Gwyn Pace has worked at the Dalhousie Libraries for thirty years, serving the information needs of students and faculty. Throughout her career, Gwyn has been the history subject specialist, the Dalhousie Libraries Document Delivery Librarian, the Circulation Librarian for the Killam Library and more recently the Copyright Liaison Librarian, as well as always spending some of her time working at the reference desk, her first library love. She recently reflected on her career at the Dalhousie Libraries on the occasion of her retirement.

Gwyn started working in libraries as a library assistant at Saint Mary’s University, where she was fortunate to work with two librarians who encouraged her to go to library school, Jane Archibald and Margot Schenk. Jane also worked at the Dal Libraries for many years and Margot went on to become the University Librarian at Saint Mary’s. Gwyn found that working in reference was always interesting and that it was fun to help people find things they needed for their research. While doing her library degree at Dalhousie she continued working as a library assistant at Saint Mary’s and later worked as a student assistant with the reference department at the Killam Library.

When asked about how things have changed since she started working at the Dalhousie Libraries, Gwyn says, “There have been big, big changes in both Document Delivery and Reference. In Document Delivery, a request would start as a 4 part paper form in a typewriter. We’d then mail the request to another library. Back then, there was usually a three-week turnaround time for articles and books. Now, we can get articles from around the world to faculty and students in a day. The number of requests we’re able to process has also increased. In social sciences and humanities alone, we used to do around 1,000–2,000 requests a year for Dalhousie patrons, and now Document Delivery handles 16,000 patron requests a year,” says Gwyn.

As for changes at the Reference Desk, Gwyn says, “I can still remember when we got the first computer in our office in the Killam—we had a competition to name it. Initially, we weren’t too sure what to do with Max because we were still using the card catalogue to search. In the card catalogue, we could find things by author, title, and three subject headings, if we were lucky.
“Eventually we moved to CD-ROM databases, and then searching an online catalogue using very cumbersome codes that you had to type in correctly or you wouldn’t get any results. Now, with today’s web-based catalogue and databases, everything is at our fingertips from home or here on campus,” she says.

Gwyn was also the coordinator of the Council of Atlantic University Libraries (CAUL) Document Delivery Group for eleven years, which gave her the opportunity to connect with colleagues around the region. “Working with the Document Delivery group and the people at CAUL has been a real highlight. We really had to work together to develop policies and procedures because we were sharing the Relais management system across the Atlantic universities. I met some really wonderful people as a result of this work. The Document Delivery staff here at Dalhousie have worked so well together to provide a pretty terrific service. It’s to their credit that all of the work gets done,” she says.

A funny memory from Gwyn’s early days as the subject specialist in history comes from a misadventure in buying books for the library. “I had to select books for the collection from these 3 x 5 pieces of paper that came from the publishers. Canadian History is a PhD area of study, so I really wanted to continue building the collection. I found this book about the history of Quebec that was very reasonably priced, so I ordered it. When it arrived, I was very surprised that it only measured 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches (4 x 4 cm.). Luckily, the book cost only $5, but I kept it on my desk for a long time to remind me to be a little more careful with what I ordered!” laughs Gwyn.

Having spent 30 years at Dalhousie, it’s no wonder that Gwyn has met a lot of people and will miss lots of things about working here. “Of course I’ll miss my colleagues in the Dal Libraries, and the satisfaction that comes from helping students. I’ve been so lucky to work here at the Dal Libraries with wonderful librarians and other library staff such as Marlyn McCann of Document Delivery and Sandy Dwyer, who was the Head of Circulation. And the University Library administration has been very supportive of the Document Delivery service.

“Many faculty in the history department, particularly Cynthia Neville, Larry Stokes, and Judith Fingard were all very encouraging and helpful when I was starting out as the history subject specialist. And just being part of an organization that makes you think and allows you time to help people find things that they need for their research is very satisfying,” says Gwyn.

As for her plans after retirement? “I don’t have any big plans. I want to be able to do some projects at home, gardening, digitizing of family photos, visiting family out west,” says Gwyn, a native of Vancouver. “I am looking forward to having a little more flexibility in my schedule,” then she adds, with a twinkle in her eye, “but I might come back looking for a project!”

All of the Dalhousie Libraries staff wish you the very best on your retirement, Gwyn. We will miss your thoughtfulness, your dedication to your work, and of course, your Christmas cookies!