BY NATALIE CHAPMAN
Meet Anne LePage, Technical Services Librarian at the R.P. Bell Library since 2012.
1. What drew you to library work? The library is always the one job I had as a university student where I never got tired of the job. Helping people, shelf reading, checking books in and out were all the basic things I did and not once did I feel it was boring. I wanted to be a musician, but the competition is too high and the stability isn’t there. So when I had to figure out what next to do with my life, I realized that the library was always the one place I felt comfortable and confident in my own skills. Right now, I like being part of an organization where I lead a team. Sitting behind a desk and a computer, writing code and doing spreadsheets, making sure things tick in the background all fascinate me and it’s where I know I’m useful. I know that sounds incredibly boring to some, but I love the processing, the algorithms, all the rules and standards that are set at an international level that makes this one tiny place a part of something so much bigger. I found my place in this world and it suits me.
2. Favourite place in the Library: The Ground Floor. I love the red carpet and I love the quiet. I like to go there during breaks and hide!
3. The most interesting thing about my job is... I lead a team that sees the entire life of every resource in this library. From purchasing and receiving, to cataloguing, maintenance, repair, and, eventually, withdrawal, we see the entire life of our resources. I find that fascinating.
4. My current pet peeve is... People violating traffic regulations because they think they’re being courteous.
5. My favourite book is...The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (located in the library at call number PQ 2228 .A3 D3). The book is much funnier than any movie representation. I like it because it makes me laugh and it represents teamwork even when the team is split and at great distances from each other.
6. Where you're most likely to find me off-duty: At home or at the park playing with my twin boys, who turned 6 on March 3, 2017. Happy Birthday, Boys!!
7. The biggest challenge facing academic libraries today is... Shrinking budgets. Every academic institution is challenged at the moment. The lower student enrollments, higher costs of operations, higher costs of faculty and staff, and a low Canadian dollar are just a few factors that make it a challenge to run a university. Unfortunately, academic libraries get targeted badly, not just through staff cuts, but acquisitions budgets to buy new resources. Our budget for buying books is down 60 per cent in the last five years. That creates a massive challenge to us to ensure we have the resources students need for their learning and research.
8. If you could offer one piece of advice to young people in their twenties it would be: Take your time and learn how to evaluate the importance of what you’re doing. It’s taken me a long time to put many areas of my life into perspective and learn to prioritize.
9. People are always surprised when they learn… I actually go by my middle name. My full name is Elizabeth Anne LePage. My whole family goes by their middle names. It’s usually a while before it comes up and then someone looks at a piece of paper and says, “Who’s Elizabeth?” I always have to remind myself at medical and government offices that I have to respond to Elizabeth because they will undoubtedly call for me by that name. It’s a pain, but I’m used to it.
10. My favourite movie of all time is: Thoroughly Modern Millie.
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