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Alumni Profile: Danielle Hubbard, MLIS 2013

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By: Toni Beaton (First-year MI Student)

Danielle Hubbard graduated with her MLIS degree in 2013 and was recently appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Okanagan Regional Library in British Columbia. I had the pleasure of interviewing Danielle and chatting with her about her rapid career trajectory since graduating.

Please tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What initially brought you to the information management field?

Portrait of Danielle Hubbard

My name is Danielle Hubbard, and I grew up in Victoria, BC. When I was an undergraduate student, I worked as a Page for the Greater Victoria Public Library. My mother was a Circulation Clerk, so I don’t know if it would’ve occurred to me to apply there otherwise. Partway through my undergraduate in Art History, it occurred to me that my [degree] was not terribly employable. After having a casual conversation with my mom, she didn’t push me towards librarianship or try to convince me, but it was an offhand comment about wishing she’d become a librarian. My mother is a very wise person. I took her non-advice and went to Dalhousie, and graduated in 2013. I’m now the Chief Executive Officer of the Okanagan Regional Library.

Which area of information management most interests you? Did you know this coming into your MLIS program, or did you discover this along the way?

When I entered the MLIS program, I thought I wanted to be an academic librarian. Like many librarians, I’m an introvert. The thought of doing something behind the scenes was appealing. When I started at Dal, I decided by week two that it was not what I wanted to do. I [was drawn] to the public library courses. I took a lot of programming, outreach, and children’s services [courses]. I really care the most about creativity and impact; that I’m doing something creative, and that I can see the positive impact of the work I’m doing. That seemed the most available to me first through programming and outreach, and felt it was even more true in upper management. I had a brief foray in children’s services, which is also very creative.

What has your career trajectory looked like since graduating from MLIS in 2013?

I did my four-week practicum at the Salt Spring Island Public Library [in British Columbia], partially because I love the Gulf Islands, but also strategically because this was a place I’d like to live and work. I wanted to use my practicum to make connections. I then worked there over the summer in children’s programming, which was a really good learning experience. Unlike a big city or regional system, when you work for a small, independent library early in your career, you get tossed into everything. There aren’t departments or silos, and you do whatever you are asked to do. In my second year of grad school, a librarian position at the Salt Spring Island Public Library came up (with a focus in outreach and youth services). I got the position, and I think my connections from the year before helped. I’d say the theme of my career path is that I never meet the requirements of the job postings. This one was [requiring] 3-5 years of experience, and I had just graduated. But the board knew me, and the chief librarian knew me.

After working there for several years, I then moved to Manitoba and worked for the Western Manitoba Regional Library as a Programming and Outreach Librarian. Similar to Salt Spring, that was an unexpectedly good career move. Rural Manitoba is very poorly funded, and public libraries there have some of the least funding in the country. These factors meant I had a lot of free reign to work however I could, with no budget for programming and outreach. I then applied for the Director of Library Services (Chief Librarian) role. I’d only been out of grad school for 5-6 years, and I was not qualified. But I applied, and was offered the position. I think again, because I had already built relationships with the library board, they trusted me as an employee. I had this job through the bulk of the pandemic, for 2.5 years.

My mother [became ill], and I resigned [from the Western Manitoba Regional Library] to move back to the coast to look after my mom in her last few months. When it became clear my mother was not going to get better, I looked for work closer to home; I worked for a time at the Port Moody Public Library in Greater Vancouver. After having been the director of a regional library system, I found that [this role] wasn’t demanding or creative enough. I began looking in the field again [for a job], and was offered a position as the Director of Public Services for the Okanagan Regional Library based in Kelowna. It’s one of the five biggest systems in BC, and geographically spans from Golden in the north down to Osoyoos in the south. I was initially responsible for the northern half of the system (staffing, programming, and outreach activities). Very soon after I started, the CEO announced his retirement and recommended I apply. I like putting myself out there and trying new things, so I applied. I was interviewed three times, and was then offered the position. I’ve been the CEO since November 1st of last year, so almost six months.

Congratulations on your new position as CEO of the Okanagan Regional Library. Please tell us more about your position. What are your roles and responsibilities? What does a typical day look like for you?

The term CEO in the public library is really synonymous with Chief Librarian, City Librarian, Executive Director… it just means you are the top staff member. I report to a board of elected officials with representatives from each of the ORL’s member communities. I am ultimately responsible for all operations of the library system; everything from finances, operating budgets, services for the public, our human resources, marketing, outreach… ultimately, I’m responsible for all of that. I have an executive upper management team of seven members, and then all of the staff of the library flow out from them. The majority of my time I spend interacting with those seven members of the management team.

