Home   >   Education   >   Chilliwack Education News   >   University News: UFV Library Tech Grads Reunite

University News: UFV Library Tech Grads Reunite

By on September 20, 2010

By Anne Russell.Have you ever asked a question, had a book checked out, or otherwise encountered a smiling face at your local library? Well, the person you encountered was very likely a library technician, and chances are they are a graduate of the Library and Information Technology program at the University of the Fraser Valley.

Library technicians are paraprofessionals who work alongside librarians
in a variety of settings, such as community and academic libraries,
specialized libraries at hospitals, newspapers, and other large
organizations. These multi-skilled individuals can also be found in
information support and record-keeping roles in archives and
corporations.

UFV has been training and educating library and information technicians since 1980, and to celebrate this milestone the university is holding a reunion for the program from Oct 1 to 3 at the UFV Abbotsford campus.

All Library and Info Tech graduates and current students are invited to attend.

Mark Evered

The itinerary of events includes a wine and cheese reception, a
geocaching activity, guest speaker and renowned folklorist Margaret Read MacDonald, a gala banquet dinner with improv comedy, and a farewell breakfast with UFV president Mark Evered.

Current and former faculty and staff, and alumni from all decades of
the program, will be on hand to mix and mingle for the weekend.

They’ll be reminiscing about how much information technology has
changed over the past three decades and perhaps even recalling when library information was kept in paper-based card catalogues.

Christina Neigel

Current program head Christina Neigel mused in her blog recently about the changes in information technology over the years.

“Although the program has maintained its focus on the process of
building knowledge, the challenge to maintain a program that is
consistent with technological change remains constant. Tools and
information sources have shifted formats numerous times. The shift from manual typewriters, carbon copies, print indexes, and microform to web-based databases, scanners, and an endless stream of user
applications has kept the program in a perpetual state of evolution.”

All of those who have been involved in the delivery of this program
have been profoundly affected by the students, the institution, their
colleagues and their predecessors, Neigel notes.

“It’s been a challenge but it has been a really, really rewarding
experience.”

“Teaching here at UFV, despite all the work involved, nothing could
be better for me,” her colleague Jan Lashbrook Green says.

“The years teaching at UFV, were the most fun teaching years of my
life. he students were fun, engaging, involved. It was a great
experience,” former instructor Tim Atkinson recalls.

Kim Isaac

“To this day we’re still reaping the legacy that [the late]
founding faculty member Pat Sifton set. She set up a really strong
foundation and high standards for the faculty, the program and the
students,” says former instructor Kim Isaac, now director of the UFV
Library.

Deb Ireland, who earned her diploma in 2003, is now supervisor of the
Hope branch of the Fraser Valley Regional Library. She’s coming to
the reunion to catch up with others but is particularly intrigued by
guest speaker Margaret Read MacDonald, a children’s librarian and
author of more than 55 books on folklore and storytelling.

Ireland enjoyed the education she received in the Lib and Info Tech
program. Working in a smaller branch of the regional library, she does
“a little of everything” in Hope.

“It was a great program,” she recalls. “The courses I took that
focused on children’s literature, youth services, and reference work
had a lot of direct bearing on the work I do today.”

If you’re a Library and Info Tech alumni and want to find out more
about the reunion, email UFV at alumni@ufv.ca or call Helen at 604-
557-4008. Or see the reunion home page, find out about costs, and
register at www.ufv.ca/LIBITreunion .

The reunion is presented in partnership by the UFV Alumni Association
and the UFV Library and Information Technology department.

About The Editor