North of the North, a Sámi Library: inscriptions of colonialism and resistance

The Sámi literature sections in public libraries of northern Sweden are scarcely visited in an apparent lack of interest from Sámi-speakers themselves. In a country known for its high levels of public library usage, the Sámi face an ambivalent status, welcomed as readers of the main language, dissatisfied by the relegated presence of their culture, if any, as an ethnic minority inside libraries. The Sámi Library in the Ájtte complex, in Jokkmokk, is a specialised library for the Sámi culture and the Sápmi, a region also known by the exonym Lappland. The Library is mainly directed at serving the researchers of the adjacent Sámi Museum, the Sámi Parliament, external researchers of the Sámi culture, while it also provides access to the general public. By its aims and collection, it plays a role similar to a national library for this nordic European culture. Sámi culture is resisting and transfiguring itself, after being affronted by centuries of colonialism. The neoliberal arrangements, the privatisation of public services, the new language laws and the Libraries Bill have put additional challenges to The Sámi Library. In this context, “public reading” - reading within the scope of the public library - is conceptually approached as a component of cultural rights, closely linked to linguistic rights and cultural emancipation.