Over the next few months, we will be getting to know staff from the library and archives team. This month, we are featuring Adrienne Findley-Jones and Allison Graham!:

For readers outside the library & archives world, what does your job title actually mean? Depends on who’s asking; I’m the one answers the questions “Can you get this resource for me?” or “Can you fix this course reading?”

Describe in brief what you do: I create reading lists for Trinity and Wycliffe courses, assist with collection maintenance, manage the periodicals, order materials and supplies for staff and library use, fulfill digitization requests, digitize and scan items for research purposes, handle direct interlibrary loans, and commit random acts of citation & resource magic for Trinity & Wycliffe advance degree students and faculty. (Yes, that was brief).

How did you get into working in libraries/archives? Purely by necessity – I needed work while I was going to school, and the library was the logical place; and now, I’ll never leave.

What would you like people to know about Graham Library or Trinity Archives that they might not know? We are more than the books on our shelves. We have all kinds of resources and services available to our patrons.

Before working here, what was your most unusual or interesting job? I was a tour guide/grounds maintenance/tea party hostess at a (supposedly) haunted estate in Cayuga.

What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most? When I find that elusive resource in a matter of moments that a faculty member or grad student has been chasing down for days – they are always amazed at the results!

What’s the most interesting or fulfilling thing you’re working on right now? Right now (September/October), I am trying to keep my wits about me while course reading are settling themselves. November is when the real excitement starts with a brand new digitization system!

What was the last book you finished reading? I don’t so much finish books as I always have a bunch on the go. I’m currently working my way through The Girl with Ice in Her Veins – the most recent installment of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, and Miranda July’s All Fours, and Graham Waston’s The Invention of Charlotte Bronte.

Where did you grow up? Simcoe – Norfolk County (north shore of Lake Erie, the Long Point area).

What is your best advice for U of T Library or Archives users? Go. Visit. Dispel the mystery of the campus libraries. (Granted, getting into Robarts or Gerstein is a little difficult, but there’s more to UTL than those two libraries).

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended? TwoSet Violin’s appearance at Koerner Hall – that was AMAZING!

What’s your favourite thing to do in Toronto? Complaining about the TTC. Wait, no, my personal favourite thing to do in Toronto? Walking the Boardwalk at the Beaches.

What was the best meal you’ve ever had and where? I still rave about this pork chop I had in October 2018 at Avling Brewery (Queen East & Pape). Seriously, it was the most beautiful thing ever.

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? Northern Ireland, specifically counties Armagh and Fermanagh due to family connections.

Besides our library, what is your favourite library to visit? My hometown public library. Norfolk County Public Library is an awesome place!

What do you like to do in your spare time? Hang out with my cat Finn, and binge on true crime documentaries.

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How did you get into working in libraries/archives? Despite being  a library fanatic since childhood, volunteering at the public library as a teen, and working as a student library assistant in undergrad, I didn’t seriously consider librarianship until after I’d completed a master’s degree in religious studies and was trying to figure out what to do next. Being an academic librarian has been a great match for my skills and interests, and I’m particularly glad that I can continue working in the theology and religious studies field. 

What would you like people to know about Graham Library or Trinity Archives that they might not know? I didn’t know much about the library’s rare book and popular reading collections until I started working here, and they are well-worth exploring. Popular reading has a great selection of recent fiction and some non-fiction, and rare books has unique items, many of them centuries old. 

Before working here, what was your most unusual or interesting job? I was a military interpreter at the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site for four summers during my undergrad. My job involved dressing up as a 19th-century British soldier, standing sentry, firing canons, and giving tours. 

What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?  I love doing research consultations with students. I always learn something new from students’ projects, and it’s satisfying to help people find the resources that they need.

What’s the most interesting or fulfilling thing you’re working on right now? I’m leading three workshops on artificial intelligence this fall. I have a negative view about a lot of AI and am sceptical about the hype around it, so I did not anticipate enjoying teaching about AI, but I have loved the conversations that these workshops have elicited, especially how technology intersects with the theological and philosophical values that students hold.

What was the last book you finished reading?  A Fool’s Kabbalah by Steve Stern

Where did you grow up?  Victoria, BC

What is your best advice for U of T Library or Archives users? Talk to library staff members. U of T has a huge and complex library system that we’re here to help you use.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?  This is quite niche, but it would have to be the premier of Benedict Sheehan’s oratorio Akathist. The work combines Eastern Orthodox hymnody with an array of musical styles into an exhilarating celebration of thanksgiving. While nothing compares to the live concert, you can listen to the recording on Naxos Music Library, available through U of T Libraries!

What’s your favourite thing to do in Toronto? Walking around and exploring different neighbourhoods, parks, and ravines.

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?  I studied in Ukraine and Russia for a year, and I really want to go back to both countries. Of course, that’s not possible right now, but I hope for peace in the region and to be able to visit soon.

Besides our library, what is your favourite library to visit?  My favourite library is the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, but you’re most likely to find me browsing the stacks at Robarts or my public library branch, Deer Park.

What do you like to do in your spare time?  I read a lot and am part of several book clubs and discussion groups. I’m very much an amateur, but I do some musical activities, singing in my parish choir and playing violin with the Campus Philharmonic Orchestra. I like to get out into nature as much as someone who lives in midtown Toronto without a car can, and I knit a fair bit too.