Local Librarian honoured

The Association of BC Public Library Directors (ABCPLD) recently recognized local librarian Paula Coutts with the Award For Innovation & Impact.

This award recognizes a member who has introduced innovative projects or operational approaches that are having a positive impact in response to new or emerging challenges in their community.

Heather Evans-Cullen, ABCPLD Chair says Paula is known for her positive leadership, community care and dedication. “She has consistently championed the role of small rural libraries as essential social infrastructure —welcoming places where people can access information, technology, literacy support, and human connection.”

After the shooting in Tumbler Ridge, says Evans-Cullen, “Paula demonstrated extraordinary compassion and leadership by ensuring the library remained open as a safe and welcoming space for the community. At a time when many public facilities closed, the library became a place of comfort, connection, and stability for residents coping with grief and trauma.”

Evans-Cullen says Coutts’ response reflected a deep understanding of the essential role libraries play during times of crisis, “not only as places of information, but as places of community care, resilience, and human connection. Her career reflects an unwavering commitment to strengthening communities through libraries. It is a privilege to recognize Paula Coutts with this Award for Innovation and Impact.”

Coutts says her initial response was to close the library. “Tuesday night we were still not sure what was going on,” she says. “And so initially I did think we would close. But then I remembered the people that we have who come in every day, who are on their own, and who would have heard bits and pieces, but maybe not the whole story. They’d want people to talk with. I thought of them. Next, it turns out, we were here for the kids. The children who had been there in the school on Tuesday came to the library on Wednesday.

“We were right to make the decision to open. And then we just stayed open. We were open on Sunday, we were open Family Day. We were just here and available for people. It would have been easier to close, I think, and given my staff—who were here when the kids were evacuated through the community centre—the time off, but we had to be here as a community. That’s what we do.”

Coutts says that during Covid, the library tried to stay open as much as possible, despite feeling like they weren’t acknowledged by the community as a resource. “We just did our thing. That’s what we do. We just keep going; that’s how we handle things. People ask me how I knew what to tell my staff to say. And you know what? I didn’t have to tell them anything. They’re great. They knew exactly what to do. While it’s in my name, this award is for the staff, really. Because they are knowledgeable. They are sensitive to the environment and to the people who are coming in. And they just seem to know what to say, what not to say, and when to stop kids who were trying to reenact things with Lego. We had to put the Lego away for a little while. “Staff just seemed to know instinctively what to do and what not to do.”

Coutts says one of the most important items during the time was the Loop.

“The loop is a sound dampening booth that we purchased with an enhancement grant provided over the past three years by the province of BC. It arrived just before Christmas, and we thought we’d have lots of uses for it: confidential medical appointments on Zoom, a place to quiet a panicking neurodivergent child. Podcasts, interviews, all kinds of things. When they saw the counselors here down at the end of the building. The staff went down and brought them back to show them what we had, knowing how little truly private space there is available. Right away caught on to how important it was that we had this space available that they could use for councilling or to debrief. A lot of counselors who were here had left their own practices and had to still be in touch with home and it gave them a confidential place where they could make phone calls and connect with their offices. It worked out well.

“We’ve since gotten another grant from another foundation to get a second Loop. It’s not taxpayers’ money. This money is from a philanthropic organization who are going to buy us a second loop, which is coming any day now. They are also buying us a Nintendo Switch so that we can do team building with the teens in the evenings. It’s been invaluable, and the demand for it is still very high.

“We were also given five laptops from a businessman who had an intern who was murdered in a shooting. As soon as he heard about this, he contacted the United Way to let them know that he would donate laptops to us, which are able to be used by library patrons.”

While keeping the library open yielded many good outcomes for the town, it was also hard on staff. “Two of my employees were here when the kids were evacuated. I was off that day. But two of them were here and saw more than they should have seen and dealt with more than they should have dealt with. It hit them very hard. And we’re keeping an eye on staff because it’s hit all of us at different times and in different ways.”

And while Coutts has worked hard to be strong since the crisis, she says the award got to her. “They said nice things to me and that’s when I teared up. I couldn’t say my little thirty second speech. I had to leave the room because I teared up. It’s when people say nice things or give a donation to the library or are kind and that’s when I break down. Otherwise, I’m a rock.

Recently, Coutts took the staff to Edmonton for a getaway (on a Sunday/Monday so the library didn’t have to close) to a production of Let it Be, a dinner theatre production featuring the music of the Beatles.

Coutts says people forget that the library is far more than a place for books. “The reason I’m most pleased receiving this award is because it was my colleagues who recognized what we did as a library. After the shooting, I did a couple of interviews saying why we were staying open. And I heard back from some of my collegues at the time, because I was highlighting what libraries do. We don’t just check books in and out. We are here for the community.

“Libraries are a social agency, and I heard from a lot of people, including the librarian at Columbine.”