Reposted from the Dalhousie Libraries blog:

We’re pleased to announce that David Ryan (MLIS ’08) is the new Library Services Supervisor, based at the Sexton Library. David will be a familiar face to many as he’s been working in term positions with the Dalhousie Libraries since 2018, having worked at both the Sexton and Kellogg libraries.

David graduated from Dalhousie with his MLIS in 2008. Since then, in addition to the Dalhousie Libraries, he’s worked at Mount Saint Vincent University and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in roles such as reference and instructional librarian, cataloguer, and lecturer. David also has a background in communications. Over the past year, in addition to providing front line service at the Sexton Library and Resources support on the streaming video initiative, he’s written graduate and online teaching faculty profiles for Dal News on behalf of the Dal Libraries and the Academic Quality Team.

Join us in welcoming David as the newest permanent member of the Dalhousie Libraries team.

Shared from the Dalhousie Libraries blog

Congrats to Samantha Adema (MLIS ’19) on being appointed the new Indigenous Services Librarian at Dalhousie Libraries. She started in this role on September 1st.

From Dal Libraries: Sam (L’nu/Mi’kmaw) is a member of Sipekne’katik First Nation. She has a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) from Dalhousie (2019) and a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Mary’s, where she majored in history and classics and spent time at the Basentello Valley Archaeological Field School in Italy.

Sam is a familiar face to many of us in the Dalhousie Libraries because she worked as an intern in the Sexton Library while she did her master’s degree. She has also worked at Halifax Public Libraries as both a community assistant and a library assistant. At HPL, Sam’s primary responsibilities included building relationships with community members; building an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere; and providing services to library users such as one-on-one technology instruction and assistance with reference and research questions.

Sam has done research projects about unemployment among Nova Scotia’s Indigenous youth and the potential for the public library to forge additional community partnerships to better serve the urban Indigenous population in North-End Halifax. She worked with community members and staff at the Mi’kmaq Native Friendship Centre and staff at the Museum of Natural History to show how community-led principles had a positive effect in boosting Indigenous attendance and involvement with the museum.

As Dalhousie’s Indigenous Services Librarian, Sam is currently working remotely due to current on-campus restrictions related to COVID-19, but she is available to answer research questions via email and is available for remote consultations via Microsoft Teams for more in-depth research questions. When we return to campus, Sam will be based out of the Killam Memorial Library, but she is available to work with people from all campuses.

Sam works closely with faculty, researchers, staff, and students to support learning and research on Indigenous topics in all disciplines. She will also coordinate reference support, programming, and other services to users of Dalhousie’s National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation Hub in the MacRae Library.

“Indigenous Services is a priority within the Dalhousie Libraries and we are thrilled to have Samantha join our team. These services are for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, staff, and faculty but also for the local Indigenous communities,” said Elaine MacInnis, Associate University Librarian Services and Head, MacRae Library.

Deborah Hemming’s debut novel “Throw Down Your Shadows” was published by Nimbus on July 30th. Deborah is an MLIS graduate (2017), a Reference and Research Librarian with Dalhousie Libraries, and the interim IM Liaison Librarian. An interview and review was included in the Chronicle Herald on August 21st (excerpt below – read the full article here).

Congrats Deborah!

From the Chronicle Herald: The lush vineyards of the Annapolis Valley (not far from where she lives and where she spent her adolescence) provide the backdrop for Deborah Hemming’s debut novel, a coming-of-age story with a surprising twist.

“I think I always wanted to set a book here,” she said in an interview from her home in Wolfville. “It was a really magical place to grow up. It felt really free.”

Hemming spent her childhood years in Port Williams, a small community just outside Wolfville. Maybe it is why she is drawn to stories set in rural places. While fictional characters living in cities can find anonymity to develop and evolve through their varied experiences, those living in the country face something different, she said.

“Rural stories don’t provide that anonymity,” she said. “You are known. Characters seek out change and growth in other ways. The whole idea of pushing boundaries is different. You have to do it interpersonally.”

Throw Down Your Shadows (Vagrant Press), follows 16-year-old Winnie as she navigates growing up on the fringes in rural Nova Scotia alongside her three best friends, all boys. Their lives change dramatically when Caleb, a new boy from the city moves to town. Under Caleb’s influence, Winnie and her friends test boundaries, and in the process reveal to themselves their inner complexities, desires, and darkness.