Librarian Evelyn Feldman hits the reset button and makes sound decisions

Interview conducted by Talia Greene, Young Canada Works intern

What is your role at the UVic Libraries and what does it entail?

I'm the Acquisitions and Electronic Resources Librarian. I work with the library's Technical Services staff to help manage all of the library's collections, which includes our print collections but also our eBooks, streaming videos, all of our continuing subscriptions for journal articles and databases, and many other unique types of resources in the library's collections. Essentially, just about anything you access through the library that the library pays for access to, I help look after.

My work involves talking to publishers about our renewals, making sure we receive and pay our invoices, ensuring that you're able to find and access electronic resources in our collections, and perhaps most importantly, making decisions to ensure the library collections have what they need to best support UVic's many academic programs.

What was your path to UVic like? Where did you work before coming here?

I grew up in Victoria and went to UVic for my undergrad and majored in English and did an Honours in Greek and Roman Studies. I have fond memories of participating in the JCURA Fair for my honours thesis on Ancient Roman Public Libraries.

Directly after graduating, I attended the University of Toronto for their dual Master of Museum Studies and Master of Information program. Then I stuck around in Ontario and worked as a librarian at Brock University, then at Lakehead University as the Head of Collections Services, before starting at UVic in September 2023.

You’ve lived in Victoria before. What are your recommendations for things to do/see/eat in Victoria?

I love the ocean and am delighted to be living near it again. If you've lived in Victoria your whole life, you might not realize how much you'll miss the ocean until you move away from it. I recommend visits to Victoria's many little beaches, and walks along the shore.

Outside of work, what are your interests or hobbies?

I have two cats I'm very fond of, Maia and Minnow, and they keep me busy with their antics. I also play a lot of video games, which is my main way to relax after work or on a weekend.

What is your favourite place you’ve ever travelled and why?

When I lived in Toronto, I took the train to Halifax and back for two summers in a row. I love trains, and found being forced to have 26+ hours just sitting, looking at the countryside pass by, maybe reading or listening to a book, incredibly freeing. I’m really not being sarcastic but the trips felt like mental resets from a busy life, and I hope to do it a third time some day.

When I got to Halifax I could be near the ocean, and explore or just relax however I wanted. Solo travelling is liberating and underrated.