I see my role as moving things forward. As the CEO, you are the connector; for example, taking IT, public services, and HR together, and finding a [common] ground that will work for all of them. It’s also my role to set and move initiatives forward. Right now, we’re in the early stages of doing strategic planning. The onus falls to me to set meetings and deadlines, and hold people accountable. Sometimes it’s like herding everyone forward. I also do a fair bit of work with the board (24 people). We have four annual meetings. They need to be in the know of what the library is doing, so that their municipalities will want to remain within the library system. It’s a very interpersonal, political, and tactical role. Honestly, it’s very far-removed from any assignment I ever did in grad school. I might be attending a finance committee, or driving to Revelstoke to speak to their city council, or attending a union labour management meeting, or a building project meeting, or talking to the press about a drag storytime we’re going to host… it’s hard to say exactly what a normal day is. It’s usually a lot of emails and lot of meetings.

Lastly, what advice would you offer second-year MI students graduating this June, as they enter the information management professional field?

I want to emphasize – be willing to move around, take initiative by applying for work that stretches your on-paper credentials, and take initiative within a role and be able to articulate what you uniquely contributed [in future interviews].

As you enter the profession, even if you don’t enjoy your very first role, learn what you can and contribute what you can. Be aware of where there might be gaps in what you know; for example, what are some of the experiences employers are looking for you to have? Project management, financial leadership? Where could you get those experiences, or how can you spin your experiences to show you are able to do that? Librarianship is so dynamic. You won’t have a cut and dry role. Really demonstrating that you are able and willing to go with the flow and set your own direction is what employers are looking for.

Apply above your rank, even if you don’t meet all the requirements… go for it anyway. I oversee hiring in my role, and right now public libraries are desperately looking for MLIS [MI] graduates. If you are willing to move, you stand a very good chance. I can’t speak for all organizations, but certainly based on my own experience and the conversations I have with other library leaders, I keep hearing the question, “Where did all the librarians go?” Being willing to move around really sets you up for career success, if that is what you want to prioritize. I don’t think it would’ve happened this way [my career path] if I hadn’t had my experiences in Manitoba before moving back to BC. Sometimes you just can’t gain the same diverse array of experience if you stay in one place.

Highlighting MI Student Work at The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

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By: Toni Beaton (First-year MI Student)

This week, I had the opportunity to speak with several School of Information Management students whom are both current and past employees and volunteers at The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Lisa Phinney, Maddie Hare, and Lara Morrison shared their experiences at Pier 21, as well as advice on those looking to enter the museum or heritage sector.

Please begin by introducing yourselves, including what drew you to the museum or heritage sector within the field of information management.

Lisa: When I first joined this program, my goal was to always work in museums. I have a background in anthropology, so I really wanted to combine it with this management degree. I thought, what better way to do so than to work in a museum? There happened to be an opening last fall [at Pier 21] and I got the job. I [looked forward to] getting exposure to see what the museum sector would be like, and then go from there.

Maddie: When I started at SIM, I wasn’t really considering working in museums. One of my colleagues at the Kellogg Library connected me with her husband who was Head of Digital Collections at Pier 21. I was so interested in archives and digital preservation, so we discussed opportunities to volunteer in this area. That position didn’t exist yet, and they [Pier 21] were going through a transition, so the volunteer coordinator, Annette Carter, suggested that I volunteer in “Visitor Experience” in the meantime to familiarize myself with the museum. I already loved the museum, and my grandmother actually came through Pier 21! Now it’s been a year, and I’m still in Visitor Experience; I really enjoy it.

Lara: I also have had some experience working in the heritage sector before, and that’s where I wanted to go with this degree as well. The fact that Pier 21 is a very local museum was really attractive to me when I saw the job posting. I have a background in history, and am really interested in Canadian history; you can’t discuss Canadian history without discussing immigration. A lot of people have very personal connections to immigration in Canada. That was really interesting to me in terms of working in a museum like that.

What is your (current or past) role within The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, and in which area(s) of the museum were you affiliated?

Lisa: I was hired in September of 2022 as a Heritage Interpreter. It is within Visitor Experience, and my role was to lead and facilitate tours throughout the Pier 21 exhibition, help visitors, work the front ticket counter, sit in exhibitions to answer questions, give directions, and be on the floor face-to-face for visitor help. I was there for 6 months in a contract position.

