PAPL Director takes a bow

Jason Kerr/Daily Herald. Outgoing Prince Albert Public Library director Alex Juorio (left) and incoming director Greg Elliott (right) pose for a photo on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Uko Akpanuko, Daily Herald

The Prince Albert Public Library (PAPL) has announced that its Director, Alex Juorio, will be retiring after Friday after more than 20 years with the library.

He will be replaced by Greg Elliott who is currently the library’s deputy director. Juorio said it’s an “odd sensation” to think he won’t be working at the library anymore, but he’s confident it’s in good hands.

“Honestly, I feel like the library is in a good place,” Juorio said. “I have done a lot. We have left as a regional library, from Wapiti Regional Library, (and) become our own municipal library like Saskatoon and Regina are governed, and that positions us for a good future.”

One of those things Juorio would like to see in the future is extra library branches. He said Prince Albert’s population is such that the City should be looking at adding another building as a second service point.

Juorio worked seven years as deputy director with the PAPL before leaving briefly. He returned a few years later to become the library’s director, a position he held for 14 years.

“I always joke that just about everything that could happen has happened here while I’ve been here, including a bomb threat. That was a big adventure,” Juorio said. “You tend to think about things that go wrong and dwell on those, but once in a while someone will come and just be really grateful the library service exists … and that means a lot. Library work is one of those fields where you can really make a difference to people.”

While talking about what he intends to do after retirement, the outgoing director said he’s not sure what the future will bring, but whatever it is, it will be a change.

“There is no plan to go work in a different library,” he said. “First of all I am going to have a rest and focus on being more active. The future may bring more things like that, but I’m not going to immediately swan off into a different thing. That’s not my plan.”

Greg Elliott will be taking over as the new Director of the Prince Albert Public Library after working as deputy director for 11 years. He said the PAPL has had capable management teams, and he plans to continue that in his new role.

“We’ve been incredibly fortunate here with our personnel and management team,” Elliott said. “It (working at the PAPL) always brings interesting challenges and there’s always room for growth as well.”

In the future, Elliott said he hopes to see the library grow a second branch. Improving access to services for Indigenous residents will also be a priority, he added.

“One of the major challenges or goals would be to just improve the footprint of the library within the community,” he said. “We have a great collection. We have fantastic programs, and we keep advertising.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to go as broadly within the community as it really ought.

“We will be endeavouring to improve our footprint in the community and to develop further programs that will include more and more people.”

–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald

-Advertisement-