Hannah McKendry has been with UBC since 2015 and is currently the Conservation Technician with Technical Services. As the Conservation Technician, Hannah is responsible for looking after the circulating collections; repairing books that students and faculty borrow from the library; as well as assisting with conservation work in Rare Books and Special Collections.
Before joining UBC Library, Hannah studied at Langara College in the Library Technology program, later working as a cataloger at a law firm and then the Vancouver Art Gallery where she got to work on many creative projects. She enjoys working with her hands and felt that the Conversation Technician role at UBC Library was a perfect fit.
“I love working with historical objects and preserving things from a sustainability perspective and from a general interest perspective I guess. Just keeping things going, like keeping the access available for future generations is, I think, a really valuable thing.”
One of Hannah’s highlights of working at Technical Services has been the variety in the work she does. “I get to work with my hands, of course. I get to repair books and objects. I get to see all kinds of cool things through the Rare Books and Special Collections. I do a lot of database work — I started developing databases on my own to help with preservation work. It’s always something different — no two days are the same.”
Some of the conservation projects that Hannah works on can be time-consuming, requiring a high level of attention to detail for sometimes hundreds of pages, but she enjoys discovering the unique things that come with each project. “The most interesting thing I’ve worked on is a book of large pamphlets from the Brussels theatre district in the late 19th century. It was really heavily damaged with lots of tears, but the interesting thing about it is that it has photos of popular actors and actresses at the time dressed in their outrageous stage costumes and often with questionable facial hair.”
Hannah was also involved in the Shakespeare’s First Folio acquisition from earlier this year, building a custom box to hold the highly valuable and rare piece. “I did make a box for it — that was fun. Just something a little tidier looking than the rough thing that it came in. It is an amazing acquisition.”
Hannah credits UBC Library for much of her career development in library conservation and technology. “They [UBC Library] have been very supportive of continual learning, which is great. A lot of the courses that I take are outside of Canada and take up some time, and UBC has been just amazing giving me the opportunity to go to that and to provide funding. So, I’ve been lucky to be able to continue my education that way.”
“Anne Lama, Conservator, is super generous with her knowledge and always happy to share and teach. I feel fortunate that I’m in a place that supports that continual learning because it’s such a key part of being a bookbinder and conservator. Rudi Traichel, our Cataloguing & Technical Services Librarian, has been a non-stop support. He’s always up to interesting projects.”
Outside of UBC Library, Hannah is an active board member at the Canadian Book Binders and Book Artists Guild. “I’m the treasurer. I was elected last year. It’s a cool organization, there’s a really great board right now and they’re really working to bring education to Canadians in a more accessible way. We’re finally moving into more digital content and an online learning platform, which is amazing. It’s a really great group of people. They’re so supportive and generous with their knowledge. It’s been such a privilege to be a part of that.”
One of Hannah’s biggest professional challenges in the past was finding the right workspace to conduct her work, which was recently upgraded to a state-of-the-art library conversation space. “I would say before the lab, it was definitely the workspace. We were in Technical Services in Woodward Library with no lighting, without a proper workbench for a long time, so I was hunched over a little table doing all my work which was uncomfortable. But now we’re in this amazing lab with real lighting and real work benches and it’s made such a huge difference.”
Her advice to new UBC Library hires is to connect with colleagues and to take advantage of Professional Development funds provided to faculty and staff. “Get to know your colleagues because everyone is wonderful and open. Take advantage of your PD funds – they are such a great resource and you can do a lot with that money.”
In her spare time, Hannah enjoys bike rides with friends, working with her hands on woodworking projects, and being with her dog, Maxine.
Learn more about UBC Library’s Technical Services.