When Burnaby’s chief librarian Edel Toner-Rogala was growing up in New Brunswick, her parents instilled in her the notion she could do anything if she could read.
A fervent reader all her life, she didn’t have to turn too far to find her passion and her career.
For the last 13 years, she’s been at the helm of the city’s library system after coming over from Prince George in the same role.
As Burnaby gets ready to celebrate and mark the public library’s 60th anniversary on Sept. 10, Toner-Rogala is also preparing for a new chapter in her life in retirement, shortly after.
The NOW caught up with the chief librarian to talk about all things related to the library before she leaves her post.
Why did you become a librarian?
My father always felt it was a natural fit. I loved the work that I was able to do in a school house library. I basically did everything, collection development, bibliographic instruction I did story times and readers advisory. What I loved about it was I just loved helping people and I loved that sense of … that problem that as presented to me, could I answer that question, could I find that piece of information, could I excite a child about a particular book or particular author?
Why should someone come to the library?
Why shouldn’t they? If you’re curious, if you have questions you don’t have answers for, if you’re looking for accurate information. A lot of people think, ‘Oh, I can just Google it and I’ll have all the answers I need,’ and in reality, the internet is an unregulated space.
There’s no one out there in internetland who’s evaluating material on what’s accurate, what’s presented properly, or historically correct. What libraries do is we do a lot of that curating for people. Librarians and libraries have a real role to play, particularly now when there’s so much misinformation and so little knowledge.
What are the challenges of running a library in the internet era?
The perception is that libraries are kind of stodgy and quiet. If anyone was ever typecast, I think librarians have been. Everyone expects us to have buns in our hair and pencils through our buns.
There’s a bit of an issue around stereotyping. But I can actually say I’ve never met any of those stereotypical librarians. They certainly don’t work here.
I think a lot of people remember their school library or they had a bad experience as a younger child and they carry that forward. There’s so much more to what public libraries offer.
Newspapers and libraries have a lot of common, in the sense that we’re traditionally perceived as print-based. I think the other issue we’ve struggled with is the perceptions of the expert. In this day and age, people aren’t so interested in what experts have to say. All you have to do is look at what’s happening on the global platform now.
What is the library doing to adapt to the times?
We position ourselves at supporting people. We’re not the expert; you are the expert in your information need. And what we can do is help you meet whatever that need might be in a format or on a device or platform that suits your purpose.
We’re not just about print; we have a broad array of electronic resources, ebooks and audio books you can access just by a library card, which you can pick up for free. We allow the community to have access to far more resources than you could ever have on your own. I couldn’t have a library like this at home or certainly on my phone. What we have excelled at here is the idea we’re out in the community. We partner with community partners who use our space, we go out to the community via our pop-up branches; that’s a vehicle that is equipped like a mini-library. We’re out beyond our walls a lot more.
Is there a hidden gem in this library that people might not know is here?
There are lots of hidden gems. It wouldn’t be hidden if told. We have a great DVD collection and a lot of really exceptional independent films that you’re not going to find anywhere else. Our staff who do the selections have great taste, so you’ll get things you won’t find anywhere else.
How well read are Burnaby residents?
I would say we’re fairly well read. People here in Burnaby read; they read a lot, but they don’t read just in English. We have a very diverse population here and many people who are literate in three or four different languages, so I would say they are very well read. And for me, reading isn’t just about eyeballs to a piece of paper. Some books are best read when they’re heard.
What’s your favourite book?
It’s no longer in publication, but I have my own copy, it’s called The Romance of American Communism, by Vivian Gornick. It was written in the mid to late 1970s, and it was, from my perspective, one of the first books that took into account oral history. The Romance of American Communism really looks at the American communism movement till about the late 1960s. She goes around and interviews people about why they joined the party, why they stayed or why they left. Some of the stories still resonate. I haven’t picked up the book for a while, but the images she creates … the reasons why her ability to tell the stories about why people got involved, very, very powerful. She really fuelled my own interest in oral history and people’s stories because it’s the stories that make us unique.
What will you do in retirement?
I will be starting a new chapter in my life, and what I’ve been telling people is so far it’s going to be a good read, and I wonder what’s going to happen in the next chapter because I really don’t know. I will be leaving Burnaby. I will be moving back to Prince George. I have family there. I’m sad to leave the city, particularly now as it’s on the cusp of new developments.
I’m interested in community foundations because I believe a lot in capacity building and I think community foundations are a great vehicle for that.
I’m also very interested in the hospice movement. I’ve got tons of quilts to make and a garden to get under control.
