Meet an LSP Worker: Iryna
Library Settlement Partnerships (LSP) is a three-way collaboration between Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Toronto Public Library and seven local settlement agencies. Staff from the settlement agencies, also known as LSP Workers, support newcomers as they settle in a new city by offering one-on-one services and group programs in fifteen library branches.
We interviewed Iryna, an LSP Worker, to learn more about her and her work serving newcomers in a library setting. This interview has been edited for length.
Iryna at the LSP desk at a library branch
What is a typical day for you, or is there a typical day?
What I like about LSP is that you never know what is going to happen. Of course, there are things like emails and one-on-one appointments, but you never know when someone appears what kind of question they will bring. Sometimes you help with printing some applications, but other times you have to go deeper and do the research and find the contacts. And when you have the group programs, these are full of interesting things: the group dynamic, the people, you can see the results, you can teach something new, you can give some information. And you have the people just happy to come to the same place and do something together. You can feel this connection.
What drew you to this career?
I’ve been helping people and working in non-governmental organizations for more than ten years. In Ukraine, I used to work with internally-displaced people, mostly youth and children. When I moved to Canada, one year and a half ago, the first place where we lived, was just in front of the library. It was Downsview and the first week, we went to the library to get the library card. I saw they have the Digital Innovation Hub, and they had the settlement worker there as well. I was like, “Okay, this is a nice place and this is so cool.” I started to go to the workshops like 3-D printing or book presentations. And then I started to search on the [TPL] website and I saw there’re so many possibilities! When my cousin sent me the [job] vacancy from a settlement agency and there was settlement service in libraries, I was like, ‘Wow!’ I had no idea what settlement service is before coming to Canada but I understood that was what I was actually doing back in Ukraine when I worked with internally-displaced people. We didn’t know the name — we were just helping people.
What is your favourite part of the job?
I think the group programs, definitely. You have to develop the idea and usually my ideas come from clients. For example, we had a lot of Ukrainians who needed English sessions, and I started the English Reading Club because they needed to read and they needed someone who can explain to them in their language why is it this way or that way. Or information sessions — all my information sessions are based on requests. We also do these sessions about recreation in Toronto because I really like to discover new places, and then I started to share it. Not many people know about all the possibilities which are free or low-cost: how to travel if you don’t have a car, how to see new places, how to get free tickets to the museums. We compiled all these tips and tricks about recreation in Toronto and it’s very popular. After the group programs, I always have new clients coming with returning clients. Because they know that if I don’t know something, I know someone who knows.
What’s also cool about LSP is that we have many, many workers who speak different languages, with different backgrounds. And I think it’s one of the wonderful things. So if you don’t speak this language, we can always refer to someone else from our organization or from another organization. Whoever would like to come and benefit from the library settlement services, we cannot promise we can do everything, but at least we can help to do the next steps.
What is one library resource that you like to share with newcomers?
The most popular is tpl:map, of course. But also people don’t know about e-learning and the courses online. Mango Languages or the IELTS preparation is very useful. They are looking somewhere else, but you have everything online on the TPL website! Just recently, I started to share a lot about additional services like the recording studios. And the Fabrication Studio — that is something that is not obvious and something that people [do] not associate with the library. But if I have to choose one, I think it is tpl:map.
Iryna in the biographies section at a library branch
LSP Workers support newcomers by offering one-on-one help as well as in-person and online programs. Online LSP programs take place via a third-party platform and settlement workers can provide guidance on using these platforms. Contact LSP Workers directly to learn more about the assistance they can provide, both in-person and remotely.
Learn more about other members of the LSP team:
Library Settlement Partnerships (LSP) is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
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