PALA INDIAN RESERVATION —— A sign at the Pala Casino Resort & Spa touts its 2,250 slot machines and 85 gaming tables. And while gamblers feverishly pumped money into the slots and video poker machines Friday, a different form of riches was the focus of a meeting in one of the hotel's conference rooms —— tribal libraries.

Friday was the second of a four-day training program for 20 tribal librarians from San Diego, Riverside, Imperial, San Bernardino and Inyo counties. In workshops offered by state and San Diego County library officials and experts, tribal librarians are learning about everything from cataloging archives, finding resources and developing library collections, to book repair, researching techniques and library promotion.

Participants said they expect that with the skills they are learning, they will be able to make significant improvements in the quality of services they offer at their tribal libraries, to tribal members and the public.

In the rural areas where most reservations are located, tribal libraries provide vital cultural, social and educational resources, said Bonnie Biggs, event organizer, tribal liaison, and Cal State San Marcos professor and librarian.

Several tribal librarians said their facilities provide everything from after-school tutoring and graduate equivalency degrees, to tribal archives, books, Internet access and a place to just hang out and chat with friends.

When La Jolla tribal member and Pala librarian Doretta Musick helped open the library on the reservation 13 years ago, she didn't have a clue about organizing a library, she said. But through the years, she acquired many of the skills needed to provide better service, such as cataloging and developing library collections, she said.

"It's made a big difference to the Pala community," Musick said. "When I first started, we had one or two high school graduates. This year, we will be honoring 15 high school graduates. The library played a major role (in that)."

She said many of the tribal librarians participating in the workshops will benefit from the lessons.

"We will be able to pull off the shelf exactly what they need and be able to assist them, no matter what the topic," Musick said.

The training was made possible by a grant from the state library, under a provision of the federal Library Services and Technology Act, said Holly Hinman, director of Infopeople, an organization that serves as the training arm of the state library.

State and tribal libraries have been working together for several years, networking and sharing resources, but this week's program was a major step in efforts to improve tribal libraries, several librarians said.

"Library development on reservations lags way behind public libraries outside the reservation. This is the first baby step," she said. "I think we all knew the playing field has not always been equal. This effort will help with the tools they need for library development on reservations."

One of the most important facets of the librarians meeting on a regular basis is the exchange of ideas and resources, said Gary Walker, who is responsible for the library and education center on the Chemhuevi Indian Reservation at Havasu Lake.

"We are finding out how they are solving the same problems and (resolving) the same concerns we are, and also what the resources are in the public library system and at the state and federal levels," he said.

In fact, it was at just such a meeting with other tribal librarians a few years ago that he learned about a federal program that grants libraries $5,000 to buy books and computers, Walker said.

"We are taking advantage of that every year —— it's provided computers for our computer lab, for example," he said.

The meetings also teach tribal librarians another very important skill —— promotion.

"Many of the tribal leaders are not aware of how valuable tribal libraries are," he said. "At these library workshops, we are able to get skills to promote our libraries."

The state benefits from improving tribal libraries, Infopeople's Hinman said.

"They contribute to the educational achievement of native peoples, and that means they will be more productive citizens and have more skills, so they can contribute more to the economy."

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426, or wbennett@nctimes.com.