Recognizing and embracing the link between our collective past, present, and future, the Marine Community Library and Marine Library Association proudly present our new logo. Our founding logos identified strongly with the period after Native tribes ceded this land to the United States in the Treaties of 1837; they overlooked our community’s full cultural heritage and failed to honor the legacy of Native people. If not for the events of 1837, many of us might not be here today. Native people lived in the St. Croix River Valley for many generations before what many considered the “start” of this region’s history.
Our new logo is designed to recognize:
– The vibrant Native history in the rings of tree growth that came before the clear-cutting devastation of white pine forests in the St. Croix River Valley
– Progress and resiliency symbolized by the original tree’s capacity to heal and differentiate itself
– Inspired awareness in the pine seedling symbolizing “new growth”
The Marine Community Library continues to pursue opportunities to listen, learn and be in conversation with those who can help us understand more about Native issues and history. We believe an appropriate role as a Library is to help address the legacy of ignorance, neglect and harm and begin to heal our relationship with history, with Native people of our area, and with the land and the river we all love.
