Our staff are our pride and joy! They keep this place running smoothly; making sure our community has the materials they need while offering original programming and library services for our treasured patrons. We’re excited to share more about the amazing staff who work at Wood Buffalo Regional Library in our blog feature: Staff Spotlight!
Our IT staff were a little shy when it came to being interviewed, so we agreed they could both sit in for a chat at once to reduce the nerves that come with speaking publicly. It also helped that we bribed them with baked goods. So, lets welcome two of our Information Technology staff members for our next interview; Carlos Moran, who is most likely to survive an AI uprising, and John Parsons who would be voted the staff member who is most likely to be visited by the legendary library ghost.
WBRL: What is your role at our library and how long have you been working here?
John: I am the Information Technology Support Associate, and my role here mainly consists of helping my coworkers and patrons with their tech systems, maintaining our systems so they work properly for our patrons, helping set up new systems, and just helping to take the workload off the rest of my team. I am also the resident class clown. I’ve been here for eight years.
Carlos: Information Technology System Administrator and I have been here for 19 years. In my role I maintain our systems and make sure our library functions as it should which involves a lot of troubleshooting to solve issues for my coworkers and our patrons. I also get to research new and emerging technologies to implement in our space, or to replace our outgoing old tech. I also spray John with a water bottle when he gets too distracted.
WBRL: What is your educational or professional background?
John: I took the Computer Information Systems Diploma at Keyano, and I owned my own computer repair shop in Fort McMurray for over fifteen years. While there I repaired over three thousand systems and set up the tech for doctors, pharmacists, and other small businesses in town.
Carlos: I also did the Computer Information Systems Diploma at Keyano. I also have loads of other self-taught experience in web design, graphic design and advertising, but we’ll get into that when we get to the fifth question. I will say that those self-taught topics have helped me more here than what I learned in school, which was mostly programming. There’s so much to learn here to continuously keep on top of emerging technologies and the issues they may create before they happen.
WBRL: Is there a project you are working on or an aspect of your job that that really excites you?
John: We are rolling out replacement hardware that will make the internet faster for both our patrons and our staff which will be like Christmas for us here in IT!
Carlos: Our upgrade to the internet is pretty exciting, we will be about twenty times faster than we previously were. We are also getting new tablets to have standup OPACS for our patrons. [For our non-techy readers, OPACS are the computer stations in our library where our patrons search for items]
WBRL: Describe a library memory or moment that has brought you joy.
John: I get to help with the Words in Motion poetry celebration every year where they celebrate the poets who have made it in the Words in Motion booklet and give them a chance to read their poems out loud. This one year no one really wanted to read their poetry first and this kind of scruffy older man went and read his poem. Afterwards the flood gates opened and there was a line up of people waiting to read theirs.
We also used to have a program called the Keyano Lecture Series where we would get to see professors from Keyano present a lecture on the topic of their choice, I liked seeing a large group of people come together like that to share and learn about a topic they are fascinated in.
Carlos: Our Community Engagement team used to plan carnival events at our library twice a year, Frosty Frolics and Spring Frenzy and with these events they had other staff members come out for a day to help run the games. It was a great time seeing the kids running everywhere and enjoying all the fun.
I also had the opportunity to visit the Strathcona Library in Edmonton for a research project on our mobile library a few years ago and their children’s library blew me away! They had columns that were molded to look like thick tree trunks with furniture to match and their signage was big, bold, and eye catching for the kids. It was a magical place where you could see children wanting to spend plenty of time exploring.
WBRL: Do you have any talents that don’t get a chance to shine at the library?
John: I spend a lot of time putting together huge Lego sets with my sons—
Carlos: We’re talking about over 7000 pieces.
John: Yeah, they are no joke, we have so many, we could open a museum. Some of the highlights have been the TIE fighters and ATAT Walkers from Star Wars and then we did the Hogwarts Castle from Harry Potter.
Carlos: I started my career as a graphic designer working for the Jean family, at “The Print Shop”, it kick-started my creative side—
John: Oh, that’s why you’re so good at putting colours together!
Carlos: Yeah exactly! Then I became a web master when I opened my own business, pixelsonthe.net . With this I was designing and developing sites, doing search engine optimization, making sure websites were accessible and compatible with multiple browsers. There’s also the advertisement and marketing aspect that has given me artistic skills that I sometimes get to use when I work with Nicole, our Communications Coordinator, but it doesn’t get to shine often.
WBRL: Is there a random subject that you are so knowledgeable about that you could write a whole book on it?
John: I have a bit of a supernatural pattern recognition or intuition with events that I have experienced that I could write a book about, but it would probably scare some people off! Otherwise, I could write a book about Fallout series games. I’ve maxed out the games without mods or cheating and I keep coming back to them over and over. I’ve logged so many hours!
Carlos: I could probably write something on the holistic options to modern drugs, like the benefits that vitamin c, turmeric, and even baking soda has our bodies and the cures that have been hidden from us over time by western medicine.
WBRL: Name a book that has changed your life.
John: The Holy Qur’an.
Carlos: King James Bible.
John: Wait, I want to do one more of the optional questions! Ask me this one.
WBRL: Sure, why not! What is your favourite genre to read or watch?
John: Fantasy, like Dungeons & Dragons and The Witcher.
Keep an eye on our blog to read more Staff Spotlight interviews!
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