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I love being able to share knowledge with the kids and to interact with them to help them find books that they are interested in. It’s the interaction with the kids and being able to help them love learning as much as I do. I also love all the high fives and the hugs that I get every day.

MGEU member Annette Lyss’s path to becoming a Library Technician started with volunteering part-time in the office, which became a part-time paid office position that shifted into a part-time Library Technician job before she moved into the Library Technician position full-time.

During her career journey at Arborgate School, Lyss completed a library training certificate at Red River College, started a rescue for exotic animals that gives students opportunities to care for the animals, and drew on her passion for advocacy to take on various union positions.

Lyss is currently President of SRSD Support - Local 144, MGEU Area 5 Director, a workplace health and safety rep for Arborgate School, and chairs the MGEU Technological Change Committee. Get to know her more in this interview.

How long have you been working at Arborgate School?

I started at the school 26 years ago as a secretary and then 15 years ago I started part-time as a Library Technician and then after the other Library Technician retired, I became the full-time Library Tech.
I took my library training through Red River College when I was 40 years old. And that’s when I finally realized what I wanted to be when I grew up.

What does a Library Technician do?

It’s signing books in and out, ordering and cataloguing the resources in the library, and fixing up books, helping to recommend books to students, and occasionally some student supervision.
I run a Library Helpers Club during the student lunch to help teach some students some more library skills. They put books away and learn how to do some of the processing as well.

What interested you in being a Library Technician?

I’ve always loved to read. I’ve always loved libraries. I’ve always loved learning, and this was a way that I could do all of that and share some of my knowledge with the students. When I started taking my library training course, I was able to volunteer in the library one day a week and realized that I really loved it. Then it became a natural progression into the position.

What do you love about being a Library Technician?

I love being able to share knowledge with the kids and to interact with them to help them find books that they are interested in. It’s the interaction with the kids and being able to help them love learning as much as I do. I also love all the high fives and the hugs that I get every day.

How do you make a difference for students?

I stand at the main door first thing in the morning and greet all the kids coming off the bus. That’s not technically a part of the Library Technician job, but because the library is just around the corner, I figured I could do it. When kids are having difficult times, hearing someone say good morning and having a smile on their face can sometimes make or break that kid’s day.

I like to joke around with the kids a lot; I’m very sarcastic. They love it when I tell them to get lost at the end of their library class or tell them to go away. The younger ones especially think it’s hilarious. So, I do joke around a lot.

Another thing that is very important to me is inclusion, with our library helpers especially. I always make sure that if a student wants to be a library helper, they can be a library helper. If that student is unable to read, then I can find jobs for them to do. It’s important that we are including students based on their ability—it’s more important for the students to feel successful than to feel like they have to do something right.

What does a typical day look like for you?

After greeting the students, I’ll start signing in books and printing out the day’s reports of which students haven’t brought their books back yet. After first recess, we have library classes for the rest of the day. Sometimes we’ll have time for a story or to see one of the animals or they like to play a game called ‘Stump Mrs. Lyss’ where they ask me questions about anything and I will try to give them an answer. The whole point of that is just to show kids how much you can learn just by reading and that it’s a fun thing.

Whenever there’s a free period, we’ll do our cataloguing and other administrative duties. At the end of the day, the Dragon Keepers come in and we take care of the critters for the rest of the day.

Speaking of Dragon Keepers, can you share about the reptile rescue and the opportunities that’s given to students?

Boberta’s Dragons Reptile Rescue has been running for about four years now and realistically, I wouldn’t be doing that if it wasn’t for the fact that I work where I do. Our school division had large ecosystem aquariums and when the grants ran out, we didn’t know what to do with them. Our Principal at that time wanted to do something with reptiles, and one of our parents started looking into getting a leopard gecko breeding group set up using our tank. Before we could get the gecko habitat set up, that parent found out about a little bearded dragon who needed a new home and she asked if it would be okay to keep him in the library. Tragically, she passed away a couple of weeks later and I had to take a crash course on how to care for bearded dragons. I realized that I loved it.

The bearded dragon became the official “Library Dragon” and the leopard gecko habitat was set up a few months later. We eventually started the Dragon Keepers group to teach students how to take care of the animals. When the geckos have babies, I take care of those at home and sell them to raise funds for the school.

During the pandemic, my first bearded dragon ended up passing away and I realized that I really wanted to help other little animals that were in a bad situation. So that’s when I decided to open the rescue. I bring a few of the Rescue’s critters to visit the school. One of the ball pythons we took in we kept as an education ambassador because he was just such a sweet guy when he came in. He is now our official “Book Wyrm”.

You’ve held a few different roles in MGEU over the years. What advice do you have for MGEU members who are interested in taking on a union role?

I would say do it. Right now, it’s a term of two years. Do it, try it for two years – you will probably find that you love it.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

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