Meredith Kerr
Journal Staff
The new manager for the Town of St. Paul Municipal Library didn’t know what to expect from St. Paul before she moved here for the job this summer.
Eunhye Cho (pronounced UNE-hey) grew up in the metropolis of Seoul, South Korea (2016 population 9.8 million) before moving the Canada with her parents as a teenager. They lived in the village of Hughenden (2016 population 243), south of Wainwright, during her high school years. Cho went to university in Edmonton to become a teacher; then completed a Masters of Library Sciences online and managed the library in Coronation (2016 population 940) for two years before coming to St. Paul.
“In the smaller community, I got to know each and every patron, and whenever I bought a book I knew exactly which patron was going to take that book out. It’s a little different to be away from the front end and doing things on a larger scale than I’ve done before,” said Cho.
Since starting at the St. Paul library in July, Cho has been updating and refreshing the collection with new releases and new copies of books too worn to keep in circulation. To keep people up to date on the incoming books, she’s started a binder near the circulation desk that patrons can use to see what’s coming, and to place the first hold.
“There are people who are actively using it, and then there’s people who are looking and saying I know it’s coming so I’ll come back in a month and see if it’s on the shelf,” said Cho.
She said one of the things she enjoys about the job is getting to meet people, although she noted it’s been a slow go at times.
“Everyone’s reading materials reveal who they are to a degree. It’s just fun. I get to discover new authors,” said Cho, whose favourite author is Neil Gaiman. “I liked Terry Pratchett too but he passed away.”
Cho says one of the draws of St. Paul was how much closer to Edmonton it is than Coronation was.
“They (Cho’s parents) retired to Edmonton. I was just there helping with unpacking a couple weeks ago and I’ll be going back to set up their equipment,” said Cho, who said she makes the trip to the city once every week or two.
And since Cho has been able to learn a bit about the library patrons in St. Paul, here's a bit more about her. Her favourite food? Anything with sugar or chocolate.
“I’m actually more excited for Nov. 1 than the Halloween day because that’s when all the candies go on sale," she said.
Her favourite animal? “Dog, because otherwise my family pet will feel betrayed. He’s a miniature collie/Lhasa Apso. It’s a very furry dog.”
