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!
One of our Library Resources staff, resident dungeon master, history buff, and most likely to be voted “most impressive pop-figurine desk collection”, Chris Conroy, sat down with us for our next staff spotlight interview. 
WBRL: What is your role at our library and how long have you been working here?
Chris: I work in the Library Resources department, and I help to process new materials. So, whenever we get a new shipment of books or movies, I go through them and I make sure we’ve gotten what we’ve ordered and there aren’t any problems with any of the items. Then I process them, for example, I stamp the books, put the barcodes on, and put any necessary stickers onto the movies. Then, once my colleague does the actual cataloguing, I do the final touches and put them on a cart to be put out on our new item display so our patrons can check them out. I've been at WBRL for 11 years.
WBRL: By the way, our patrons and staff alike love that display—we often say to our kids who come to the service desk that it’s like Christmas for us every Wednesday when they come out.
Chris: Oh, I know when I go through them, I feel the same way. I place holds and add a lot of books to my “to be read” list when processing them for the new item display.
WBRL: What is your educational or professional background?
Chris: I have a diploma in business administration, a diploma in library and information technology, and a bachelor’s degree in history. This is the first library I’ve ever worked at and it’s the greatest place I’ve ever worked. I’m very lucky, I’m probably one of the few people out there who gets up in the morning and looks forward to going to work.
WBRL: What is a library project that you are working on that excites you?
Chris: I am preparing to weed old magazines right now; that’s when we withdraw magazines from our collection that we got months ago that aren’t necessary anymore. It sounds weird, I know, but I actually look forward to withdrawing the old magazines. I like going through them; it’s a reminder of all the work I’ve done over the past year, and I enjoy making room for all the new issues as they arrive. We also get requests from patrons, teachers, organizations, and staff members for our old magazines, so I like to pick out the titles I think they’d enjoy as well.
WBRL: Describe a library memory or moment that has brought you joy. It doesn’t have to be from WBRL, it can be from when you were a patron at another library!
Chris: This was an easy choice for me. Months after starting here in my old position where I worked at the service desk, I had a little kid come in. He must have been around four or five years old, and he was wearing Batman gear from head to toe. Like he had a baseball hat with the Batman logo, same with his shirt, he had on grey pants covered in the Batman symbols, complete with Batman shoes—the whole nine yards! When he and his mom were leaving, I told him that I loved his outfit and that I was a big Batman fan too. This kid lights up and he shrieks “I’M THE GREEN LANTERN!!” he started shouting out Green Lanterns’ slogans and his mom ended up having to carry him out while he yelled. “GREEN LANTERN’S MIGHT!”
WBRL: Do you have any talents that don’t get a chance to shine at the library?
Chris: Honestly, I’m just full of random trivia and information that isn’t in anyway useful or practical, but I can tell you all kinds of random stories that I find interesting. So, I guess my random talent is having weird stories to share at any given moment like I could tell you about the trial of Martian Guerre or the Emu War, or even who the CPR dummy’s face was modeled after.
WBRL: Can I add something to that, because I feel you are forgetting, or possibly being very humble about one of your talents.
Chris: *shrugs* Sure.
WBRL: Your writing Chris! You are such a talented writer, and you have been a D&D master for a group of staff here at the library in the past—I know they loved your stories!
Chris: Oh right, haha. That’s nice of you to say without having read them.
WBRL: No, I’ve heard them, you read them when you attended the creative writing program—you are definitely talented in that area!
Chris: Oh well, thanks! I guess I had forgotten about that!
WBRL: Is there a random subject that you are so knowledgeable about that you could write a whole book on it?
Chris: Lots of random trivia, that kind of thing. Maybe Henry VIII and his Wives? Probably my best chance would be writing out the history of the royal family. I could list every monarch since 1066.
WBRL: What is your current or last read?
Chris: I read a little bit of everything but right now I’m currently reading Pontiff by Gordon Thomas and Max Gordon-Witts. It’s a brief window into the Vatican, starting with the last days and death of Pope Paul VI, covering the brief reign of Pope John Paul I, and ends just after the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. Its fascinating and filled with insider information from that time. Its one of my favourite books, and I wanted to reread it following the death of Pope Francis and the ascension of Pope Leo XIV.
WBRL: What is your favourite genre to read or watch?
Chris: Historical fiction.
WBRL: Name a book or film you wish you could experience for the first time again.
Chris: I don’t think I can pick just one for this question.
WBRL: That’s okay, give me your top three if you can.
Chris: Hmm, okay lets do Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede, When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman and Belgarath the Sorcerer by David and Leigh Eddings.
Keep an eye on our blog to read more Staff Spotlight interviews!
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