Celebrating Staff: A Q & A with Sandy Campbell

A Q &A with Sandy Campbell

Sandy Campbell, a long-serving member of the University of Alberta Library team, retired from the university last week. Campbell’s skills and knowledge were an invaluable resource to faculty and students at the U of A and, recently, to reconciliation efforts. Campbell has worked on an international level on work to decolonize libraries, a process that involves working with Indigenous communities to replace words that are inappropriate, offensive or wrong in library material descriptions with culturally appropriate terms.

Although we wish Campbell the very best in her retirement, she will be missed. During her last week with the libraries, she shared her thoughts on what made her work at the U of A special, the library team she worked with and three wise words everyone should know.

How long have you been with the U of A libraries?

I am in my 41st year as a librarian at the University of Alberta. I’ve worked in the Science Library, Humanities and Social Sciences and in the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library.

What are some highlights of your time here at the U of A?

It is hard to select highlights from 40 years. I was a science librarian, map librarian and a polar librarian for a while, and spent my last years in health sciences. All public services work in libraries is exciting because you daily come into contact with people who are working at the cutting edge of their field. You hear about the ideas and questions long before researchers come up with their answers. Of course, seeing both of my sons and daughter-in-law graduate from U of A were highlights.

I understand you have been involved in initiatives to decolonize library sciences. How did you get involved in this?

I have been working recently, with many other librarians and archivists, on an international effort to decolonize Arctic metadata (subject headings and materials descriptions). I came to this work through my work with the Polar Libraries Colloquy, which is an international organization of information professionals who work with polar information. I have had the privilege of working with some of the best researchers in this field, both at the U of A and internationally.

What will you miss?

I will very much miss working with the faculty, who are a huge source of inspiration, and the students whose enthusiasm always rubs off. I will also miss working with my colleagues in the Scott Library, who are all amazing people. The Scott Library team is, within health sciences library circles, recognized nationally and internationally for their skill, knowledge and excellence. It is a privilege to work in that kind of environment.

Are there words of wisdom you would like to pass on to faculty, students or staff?

The best wise words I can pass on are “Ask a librarian.”