BETHEL — The Maine Humanities Council has awarded the Bethel Library a World in Your Library event. World in Your Library is a speaker program focused on current events and relevant issues, local and international. The featured speaker will be Dr. Darren Ranco talking on “Protecting Wabanaki Basketmaking Traditions: Collaborative Research, Indigenous Science, and Wabanaki Diplomacy.” The event, which will be presented via Zoom, will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Ranco is the chair of Native American programs and director of Native American research at the University of Maine. He will speak about his nine-year research project to work with Wabanaki tribal splint-ash basketmakers and other key stakeholders in Maine to prepare for the arrival of the emerald ash borer, a devastating invasive pest that kills ash trees.

Using sustainability and indigenous research methods, his team’s approach was inclusive, relevant, impactful and culturally appropriate. He will emphasize the ways that Wabanaki basketmakers and indigenous researchers use indigenous knowledge and forms of diplomacy to assert sovereignty and influence state and federal resources to fight against this threat.

The event is presented in partnership with the Margaret Chase Smith Foundation and the Bethel Library. Join the Zoom meeting at https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/84287880518.

For more information, call 207-824-2520.

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