InsightOut: A New Hire’s Look at a Very Special Group
Mike Jurgaitis, a library technician for the James M. Kelly Library, enjoys science fiction, playing guitar and listening to the Jays on the radio. The son of Lithuanians who came to Canada to avoid Soviet occupation, Mike loves the Toronto Blue Jays and is hoping to do his first Vipassana meditation course in Barrie this year.
There have been a lot of surprises in my first months as a library tech with the John M. Kelly Library at St. Mike’s. Maybe the most inspiring jolt has been learning about an unsung group of superheroes known as “the Friends” or FOTKL.
If you haven’t heard of this merry band, their full name is the Friends of the Kelly Library. They’re volunteers, mostly alumni, united by a love for the Kelly Library. The role they play is a key one: raising funds for the library by finding donated books and then selling them in book sales, which they meticulously organize, year after year. Thanks to their hard work, the Kelly has been able to afford a lot of extra perks. New whiteboards for student collaboration; repainted study rooms with upgraded new monitors; soft and comfy seating and brand-new furnishings: these are just some of the things made possible by the Friends of the Kelly Library.
It’s been an experience watching the Friends in action. This summer, on one of the hottest days of the year, I witnessed the team swarm the library loading dock. They formed a human chain, extracting more than 100 heavy boxes of donated books from out of two large moving vans. Weeks later, an even larger donation of books came in – more than 300 boxes – but there was a problem: the loading bay was by now filled to the rafters with books from the previous sweat-fest. Their solution: to organize another human chain, this one going from the loading bay to the library elevators. It took most of the morning. But, by the end, after almost breaking the elevator, we had got it done, filling up the entire basement, including the old, abandoned washrooms down there, with boxes and boxes of books.
When it comes to the donations they collect, there are always surprises. Once, tucked away in some old boxes, the team discovered dozens of plastic rosaries and religious decorations, including a snow globe of Saint Teresa. (We ended up giving most of it away to the students, who appreciated the freebies). As for the actual books they get, expect anything. I still remember a donation of tiny “micro-Bibles,” each one not much bigger than a thumbtack.
My contract with the library is winding down. But I’ll always feel lucky to have met so many wonderful, spirited people. I learned a lot from everyone at the Kelly – including how a small group of well-organized and dedicated people like the Friends can make a huge difference. They’re clearly one of the secret engines that help keep this world-class library afloat.
If you’d like to meet some of these Super Friends yourself, they’re holding a huge book sale from September 24 to 27th at the Kelly Library. Books will be priced as low as $2 per book, or 20 dollars for an entire box. You can find more details at https://uoft.me/SMCbooksale. Hope to see you there!
Read other InsightOut posts.