Library Assistant
Parksville
I’ve worked for VIRL since 1989 and I like my job very much. I’ve been lucky enough to work in a few different areas of the library system over the years. I enjoy the people I work with and I really enjoy finding information for people.
We often get visitors or people new to the area with questions about local services and it’s great when we can help them find what they’re looking for. We also help people who come in every day, as part of their daily routine or maybe just to read the newspaper. It’s good to be a part of their every day experience. We get to know people and they get to know us. We get to see kids grow up and go from story time to bringing their own kids in. There is even a teen board game night.
I have seen a lot of changes over the years, both in what services we provide and how we go about providing those services.
We’re a regional system and we have many branches. Our collection is huge, but it’s distributed amongst many different areas. We have many copies of some things and fewer copies of some older, rare, or less-requested items. What you’re looking for might not be in our branch because our collection constantly moves. It’s a bit different than other library systems – just because it’s not on the shelf when you come in, it’s still available. We just need to have it brought in from one of our other branches. When someone requests an item we can often bring it in within a few days or a week.
I feel the library is a very important part of the community and most people feel comfortable coming to someone in the library to ask for help or information. We’re very lucky to have such a trusted relationship with our patrons.