Indigenous Engagement Librarian

Library-
- Thunder Bay-
- Full-time-
- Permanent-
- **Overview**: Indigenous Engagement Librarian Position Posting
- Application Deadline: January 31, 2026 Library
- Reference # LIB-2025-26-03- About Lakehead Library and Archives
- The total library collection includes approximately 600,000 print volumes and access to over 600,000 e-books, more than 60,000 online journals, and rare and special collections such as the Regional Collection and the Archives. The Chancellor Paterson Library is the main library on the Thunder Bay campus and occupies its own building in the centre of campus. There are four additional libraries: one at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, the Learning Commons in Simcoe Hall (Orillia), and the Education Library (one location at the Faculty of Education-Thunder Bay and one at Heritage Place-Orillia). Lakehead University Library is an active member of both provincial and national consortia. We provide many services in collaboration with our Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) partners, such as: Ask a Librarian (chat reference service), Scholars Portal, and Borealis - Lakehead University Dataverse. The library is also part of Collaborative Futures, a shared next-generation library system at 19 OCUL libraries. Our involvement with the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) as well as other consortia, allows us to provide significant digital content. Our staff complement of over 30 includes 11 librarians and an archivist.

Nanda Gikendan Gamik is an Indigenous resource centre located on the fifth floor of the Chancellor Paterson Library. The name of the centre was kindly gifted to the library by Lakehead University’s Indigenous Elders Council in an official Naming Ceremony held in March 2024. Nanda Gikendan Gamik means: Seek to know, seek to learn place. The centre includes a very extensive collection specifically focused on Indigenous and northern issues and is designed to be respectful, welcoming, and representative of Indigenous culture. The collection in this centre is exceptionally strong in relation to Indigenous history, culture, and language, local and regional resources, and it contains both primary and secondary resources.

About the University
- Lakehead University Library’s mission is to be an innovative organization that anticipates the requirements of the future while respecting the heritage of the past. By providing exceptional services, collections, and spaces, the libraries shape the creation of knowledge, actively preserve and support culture, and transform learning and research.

Lakehead University is the first university in Canada to introduce an Indigenous Content requirement into all undergraduate programming. All undergraduate degree programs at Lakehead University include an Indigenous Content requirement. This was approved by Lakehead University Senate in May 2014, and has been in place since the 2016/2017 academic year.

About the Opportunity
- Reporting to the University Librarian and working closely with First Nations, Mètis, and Inuit members of the university community, the Indigenous Engagement Librarian guides reconciliation and decolonization initiatives in the libraries and is responsible for the daily operations in Nanda Gikendan Gamik, participating in long term planning for the centre.

The Indigenous Engagement Librarian will ensure that the Library’s reconciliation and decolonization initiatives, stemming from the Strategic Plan, Academic Plan, and Library Plan, are coordinated and integrated across all libraries on both campuses. Through this work, the Indigenous Engagement Librarian will incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing and being into library spaces, systems, resources and services.
- Responsibilities also include the provision of specialized, equitable, respectful, and inclusive reference and research support, information literacy instruction, and the development of Indigenous collections and other special collections housed in Nanda Gikendan Gamik. Collaboration with other librarians, university partners and external groups is integral to this role.
- Indigenous Engagement Librarian Responsibilities
--Responsible for the daily operation of Nanda Gikendan Gamik including

managing the physical space and technology available, and providing instruction

in the use of specialized resources.
--Cultivate partnerships and actively engage with Indigenous Learning faculty,

staff, and students, as well as university partners and external groups, to

integrate the library’s resources into curricula and research projects.
--Develop and deliver library instructional programming and online teaching

resources such as LibGuides, instruction videos and other online content to

support the research needs of students and faculty.
--Provide in-depth and at times specialized reference and research support, both
- in person and virtually.
- Promote Nanda Gikendan Gamik and the library to university students, faculty,
- staff, and outside visitors.