Wendy Wright, Library Director
Wendy serves as Director of the Smithers Public Library. She has always loved connecting people with stories, ideas, and information in various formats and enjoys creating opportunities for community members to learn from each other. Wendy worked in bookstores and the publishing industry for nearly two decades before side-stepping into the world of libraries. She holds a Community Library Training certificate and a Library Technician diploma from Langara College.
Melissa Sawatsky, Public Relations / Program & Event Coordinator
Melissa works behind the scenes crafting library communications and promotions, organizing programs and events, and creating library displays. Melissa writes poetry and creative non-fiction and is passionate about creating safe spaces where everyone in the community can connect, learn, and collaborate. She’s also a lifelong cinephile, adores musical theatre, and loves to dance. Melissa holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from UBC.
Erin Hart, Technical Services
Erin H. joined the library team in 2016. Her loves include rare book libraries, gardening, historical fiction, cookbooks, and the ocean. Her library work includes repair, processing, interlibrary loans and book club sets. Among the numerous reasons why Erin H. loves her work is that she gets to care for and collaboratively steward a collection built by many hands and hearts over decades. She especially enjoys growing our Library of Things and (of course!) conversations about books.
Sandra Schuffert, Children’s & Youth Services
Sandra enjoys her work (with her partner, Pete the Puppet) as the Children’s and Youth Coordinator at the Smithers Public Library. When they are not singing, dancing or sharing stories with you, they might come up with a new NID idea, or organize a class visit. Besides taking courses in Children’s and Young Adult Services, Sandra has also taken numerous courses to teach children and young adults with diverse abilities. Sandra has also been a homeschooling mom, is a Special Olympics coach, and lives with her family on a hobby farm.
Erin Cockriell, Circulation Coordinator
Erin C. began working in libraries at the tender age of 8. As an adult she spent some wonderful years at the Prince George Public Library and currently loves her work at the Smithers Public Library. When her nose is not in a book she can be found adventuring with her family, cooking, gardening, and playing the ukulele.
Tara Williston, Library Assistant
Tara made the move from Ontario to B.C. in 2006 to attend the MLIS program at UBC, where she specialized in Children’s & Youth Services. She worked in many Lower Mainland public libraries in both adult reference and children’s librarian positions. In 2012, she and her partner moved to the Northwest where she ran the Hazelton District Public Library for a few years. Since moving to Smithers in 2023, Tara has added “toy librarian” to her library experience list, and is now very happy to also have one foot back in public libraries here at SPL. When Tara is not working at one of her libraries, she can often be found in the kitchen, spending time with her family, out for a walk, or snuggled into the couch with a knitting project, or—of course—a book.
Tif Bradford-McNaughton, Library Assistant
Tif moved to Smithers with her partner in July 2024, and has worked with various non profits, including libraries, for about 20 years. She enjoyed exploring the cozy corners of the library in Quesnel as a child, and to this day loves how libraries can be a welcoming and enriching part of any community. She also works at the Courthouse Library, which is open to the public on Thursdays, and as a diaconal minister. Tif spends her free time felting, sewing, knitting, hiking, kayaking, and skiing. She has a BA in Global Development Studies from the Augustana Faculty of the University of Alberta.
Elliott Haynes, Tech Support/Tutor
Elliott serves as our Tech Support at the library. Elliott is from Australia and he grew up living on a sailboat and sailing around the world for 12 years! He moved to Canada in 2022. Elliott has a degree in IT Networking from TAFE in Brisbane, Australia. When Elliott is not working, he likes to hang out with his dog Ruby and his wife Delaney. He also loves to ski, hike, and be outdoors.
Pages
Koen Davidson-Trowbridge, Library Page
Soleil Brookes, Library Page
On-Call Staff
Michael Hurwitz, Library Assistant (on-call)
Vicki Alton, Library Assistant (on-call)
Davis McDiarmid, Library Page (on-call)
Shelby Dewar, Library Page (on-call)