Conversations were had around the fact that those in the Oneida community do not have access to the London and Middlesex County Baby’s Book Bag programs, and that there is a lack of libraries and resources. With help from the Best Start funding provided by the Province through the Child and Youth Network, there was endorsement to purchase books and bags for three Indigenous Communities.

Community members which consisted originally of staff from Oneida Health Department, Oneida Daycare, Chippewa Health Department, Enji-Maajtaawaad Early Years Program, Ontario Early Years Centre, and Middlesex-London Health Unit met to discuss what the book bag would look like and quickly realized that the mainstream bag would not meet the needs for this population. Subsequently a new bag was designed to provide culturally rich books for 3 stages of a child’s development: infant books and beautifully designed canvas tote would be given prenatally or after birth, with toddler and pre-school packages to follow.