After close to seven years, West Vancouver Memorial Library’s Director, Stephanie Hall, is leaving to accept a new role as Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Victoria Public Library.
“I definitely have mixed emotions,” said Hall. “This community, with its love of learning, and our phenomenal staff, Board, and volunteers have been a joy to work with.”
Hall joined the Library in November 2019, in time to support the Library through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That was an incredibly tough time for everyone, but I’m so proud of the work our Library did to support the community, despite our own personal fears and challenges,” said Hall. “We were one of the first libraries in Canada to move our programs online, which our amazing Head of Youth, Shannon Ozirny, accomplished within a week of our closure. Other libraries reached out to our staff to learn from what we were doing.”
Hall also helped form a partnership with TELUS, leading to a donation of 400 devices for people who needed to access services online. North Shore libraries and service agencies worked together to get these devices to those who needed them most.
“Every step of the way, we had the community in mind, and that motivated us to a faster pandemic recovery,” Hall said. “During a time of frozen budgets, this was also made possible by our amazing Library Foundation, which gave us access to funding that enabled us to move quickly on things like Zoom licences and safety equipment.”
The Library’s speedy reopening also allowed it to serve as the community’s cooling centre during the 2021 heat dome.
“I did not truly understand the gravity of extreme heat at that time, but was happy to agree to the Library being the cooling centre,” said Hall. “As luck would have it, three apartment towers lost power during the event and the ability to run air conditioning, so the Library’s role became very important during that crisis.”
During Hall’s tenure as Director, the Library earned recognition at local, provincial, national, and international levels for its services and programs, including youth and seniors’ initiatives, Take Home Tech, and climate action. Library Board members and volunteers were also honored for their outstanding work.
“Stephanie has led the Library with vision, courage, and an unwavering commitment to community,” said Library Board Chair Andy Krawczyk. “Her leadership enabled the staff to respond quickly and effectively during times of extraordinary change, while continuing to strengthen the Library’s role as a welcoming, innovative, and essential community institution. On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Stephanie for her remarkable service to West Vancouver and wish her every success.”
Looking to the future, Hall said the Library’s work will continue to evolve to meet the community’s changing needs.
“The three big ones at the forefront right now are the widespread loneliness and need for social connection, more kids and families using the Library, and of course, AI,” she said.
“Our Technology team, led by Head of Technology Patricia Lesku, quickly developed a basic set of AI classes for the public. This curriculum has already been shared with many other libraries. But there’s really no time to lose. This is a major change in our world. Public libraries are included in Canada’s AI strategy, but exactly what that will mean is still being defined. That will be an exciting new chapter for the next Director to help shape.”
Hall’s last workday at West Vancouver Memorial Library will be September 17.
The Board of Trustees has established a search committee and will begin recruitment for a new CEO in the coming weeks.