Librarians Galina Durant and Cari Lynn Gawletz with Gordon Yusko, Assistant Director of Community Engagement at Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.
For Galina Durant, the soul Librarian at the Stewart Public Library in Stewart, B.C., a community of just under 500 people, attending the annual British Columbia Library Association conference in Vancouver is an ordeal that requires a four-hour drive to the nearest airport in Terrace followed by a two-hour flight to Vancouver. The trip is long, expensive and not always possible with her library’s limited budget.
This year, Durant is one of six conference delegates from across B.C. to attend the conference thanks to UBC Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre Award. The award provides up to $2,400 to help winners with the travel and hotel costs to attend the conference.
“Because our community is so remote, it can be difficult to find time and funds to stay current and learn about what other libraries are doing,” says Durant.
Stewart, B.C.
Unfortunately, Durant’s challenges are not uncommon among librarians in remote communities.
“Many Librarians and library employees in remote communities are trained on the job or through online training programs. They don’t have the same access to professional development opportunities as Librarians in larger urban centers,” says Gordon Yusko, Assistant Director of Community Engagement at Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, “There’s a real thirst for knowledge around library best practices and new ideas for developing community-centered programs. This award helps to ensure that the unique learning opportunities at the BCLA conference are available to all of B.C.’s librarians.”
The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre Award also helps to raise the profile and visibility of rural and northern libraries within the B.C. library community and encourage knowledge sharing and collaboration. “A lot of what I did this year at the conference was remind librarians from larger urban centers that we exist,” says award winner Cari Lynn Gawletz, Library Director at Grand Forks & District Public Library that serves a community of about 8,000 people. “The conference is really important for making connections because it encourages the larger library systems to keep us in the loop, especially when it comes to their failures. If something didn’t work, we want to know so we can use that learning in our communities.”
Grand Forks and District Public Library
This year’s BCLA conference was held April 19 to 21 in downtown Vancouver. The three-day annual conference provided an opportunity for members of the library community from across Western Canada to connect, learn, and reflect on the philosophy, work, and services of libraries.
Galina Durant was especially inspired by projects being launched by the Edmonton and Victoria Public Libraries including a Seed Library project. “I’ve got some ideas about how we might be able to launch something similar on a smaller scale in Stewart,” she said. “It’s so important for small libraries like ours to be able learn about new ideas and the new projects other libraries are undertaking. It was a very valuable experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend.”
Applicants were asked to provide a short written piece articulating how the Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre support would benefit them and their library. More information about the 2017 award.