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Have you met Trish Chatterley, Collection Strategies Coordinator for U of A Libraries? Spend the next three minutes getting to know her a little better.
Where is your favorite place on campus?
The Jubilee Auditorium. I’ve seen so many amazing performances there over the years and performed there as a dancer when I was younger. I used to have tickets to The Edmonton Symphony there before they moved to the Winspear — I guess that dates me a little bit.
Tablet or paper?
Paper. We’re an e-preferred library so I shouldn’t be saying that, but I do like the physical paper in front of me.
Name one thing you’ve brought to work from home.
A drawer full of different kinds of tea. I love tea — it’s a comforting drink during the work days. I prefer it to coffee because you can have the right flavor for the right mood. Black tea in the morning, green tea midday, herbal later. It’s versatile. I have probably about a dozen kinds in my drawer, but I have my favourites. There’s a flavor of tea called Library Blend, which is a blend of black and green teas, it’s really quite nice.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
Exercise. If I’m not active regularly I get tired, lethargic, and cranky. A group and I see a trainer at lunch once a week in Van Vliet. Zoomba, yoga classes, etc. It’s better than caffeine for waking you up.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Australia. Ever since I was a child I’ve had this desire to go there. Every school project or paper I had in elementary I would do on Australia.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. They were dancers with The Royal Ballet in London who formed and amazing partnership back in the sixties. They both led extraordinary lives. It would be interesting to hear all about their stories, performances, favorite roles — that kind of thing.
If you could switch jobs with someone else on campus for a week, what would you do?
I think it would be neat to be a groundskeeper. Just to get outside, be active, and see all of the outdoor spaces.
What does “uplifting the whole people” mean to you?
I see it as providing an inclusive area where people can develop skills that can take them beyond the University to make a positive difference in the world and reach out to uplift and support people in other areas. The local and the broader picture.
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
Intolerance. It goes without saying that we need more tolerance and deference in this day and age.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
Lifelong — I kind of grew up on campus. When I was a kid my dad ran the labs for biochemistry. He would often bring me and my sister to work with him on the weekends. Enriching. And… some word that reflects the people because they’re such an important part of the experience — Friendships.
About Trish Chatterley
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As Collection Strategies Coordinator, Trish oversees the unit responsible for acquiring databases, journals, books, and other resources for the University of Alberta Libraries. She is working towards her MBA in the part-time program at the U of A. In her free time she enjoys dancing, gardening, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.