Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I've been an academic librarian in various communities across Canada, including northern Manitoba, Labrador and Newfoundland. I completed my Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) at Western University and worked as a student aide in the Huron University College Library. I enjoyed living in so many communities, and my thoughts are with my friends in northern Manitoba right now as they are displaced from their communities by out-of-control wildfires.
How long have you been at ULethbridge, and what do you do here?
I started with ULethbridge as a sessional for Academic Writing and as the tutor for the pilot Indigenous Students Writing Centre. Following that, I returned as a sessional and then a contract employee for the Indigenous Student Success Certificate program. In August 2023, I joined the team at the Library, and couldn't be happier.
What's the best part of your job?
Teaching and learning, which are inseparable. My colleagues are some of the smartest, most dedicated people I have ever worked with, and our collective drive for inquiry has me learning new things every day. And I have the privilege of teaching students, of helping them to consider new ideas and perspectives that will shape not only their lives but the future of our communities and society. And as the students learn and share their perspectives and knowledge, my understanding grows, too ... and so on. People who misunderstand generative AI believe it can generate ideas, but that's a human capacity.
I'm also involved in the Indigenous Writers Series, along with Drs. Tara Million and David Kootnikoff. This series creates space on campus for Indigenous authors for classroom visits, faculty workshops, speaker panels and public readings. We've brought in Waubgeshig Rice, Jessica Johns and Henry Heavyshield.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Big surprise, I love reading and sharing that passion with others — so I maintain a Little Free Library in Riverstone. I'm also passionate about people's rights to information. I want to encourage people to take part in the survey our Alberta government is running. This is an opportunity to stand up against censorship and continue to build a pro-2SLGBTQ+ environment in our schools. We need to get American Library Association (ALA)-accredited librarians back into the school libraries, so we can have information professionals making educated choices about appropriate book collections.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-age-appropriate-books-schools-1.7543899
