Who Are the People in Your Library? How an iPhone, some paper signs and tenacity turned into a project!
People often talk fondly of libraries and their memories of them but rarely do we talk about the people who work there. October is Canadian Library month and I wanted people to know. I wanted people to connect library workers to the services and the libraries themselves. My social media game is pretty good - I enjoy sharing parts of my life with my friends and family and it's been no secret that I harbour an affinity for libraries and literacy so why not do something for library month. As I spoke with a number of library workers and allies over the past month, I reflected on my own connection(s) to "the library" and how it's been an important part of my life since I was little.
My Origin Story (abbreviated):
I've always been a reader. I learned to read at 4 years old. My earliest memories include my mom reading to me as a young child. I remember loving to turn the pages to see what happened next. I was ahead of my classmates in school - and would go visit Ms. Finch, my teacher-librarian who would set aside books for me to pick up once a week. My parents encouraged us to read whatever we wanted (within reason) and took us to the library to fill up our backpacks with books. I remember when I was 12 I saw the movie Cry Freedom, which is about Steve Biko, the anti-apartheid activist in South Africa and his friendship with Donald Woods who wrote the biography. We went to Black Bond Books at Semiahmoo Mall to order the book Biko and waited an agonizing 3 weeks for it to arrive (I still have that copy on my bookshelf)! In high school I kept up reading - it's where I discovered the classics - Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird.. all available at either my high school library or at the Ocean Park Library down the street from my house.
I went to UBC and graduated with a BA in English Lit and Political Science. Academic libraries were a new frontier for me - not just because the sheer size of the collection was impressive, but because there were so many databases and journals and academic papers to access to help in my research. I spent HOURS at both Koerner and Main Libraries and worked with the librarians to help me navigate the catalogue to find the right resources. I was a commuter student, so I wanted to make the most of my time on campus. I would camp out on the 6th floor of Koerner with my textbooks, and piles of journals to work on my coursework. I studied everything from post-apartheid South African lit, the Romantics (I still love Keats and Shelley to this day), stories of the American south, Shakespeare, Canadian food writing, Hobbes and Locke, Foucault, Kant, Lau - and so much more. I enjoyed my studies but I never thought I would come back and work at UBC.
I Got a Job In the Library by Happenstance...
I didn't plan to work in the Library. I was teaching ESL downtown and the working conditions were so abysmal that I quit. I answered an ad on Craigslist (it said $$UNION JOB$$ - who wouldn't answer that ad?!) which took me to a temp agency who sent me to UBC on a 3 week contract. That 3 week contract turned into 6 years.
My "real job" is the Assistant to the Director of the Irving K Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC) at UBC. I was responsible for the administrative support for the director of IKBLC and various members of the UBC Library's Executive team. I chaired the IKBLC health and safety committee for years, worked with our facilities manager on trouble calls for the building, worked with Mr. Barber (our building's namesake - I have some great stories), supported the IKBLC external advisory committee, supervised a couple of student assistants, coordinated events and was the first point of contact for IKBLC.
I loved my job in the library. My coworkers were great and I made many friends across the system - didn't matter which employee group they belonged to - some of my best friends are librarians! Even though I've been away from my job at IKBLC for almost 4 years, I am still greeted with smiles and words of encouragement from my colleagues around the library system and I will be forever grateful for their friendship and support.
The Library also supported me when I wanted to get more involved in the union.
So You're Going to Chair the Library Committee...
When Mark asked me to chair the CUPE BC Library Committee, I was excited. I was excited to meet library workers from across the province and learn more about the issues our members in the sector were facing. What I learned was incredible. Here was a group of strong women passionately talking (with great authority I might add) about literacy, social democracy, health and safety, pay equity and about libraries themselves. We were able to create a tangible action plan that would help improve our profile within the union, giving these workers a more visible presence in CUPE BC.
I am SO proud of the work the committee has done over the past few years. We've surveyed our members about their health and safety concerns and turned it into a fairly comprehensive report that covers not only their concerns but also best practices around the province. This has resulted in our members taking the report to labour management meetings or library board meetings and working with their employers to improve their working conditions. We've taken an active role in the BC Library Association's annual conference where we not only sponsor a reception or keynote speech, we also present at the conference and staff a booth. We've developed progressive film, book and children's book lists to name a few.
Last term I co-chaired the CUPE National Library Workers' Committee and had the opportunity to connect with CUPE library workers across the country as well as attend the last two Canadian Library Association conferences (2015 and 2016).
Who are the People in Your Library...
October is Canadian Library Month and to me, the people who work in the library are often unassuming, hardworking and often take a back seat to the services they provide. CUPE represents almost 4500 library workers in BC and I wanted to show my friends that our members do some pretty cool things in their communities. At this year's CUPE National convention, they provided us with signs to use to promote library month in the union. I decided to take it upon myself to find as many library workers at convention and introduce them on social media.
