Welcome back to Library Land Loves. This episode, host Michelle Arbuckle (Executive Director of the OLA) speaks to award-winning author and editor David A. Robertson about his new role as Editorial Director of Swift Water Books, the first Indigenous children's imprint at a major Canadian publisher. They discuss the importance of mentorship, representation in children's publishing, the founding vision for Swift Water Books, and how libraries can help build inclusive collections that reflect the diversity and joy of Indigenous communities. Whether you're a librarian, educator, or advocate for storytelling, you won't want to miss this one.

Chapters

00:00 - 04:45 Welcome Chat

04:45 - 06:55 Inspiration behind Swift Water Books

06:55 - 14:34 What is an Imprint, Why this Matters?

14:34 - 17:16 Goals for Swift Water Books

17:22 -  19:22 What Makes Content Indigenous? The Importance of Representation and Mentorship for Indigenous Creators

19:36 - 22:26 What Goes Into Curating Indigenous Titles in Library Collection?

22:26 - 25:00 Most Uplifting Parts of Creating an Imprint, Building Community Through Story

25:00 - 27:23 David’s Upcoming Projects

Make sure to check out all the great stuff Swift Water Books is doing.

Follow David A. Robertson here.

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This podcast is hosted by Michelle Arbuckle and produced by Gina Freitag.  

Editing and additional production support is completed by Helen Chevreau. 

Promotions and communications for this podcast are executed by Laurel McLeod.

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