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New head librarian for downtown Kelowna library branch

Chris Stephenson makes move to Okanagan from Ontario
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Chris Stephenson. Photo: Contributed

The new downtown Kelowna branch head librarian is no stranger to the Okanagan.

On the way to becoming head librarian of the Bancroft Public Library in Ontario, Chris Stephenson was driving through Kelowna and said to himself, “One day I’d like to work for the Okanagan Regional Library system.”

And two years later, that thought has evolved into reality for Stephenson.

“The library staff here are super enthusiastic, there’s a strong vision for the future already coming into reality, and I’m actively in the process of meeting my new community due to the substantial number of events hosted here,” he said.

A lifelong passionate library advocate, Stephenson’s diverse work background has seen him work in three different Okanagan industries.

He tree-planted around the Vernon area in the 1990s, and worked as a Vancouver film industry worker on the set of Fido, a movie shot in Kelowna in 2005.

That same year, Stephenson began running tours and driving for a B.C.-based business called Moose Network which regularly stopped in Kelowna each trip. “It was one of the best jobs ever,” he recalled. “I got to showcase my country and this region for international visitors, and I knew I would one day return because of this experience.”

Stephenson said he looks forward to regularly attending events inside and outside the library, expressing a desire to both continue fostering the Okanagan Regional Library outreach services and to personally promote the library to everyone he meets in the community.

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