Maddie: I’m in Visitor Experience, and I work on the floor alongside the interpreters as a volunteer. I answer questions, greet guests, talk about the museum, offer directions, facilitate our activities (including our citizenship table). We have a reflections area where guests can offer reflections on what immigration means to them; I really love chatting with guests about things they’ve written there. We also have an area where people can write their name and story on a tag, and put it on a map. I help to facilitate these types of activities. I also assist with special events at the museum in the evenings, such as the “Voices of the Pandemic Latinx Community Celebration,” the “Canadian Association of Executives: Discover Halifax,” as well as the Pier 21 booth at the Dalhousie Societies Expo.

Lara: I was working as a Genealogical Researcher/Library Assistant for the Scotiabank Family History Centre within Pier 21. The service offered there is open to visitors or anyone who visits the museum, and we do genealogical research for them. It’s a really interesting opportunity to talk with people face-to-face, get a little bit of their family history, and then take a dive into the historical records that we have. Typically, we would use digitized records like the census or ship records. Essentially, we’re trying to find passenger manifests from when people came into Canada. There are some limitations on that, of course, with privacy laws; typically, we only have [records created] before 1935, although there are some exceptions. It was a really great opportunity to talk to people all day, every day, in the summer I was working there. For a lot of people, they themselves came over [to Canada]; it was really interesting to hear people’s stories and the memories that they were sharing with us. It’s a really emotional and difficult topic to discuss for some people, but it’s also really celebratory as well for others. There’s a lot of feeling behind all of those stories.

What have been your most enjoyable takeaways from your experiences at Pier 21?

Lisa: Those really personal interactions you get with visitors. Everyone has a unique story, and you do meet some really interesting people. One of my very last days there, I met a lady whose father had come through Pier 21. Her father and her uncle had fled Poland; they were taken prisoner and had to spend 17 months in Serbia. Then, they fled Serbia and ended up in an East African country. When Canada was looking for labourers, they sent over a boat; her father and uncle lied about their ages so that they could be eligible [to immigrate]. It was a really powerful and unique story I hadn’t heard before. She then spent a good hour in the Family History Centre. It’s moments like that you really appreciate what you’re doing. In those one-on-one moments with visitors, you realize what you’re doing is actually very important.

Maddie: Connecting with guests can be really personal. Hearing their stories and family histories is always really moving to me. We get a lot of cruise ship passengers coming through the museum, and I always really enjoy interacting with them and helping them learn about Canada’s immigration history. I find they, [as well as] newcomers to Canada, really connect with the museum. I love to hear their stories. There’s a wedding dress in the museum from a war bride who came over to Canada; one of the employees who works there [at Pier 21], it’s her grandmother’s best friend’s dress. I was just blown away, because that’s such a direct connection to an object in the museum. On a personal note, my grandmother came through Pier 21 from Italy. Getting to make connections through the museum is amazing; another of the volunteers is Italian, so we’ve chatted about our family history. During Italian Heritage Month, reading all the guests’ stories about their families coming down [to Canada] was really moving.

Lara: Having studied history in school, and as someone who is really interested in archives and archival materials, it is really interesting to speak to the people who are actually documented in those records. We get to interact with people on a very personal level about that. It’s really interesting when you see people coming in to [investigate their family stories]. I remember someone who had always been told their grandmother was born on a ship. And sure enough, we saw in the records, alongside their family someone had pencilled in, “+ Baby born at sea” on the ship’s passenger manifest coming into Canada. It was really cool to be able to do that research for them. It’s a very personal connection, and adds a lot to archival literacy in terms of being able to think critically about records (and how much is left out of records). They are only telling a part of the story; it makes it very real when you get to see it right in front of you.

What advice would you give to current MI students interested in the museum sector?

Lisa: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Don’t be afraid if you don’t have the qualifications. You learn a lot as you go, and you don’t have to have all the answers at first. My biggest worry was that someone would ask me a question, and I wouldn’t know the answer. The whole point of it is, you don’t have to have the answers. Part of the experience of the museum is learning and growing with your visitors. Just apply! Apply everywhere, regardless if you think you fit the job description or not. Kristine Kovacevic is who you want to speak with and reach out to if you have any interest in working as a Heritage Interpreter at the [Pier 21] museum.

Maddie: Annette Carter is a great person to reach out to for those who want to volunteer! There are lots of volunteer opportunities, and always some things students can get involved with… especially during the summer when the cruise ship season starts. I was supposed to volunteer in a different behind-the-scenes roles, and initially thought Visitor Experience would not be for me. I actually really enjoy it, I have learned a lot, and met a lot of wonderful people in the GLAM sector. Be open to different roles, because you can always find connections and learn something new. There’s a lot of different, interesting events going on, and volunteering is a great way to get experience within museums. It is a great way to meet people and get involved in the community.

