Regna Darnell's personal library goes public

Regna Darnell, Professor of Anthropology and founding Director of Western’s First Nations Program, has donated more than 1,700 books, articles and manuscripts to the First Nations Library in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Valued at more than $41,000, these items supplement the main library collection and assemble only books relevant to the First Nations program, making it easier to browse, while being in a space that encourages students to talk to each other about their reading and research.

“The need to facilitate access to research and course supplementary materials was obvious from the start,” says Darnell, who has been at Western since 1990.

“I have always loaned my personal books to students but this is inefficient and favours the ones I happen to know well enough that they come to me. The library has been available for several years now but the official transfer has awaited near completion of a catalogue and formal assessment of its value.”

In her time at Western, Darnell has served as Chair of Anthropology (1990-93) and as Director of the Centre for Research and Teaching of Canadian Native Languages since 1992. She became a Distinguished University Professor in 2005 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She was honored with the Killam Research Fellowship in 2006 and a Premier’s award in 2008. She has published widely in First Nations languages and cultures as well as the history of anthropology.

Darnell notes it has been a privilege to work with First Nations students over the years and is thrilled to be able to give back to them with her collection.

“I love books and sharing my favourites with students has been one of the pleasures of my teaching career,” says Darnell. “Books are not meant to be hoarded.”

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