The Estevan Public Library has found its new manager.
Breanne Bannerman-Gobeil started working with the library on Sept. 5. While this is her first job as a head librarian, she brings a diverse background to the local library.
She has a master’s of library and information science from the University of Western Ontario. Since graduating from the program, she has worked at a few different libraries and for a couple of different school divisions in Winnipeg.
She also covered a maternity leave at the Manitoba Legislative Library as a cataloguer. And she was the assistant manager of a library in Saint-Georges, Manitoba.
Her time in Estevan thus far has been dedicated to learning the local library’s budget and how materials are shelved, how the integrated library system works, how to place holds, and how the one-card, one-province concept offered through the Saskatchewan Information Library Services (SILS) consortium operates.
While she dealt with a similar concept to SILS in Manitoba, she hasn’t encountered anything quite like SILS.
“For example, I was a patron of the Winnipeg Public Library,” said Bannerman-Gobeil. “If Winnipeg public didn’t have a book that I wanted, I could place a request … and then it would go out to all of the other public libraries in Manitoba, just as it does here.”
But the Manitoba concept doesn’t have the integration into the catalogues that SILS does in Saskatchewan.
Bannerman-Gobeil said she enjoys working in libraries because she likes helping people find the information they’re looking for, while working with a diverse patron base.
“I enjoy learning about literature itself, and keeping up with the trends in literature,” she said.
She is also impressed with the staff at the library. The library has hired some new program co-ordinators in recent months, and they’re learning together.
“It is really nice that you can connect with some of the staff that way, and learn together,” said Bannerman-Gobeil.
Bannerman-Gobeil said there are differences with each library in terms of policies, the patrons and more, and so she has lots to learn.
The community has made a favourable first impression on her. Bannerman-Gobeil and her husband are pleased they don’t have to spend 45 minutes in traffic going to work each morning, a problem they encountered in Winnipeg.
“My husband and I were talking about getting out of Winnipeg, and just finding a smaller community to base ourselves in,” said Bannerman-Gobeil. “The other part was just advancing in my career, and taking the next step.”
Bannerman-Gobeil replaces Kate-Lee Nolin, who stepped down earlier this year to become the new director of the Southeast Regional Library.