Lara: Think about what interests you in particular, and what are some of the skills that you do have. I think museums are a really interesting sector, because there are so many directions they can take you. There’s behind-the-scenes work, there’s front-facing public service, there’s a lot of creative [opportunities] as well. There’s a lot of intersections with education. Don’t be shy about using your past work experiences to coincide with current work positions at museums. Even if you don’t hit all of the qualifications, still apply – you are probably bringing something [unique] they will need!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Lisa: Pier 21 is a very different museum from what is considered a traditional museum, but I think that’s what makes it all the more interesting. It’s very specific, but very poignant. If you’re looking for something a little different in the GLAM sector, Pier 21 is definitely that niche spot.

Maddie: For incoming SIM students who are new to Halifax, definitely make a point of getting down to the museum. There’s a lot to learn, and there are rotating exhibits.

Lara: Go when there isn’t a cruise ship, if you can!

For further information about The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, including volunteering and employment opportunities, please visit their website at https://pier21.ca/. 

Charlie Hook (MI ’23) on her upcoming PhD Program at the University of Leicester

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By: Toni Beaton (First-year MI Student)

Charlie Hook is a second-year student in the Master of Information (MI) program. She is excitedly looking forward to some big upcoming changes: beginning her PhD program at the University of Leicester in England! Charlie has been accepted into her PhD program as an international student with all tuition fees waived. I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie to learn more about her journey to the MI program, her specific interests within the information management field, as well as her experience with PhD applications and advice for current students.

Please tell us a bit about yourself. What drew you to the Master of Information (MI) program?

My name is Charlie, I’m 25-years-old, and this is my third degree. I started out at Kings back in 2016 (which feels like a lifetime ago!) and my original goal was actually to become a paramedic. My parents insisted on university, so I chose Kings for the Foundation Year program. I ended up staying there and completed my first degree as a Combined Honors in Early Modern Studies and English, with a minor in History of Science Technology. I had always had a big interest in academia; however, in my final year when I was writing my undergraduate thesis, I was told academia was a dying profession… As an alternative, the museum sector and research was a booming industry. I ended up applying for a program at the University of Leeds [in Leeds, England] called “Curating Science,” which focuses on Museum Science & Technology. I went through the program and had a tremendous time there. In March 2020, I moved back to Halifax and finished my program online. When it came time to find a job, I discovered that the museum industry in Canada is not actually booming… they aren’t quite as well funded as they are in the UK. You need to know more than just how to put an exhibit together! I wasn’t able to find a job [in that sector], and was working as a Research Assistant at Mount Saint Vincent on EDIA in Science Education from Pre-K to Grade 12. I decided to go back to school. I realized that the Master of Information program is actually perfect, because libraries and archives are in the same industry as museums, and I would be able to gain more experience in archives, as well as cataloguing, classification, and collections management.

What are your interests within the information field?

One of my favorite parts of this semester has been cataloguing and classification, which is a bit nerdy to say! I’m very much approaching the MI field from a museum perspective. My goals in life are to work in collection management and heritage, specifically with respect to human remains within museums. An ideal career would be a lot of contract work at first, such as providing advice to museums with collections of human remains on how to deal with those, helping to evaluate heritage sights or collections, putting together exhibits here and there… I would simply adore to work for UNESCO, even for a 6-month contract period. Those are my main interests, which have been mostly about collections management. I’m also very interested in libraries and the way they function. I’ll probably try to find a position in the library to help finance my PhD. Archives has been great so far as well! Collections management is really my one true love, but I’ve been interested in many things as I’ve gone through [the MI program].

Please tell us more about the application process for your PhD program.

In the last semester of my first Masters degree, I was already in the process of applying for a PhD (draft nine of my proposal); that dream was put on hold for a while due to the pandemic and illness. My dream had always been to work in the UK, but at that point I wanted to work for a few years in Halifax first. I had always wanted to get a PhD; I had a very difficult conversation with my parents about re-applying [for a PhD]. I was originally going to apply at the University of Leeds. Over the summer, I found out through Twitter that the University of Leicester was offering fee waivers for students looking to pursue degrees in a variety of different subjects. The fee waivers for the School of Museum Studies included human remains in museums, which is what I wanted to study! I found out about this in early August, and the application was due on September 14th. I had done a lot of research from a Reading Course I completed over the summer, so I did have three months of research behind me which made the process easier. I submitted the application in the knick of time, and was very anxious about it. There are many people who study human remains in the UK specifically, and one of the top scholars, Dr. Gemma Angel, was one of the supervisors available for the fee waiver projects. She is very intimidating to me! She knows quite a lot, and has done extensive work in this area. I heard on December 14th that I got accepted, with coverage for tuition fees for international students. This turned the whole thing from a pretty neat idea to something that is actually very achievable. It was fabulous news, and we celebrated many times throughout Christmas holidays!

