarian of the Year

Navajo Pine High School librarian Carla Clauschee accepted her award last week as Reader To Reader’s Librarian of the Year for 2008.

The award was presented at a community dinner of parents and teachers that was held at Navajo Pine during the Navajo Mentoring Program team’s recent visit.

Ms. Clauschee was chosen from the over 400 librarians that participate in the Reader To Reader program for her outstanding service to the students of Navajo Pine High School in Navajo, New Mexico.

Ms. Clauschee has worked closely with Reader To Reader to build outstanding collections of Japanese manga, Native-American Literature, and poetry at her school library. In all, Reader To Reader has donated over 7,000 books for her general collection and Ms. Clauschee’s guidance and hard work has made her school library a model for her district.

In the fall of 2007, Reader To Reader launched the Navajo Mentoring Program which links Navajo high school students with Amherst College students for online book discussions. Ms. Clauschee played a key role in the development and implementation of the program.

We offer our heartfelt congratulations to MS. Clauschee and are pleased to recognize her with this award.