On Saturday, October 10, Little Free Library brought our Indigenous Library Program Free Book Fair to the Owamni Falling Water Festival in Minneapolis. By the end of the day, 500 free books by Indigenous authors and illustrators had gone home with about 200 festival-goers, from toddlers to grandparents.
None of it would have been possible without the generous support of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), whose $5,000 donation paid for every book on our table.
We used SMSC’s donation to buy Indigenous-authored books for all ages from Birchbark Books, a Native-owned independent bookstore in Minneapolis. Buying locally meant the gift supported a Native-owned business as well as the families who took the books home.
Why does this matter? Children who see their identities and cultures reflected in books engage more deeply with reading and build stronger self-esteem. For many families, these books are some of the few on their shelves that tell stories like their own. Because we offered titles for every age, many households left with books for several generations of readers.
One of our favorite moments came when a mother and daughter stopped by to say hello. They had picked up Remember by Joy Harjo, illustrated by Michaela Goade, at our table last year. Mom told us they read it “all the time,” and that her daughter is sure the book is about her because she looks just like the little girl on the cover.
That is exactly why we do this work: one free book, given a year ago, has become part of how a child sees herself.
This is the second year the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has supported our work to bring Indigenous stories to Native families in Minnesota. The Remember story is proof of what that steady partnership makes possible: books that stay in homes get read again and again and help children feel seen.
Thank you to SMSC for investing in literacy, cultural pride, and the next generation of Native readers.
The book fair is part of our Indigenous Library Program, which brings books by Indigenous authors to Native communities across the U.S. and Canada. We plan to return to the Owamni Falling Water Festival next year, and we hope to see familiar faces, and many new ones, at our table.
Want to help put more Indigenous stories into readers’ hands? Learn more about the Indigenous Library Program.