Eleven on-reserve schools in Alberta and Ontario received part of the Indigo Love of Reading (ILOR) Foundation’s $1M in funding, which aims to foster the love of reading by increasing library budgets. These include five schools in the Matawa First Nations Education department in Thunder Bay, ON; two schools in the Tsuut’ina Education Department in Tsuut’ina First Nation, AB; Eenchokay Birchstick School in Pikangikum, ON; Kettle and Stony Point First Nation Education Services in Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, ON; Henry Coaster Memorial School in Ogoki, ON; and Kapawe’no First Nation Collegiate in Grouard, AB. “Libraries play an important role in student engagement,” said Matawa First Nations Education Department education partnership liaison Shelby Ch’ng. “Northern and remote school boards are underfunded and short on space. … School staff do their best, but with grants like [this] not only take the decision burden off the staff, but also go quite far with engaging students in a meaningful way.”
