Meet Heather Buzzell head librarian at Penticton Library
Heather Buzzell is chief librarian at the Penticton Public Library. Prior to her arrival in Penticton in 2012, she was head librarian in Grand Forks. She also worked with a regional library system and taught in the Middle East.
A graduate of the University of Victoria, she has a masters degree in library and information studies from Dalhouise University in Halifax.
HERALD: Have you always loved to read?
BUZZELL: Since I learned how to read, bedtime stories were a favourite time of day. I was the kid who was happy to be sent to my room, because my books were there. The real punishment would have been to take away my books, but I can’t imagine any parent doing that.
HERALD: We often hear “read to your child.” Why is that so important?
BUZZELL: For a lot of reasons: reading aloud to children stimulates imagination, builds language and listening skills. It prepares children for learning to read and gives them vocabulary. Reading helps build empathy and creativity in a way that watching something on television doesn’t. That’s true for adults as well, since it introduces us to worlds and ideas that are different from our own. It’s also about spending time with your child; they and the book have your undivided attention while you’re reading to them. Undistracted time seems rare now.
HERALD: What was the first book you remember reading as a child that made an impact on you?
BUZZELL: I’m not sure I could narrow it down to one and certainly not the first one. My father read me “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” by Douglas Adams as a child; I remember being totally enthralled with all those adventures in space. It was quite a different story when I read it again as an adult.
HERALD: What’s on your nightstand right now?
BUZZELL: For fiction Ami McKay’s “Witches of New York” is the one I’m currently reading at home. “Yiddish for Pirates” by Gary Barwin is waiting for me. I read a lot of nonfiction and right now that’s the “The Revenge of Analog: Real things and Why They Matter,” by David Sax. I just finished “Lost City of the Monkey God,” by Douglas Preston and JD Robb’s latest: “Echoes In Death.” Both were excellent.
HERALD: You’ve been a librarian for 10 years. What has been the most significant change in libraries over the past decade?
BUZZELL: There are a few things: the stabilization of the ebook file types and platform has probably been the most significant. When I started in libraries, there were a half dozen or so ebook file types and none were compatible with all reader programs. Once ebook publishers really settled into the e-pub and pdf format and e-readers became affordable, they really took off and we were seeing circulation increases of 300 per cent or more. Now we have tablets and apps, so more changes there. More and more libraries have also changed in how they’re used. We still see a respectable traffic to libraries despite digital resources. Libraries have developed into spaces where people meet, work, and collaborate and create, instead of just borrowing books or DVDs.
We talk about providing access to tools to create content, not just consume it. Maker Spaces have been an important development in libraries over the past five years or so, and I think this will continue to be the case. What they’ve done in Vancouver with their Inspiration Lab is particularly impressive, and largely out of reach for us; but we have plans to do something along those lines though we don’t have the space for a permanent set up.
HERALD: Where do you see libraries going in the future?
BUZZELL: I think we’ll continue to be a place where people come to access materials, to be used as a community space, and to connect with people and ideas. Exactly what that will look like and which services we’ll offer, that’s up for grabs.
HERALD: How well utilized is the Penticton library?
BUZZELL: We are very well used. In 2015, we were the 21st busiest library in B.C. That’s out of the 71 libraries and library systems in the province and counting all the regional systems and libraries that serve more than 100,000 people. That jumps to 14th busiest if you count based on averages per open hour. Last year, we had over 222,000 visitors and we checked out a bit more than 352,000 items both physically and digitally. Attendance at library programs is up by 35 per cent and we were asked 25,015 reference questions. There are around 18,000 library card holders in Penticton.
HERALD: Has technology made the job of a librarian easier? We all remember the old days of the card catalog.
BUZZELL: Easier? No. But it has given us more options. When you talk about a card catalogue, that’s changed a lot. It’s before my time, but we still have a typewriter downstairs that they used to use to make the cards. Now we can download records and then adapt, augment, or correct them.
Instead of digging through reference books to answer a question we have access to excellent material through our databases, though the books are still used. We are just as likely to use Google — the more difficult part is determining if what we find online is authoritative or not. There’s a lot of garbage on the internet as well as excellent information and unfortunately, it often looks authentic. Thanks to what’s been going on south of our border we’ve all become hyperaware of fake news.
Also, as more and more services move online, we end up receiving a lot of requests to help patrons with their tablets, smart phones, emails, etc. in order to navigate these sites. We also have to be up to date on these technologies in order to help. That’s part of the reason we developed the Borrow-a-Librarian program in the first place.
HERALD: Why, in your opinion, were the Harry Potter books so popular?
BUZZELL: J.K. Rowling told a great story. They gave kids a great imaginary school in the early books and matured with their original readers. They’re fun and descriptive. It’s about growing up, it’s about friendship. It’s about good versus evil and adventure. What’s not to like? They also appeal to all ages and backgrounds, so as kids got hooked on them, so did the rest of us. I read the fourth one first, then devoured the rest and had to wait impatiently for the next to come out.
HERALD: What’s the biggest misconception people may have of public libraries?
BUZZELL: That we’re a dying industry, and a dusty quiet space that has nothing of interest to them. That the librarians who work there are going to try to convince them to read something that’s “good for them” and will dismiss anything popular. I hear that a lot. I’d guess those people haven’t been through the doors of a public library for a while.
HERALD: Let’s end with a tough question. What’s your alltime favourite book that very few people will have heard of?
BUZZELL: “Not All Tarts Are Apple,” by Pip Granger. It’s funny and heart-breaking at the same time, and gives you a picture of 1950s Soho and life in a rough neighbourhood through the eyes of a child.
It’s one I re-read at least once a year.