Library Board meetings are scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month at the library starting at 6:30 p.m. If you are interested in attending a board meeting, call the library or contact Wendy at wendyw@smitherspl.ca to confirm the date.
Minutes and Reports
Access library board meeting minutes: Meeting Minutes & Library Reports
Board Members
Christine Tessier – Chair
Christine is an avid reader with a wide variety of interests. She ran the Telkwa Reading Centre for almost twenty-five years until she moved into Smithers. Currently, she is the librarian at St. Joseph’s School. Libraries play a huge part in her life and that of her adult children. Peyton, her daughter, is now working in the Lethbridge Public Library system. All this experience has given Christine the opportunity to recognize how important it is for reading, information and technology to be accessible to every community member.
Charmaine O’Coffey – Treasurer
Charmaine was born and raised in Smithers. She left home for post-secondary education in Edmonton, and a few years later she left Canada to wander around Asia for nearly a year. She has been married for almost 20 years and has 4 amazing daughters, her very own son-in-law, an “extra kid” who is right at home with them, and an exchange student from China–all of them girls! Charmaine loves to hike in the mountains, has an insatiable wanderlust, and always has a book on the go. Her parents helped her fall in love with books very early on, and her first experience with a library was right here in Smithers with Pat Moss.
Jim Pojar – Policy Committee
Jim has always been a big fan of libraries as sources of information, education, enjoyment, inspiration, and as egalitarian social and cultural community assets. The Library is a linchpin of Smithers and is now on the threshold of an even greater role in the life of the town. Jim is a mostly retired researcher, forest ecologist, and author (of plant guides). He has experience serving on several boards over the years, including the School Board in the 1990s. In retirement, he has sufficient time and energy to devote to Library governance.
Sandy MacDonell – NWLF Representative / New Building Fundraising Committee
Sandy has enjoyed reading since getting lost in Pinocchio in elementary school. This continued in middle school with long hours spent in the stacks in a small town library that just happened to be square in the middle of the walk home from school. This was reading for the sheer enjoyment of it, but also a bit of escapism into the books and out of a few household chores that awaited. Sandy believes that reading opens up the world for us, allows us to consider, contrast, compare and develop a fully rounded understanding of whatever interests us. He thinks that libraries play an important role in our personal development, the development of our communities, and of our society and would like to be a part of this.
Calvin Elliott – Town Council Liaison
Calvin is a lifelong learner and believes education is key to a bright future for our children. He believes access to the written word is a huge part of that. Having raised 3 children with his wife Michelle, he understands the importance of libraries in learning development and that access to libraries fosters the love reading. Calvin enjoys reading historical fiction and pretty much anything to do with sports. He is excited to be serving the community as part of the Library Board of Directors.
Shaunna Moore – Director at Large
Shaunna is an archivist with a deep love for books and libraries. Since moving to Smithers in 2019, she has become a consultant, working with arts and culture organizations to manage their libraries, archives, artworks, and other collections. She is especially interested in the intersections of cultural collections and social justice, and in empowering small organizations and communities to preserve their histories in meaningful ways.
Amy Burgess – Director at Large
Melissa Kernel – Director at Large