What inspired you to pursue a PhD program?

I developed an interest in human remains during my first Masters degree. We learned by doing [in my Museums course] and I worked with four other students in my program to put together an exhibit on Women’s Health in Victorian Leagues. It involved a lot of collection items from the School of History of Science and Technology [at the University of Leeds]. Part of what we wanted to do was have real case studies to back up and put these objects into context. Because Leeds had a medical school in the Victorian period, we had [access to] many journals in the archives. I was hunting for anything to do with women’s health; there was one case in particular which was quite complicated. She came to her doctor with symptoms of pregnancy; the gist of it was that she had an ectopic pregnancy… not sustainable in any way, shape, or form. However, the doctor decided not to tell her or do anything about it, just to see what would happen. We ended up focusing on that case as well as questions of consent. It got me thinking about how these collections exist; in the UK, if galleries contain human remains, there are disclaimer panels outside the exhibit room. I had never seen this before; partly because we don’t really have that many human remains in Canada, or it isn’t really a consideration. I had questions about how we collect them, what are the rules about access… that’s kind of where I got this idea in the first place.

What will your PhD be focusing on?

A lot of the courses I took with Dr. Jamila Ghaddar allowed me to explore this idea further, specifically with Indigenous human remains which represent a significant portion of human remains held in private institutions across Canada. My PhD proposes to look at provenance of human remains collected during the colonial period of expansion in the UK. During this time, a lot of human remains came into collection from various places. The question of returning those remains is quite a big topic in the news at the moment. The guidelines in the UK for the care of human remains suggest that provenance, or how an item came to be in a collection, is not an important factor for whether or not an item should be returned. They argue that the main reason to return something would be based on the meaning of that set of remains to the community of origin, and whether or not you can prove they came from that community in the first place. This brings in different ways of knowing; for Indigenous groups, it depends on things like land and spiritual connections. In the west, we don’t really see that as a “legitimate” way of proving things. I’m essentially trying to prove that if human remains were acquired unethically or were stolen, that might actually diminish or nullify the claim that museums have over these remains and therefore play a bigger role in whether or not they should be returned. If I am successful at proving what I’m trying to prove, this could have a huge impact for Indigenous people trying to get their human remains back from museums across the world.

What advice would you offer current MI students who are hoping to pursue a PhD?

I think the first piece of advice I would give is that PhD’s are goals in and of themselves. Depending on your career goals, they may be a necessary step or requirement. I wouldn’t recommend pursuing a PhD just for the sake of pursuing one, because it’s a huge investment in time, money, effort, energy, and resources. If there’s something you are really passionate about, absolutely go for it! Make sure you pick a subject that you really want to work with and you really enjoy. Whether you are in the thesis-based or course-based Masters, this is a great time to explore what you are interested in. I would highly recommend Reading Courses as well, because they give you the opportunity to really research something in-depth you may not be exposed to in other courses. Find mentors in the program as well; we are very fortunate to have fabulous professors in our program who care about their students’ well-being and achievements. Having someone that you trust and can go to throughout the application process is so important. A lot of our teaching staff already have or are currently pursuing PhDs, so they have a lot of insight about what can make your PhD proposal ‘punch.’

We send congratulations to Charlie on her hard work, accomplishments, and full-ride scholarship to the University of Leicester!

Alison Brown Featured in 2023 Dalhousie ‘Open Think’ Initiative

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Dalhousie’s Open Think Initiative highlights PhD researchers each month from across Dalhousie University. They draw on their studies to publish articles that provide context for the world’s toughest challenges, highlight thorny issues we’ve not even begun to contemplate, and open up fascinating worlds to inspire our spirits.

Alison Brown is an Interdisciplinary PhD student, and Lecturer in SIM.

Click here to learn more about her research. Click here to read her first post. Keep an eye on the website here for future posts.

From the Open Think website:

Alison Brown studies how bringing people together to read aloud and discuss compelling literature can strengthen wellbeing and build social inclusion in our diverse communities.

“For many, reading is deeply personal. We read to make sense of our lives, escape into the unknown, find companionship in the familiar, discover what we and others are capable of. All of this can be amplified when we read aloud together.”
 @QuillAndSpade

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