It was super easy - people were not only willing to pose for a photo but they were also willing to talk to me about their jobs and their roles at work. One thing I learned right away - library workers care so much about the work they do and the services they provide. They light up talking about intellectual freedom, access to information, workplace democracy, literacy and the communities they serve. Once word got out - people wanted to join! It's been awesome to wake up to people sending me requests to take part in this mini campaign - whether as a library worker or a library user, they wanted me to know.
In fact, I was just in Victoria for a meeting when a friend of mine greeted me by taking out his library card to show me! *coughGlenHansmancough*
All it took was an iPhone and 100+ posts later - I feel like we've been able to meet a number of rank and file members, learn a little bit about what they do and recognize that they add so much value to our campuses, schools and communities.
Mad props and thank you to everyone who participated and said yes when I asked you to pose and talk to me about the library. It's been one of the most fun projects I've worked on in the union!
My Origin Story (abbreviated):
 |
| My ever-growing reading pile.... |
I've always been a reader. I learned to read at 4 years old. My earliest memories include my mom reading to me as a young child. I remember loving to turn the pages to see what happened next. I was ahead of my classmates in school - and would go visit Ms. Finch, my teacher-librarian who would set aside books for me to pick up once a week. My parents encouraged us to read whatever we wanted (within reason) and took us to the library to fill up our backpacks with books. I remember when I was 12 I saw the movie Cry Freedom, which is about Steve Biko, the anti-apartheid activist in South Africa and his friendship with Donald Woods who wrote the biography. We went to Black Bond Books at Semiahmoo Mall to order the book Biko and waited an agonizing 3 weeks for it to arrive (I still have that copy on my bookshelf)! In high school I kept up reading - it's where I discovered the classics - Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird.. all available at either my high school library or at the Ocean Park Library down the street from my house.
I Got a Job In the Library by Happenstance...
I didn't plan to work in the Library. I was teaching ESL downtown and the working conditions were so abysmal that I quit. I answered an ad on Craigslist (it said $$UNION JOB$$ - who wouldn't answer that ad?!) which took me to a temp agency who sent me to UBC on a 3 week contract. That 3 week contract turned into 6 years.
My "real job" is the Assistant to the Director of the Irving K Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC) at UBC. I was responsible for the administrative support for the director of IKBLC and various members of the UBC Library's Executive team. I chaired the IKBLC health and safety committee for years, worked with our facilities manager on trouble calls for the building, worked with Mr. Barber (our building's namesake - I have some great stories), supported the IKBLC external advisory committee, supervised a couple of student assistants, coordinated events and was the first point of contact for IKBLC.
 |
| The Irving K Barber Learning Centre - I worked in the office on the left part of the heritage core. |
The Library also supported me when I wanted to get more involved in the union.
So You're Going to Chair the Library Committee...
When Mark asked me to chair the CUPE BC Library Committee, I was excited. I was excited to meet library workers from across the province and learn more about the issues our members in the sector were facing. What I learned was incredible. Here was a group of strong women passionately talking (with great authority I might add) about literacy, social democracy, health and safety, pay equity and about libraries themselves. We were able to create a tangible action plan that would help improve our profile within the union, giving these workers a more visible presence in CUPE BC.
 |
| CUPE members at last year's BCLA Conference |
I am SO proud of the work the committee has done over the past few years. We've surveyed our members about their health and safety concerns and turned it into a fairly comprehensive report that covers not only their concerns but also best practices around the province. This has resulted in our members taking the report to labour management meetings or library board meetings and working with their employers to improve their working conditions. We've taken an active role in the BC Library Association's annual conference where we not only sponsor a reception or keynote speech, we also present at the conference and staff a booth. We've developed progressive film, book and children's book lists to name a few.
Last term I co-chaired the CUPE National Library Workers' Committee and had the opportunity to connect with CUPE library workers across the country as well as attend the last two Canadian Library Association conferences (2015 and 2016).
Who are the People in Your Library...
October is Canadian Library Month and to me, the people who work in the library are often unassuming, hardworking and often take a back seat to the services they provide. CUPE represents almost 4500 library workers in BC and I wanted to show my friends that our members do some pretty cool things in their communities. At this year's CUPE National convention, they provided us with signs to use to promote library month in the union. I decided to take it upon myself to find as many library workers at convention and introduce them on social media.
It was super easy - people were not only willing to pose for a photo but they were also willing to talk to me about their jobs and their roles at work. One thing I learned right away - library workers care so much about the work they do and the services they provide. They light up talking about intellectual freedom, access to information, workplace democracy, literacy and the communities they serve. Once word got out - people wanted to join! It's been awesome to wake up to people sending me requests to take part in this mini campaign - whether as a library worker or a library user, they wanted me to know.
In fact, I was just in Victoria for a meeting when a friend of mine greeted me by taking out his library card to show me! *coughGlenHansmancough*
All it took was an iPhone and 100+ posts later - I feel like we've been able to meet a number of rank and file members, learn a little bit about what they do and recognize that they add so much value to our campuses, schools and communities.
Mad props and thank you to everyone who participated and said yes when I asked you to pose and talk to me about the library. It's been one of the most fun projects I've worked on in the union!
 |
| Happy Canadian Library month!! |
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