Posted on: April 22, 2026
After 12 years of dedicated service, Katherine Watmough is retiring on April 30th, leaving a significant and lasting impact on the library and the wider campus community.
Throughout her career, Katherine served as liaison librarian to a broad range of academic areas, including Adventure Studies, Agricultural Related Sciences, Animal Health Technology, Chemistry, Culinary Arts, Geology, Physics, Tourism Management, Trades and Technology and Veterinary Technology. She often spoke fondly of her work with Tourism Management and Animal Health Technology, where she built strong, collaborative relationships with faculty and students.
Katherine’s professional practice was grounded in her expertise in access services. This was especially evident during the 2020 library move, which took place during the height of the pandemic. Her steady leadership, operational knowledge and problem-solving skills were instrumental in maintaining access to services and supporting staff through an exceptionally challenging transition.
She was also an active contributor to the library profession beyond the institution. Katherine presented and facilitated sessions at provincial, national and international conferences on topics including staffing and scheduling models, service point training, resource sharing, technical skills development, donation policies, and streamlined equipment loans for IT services to support faculty and students. She contributed to panels and round tables focused on Indigenous Knowledge and collections, moderated discussions on neoliberalism in libraries, and shared her work at events such as the CAUT Librarian and Archivist Conference, Back in Circulation and UBCO’s Learning Conference. She also helped develop SAILS, the Symposium for All Interior Library Staff, a public library collaboration conference serving the Thompson-Nicola region. Earlier in her career, her writing appeared in BCLA Browser and Over the Edge.
Katherine’s work was informed by a strong, interdisciplinary educational background. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with majors in History and English and a minor in First Nations Studies, a Master of Library and Information Studies with a concentration in IT Management, a BC Provincial Instructor’s Diploma and TESL Level II eligibility. This combination of education supported her student-centred, service-oriented approach and her ability to adapt to evolving library environments.
As Katherine enters retirement, she is looking forward to new adventures and well-earned downtime. Plans include motorcycling the Ha Giang Loop in Vietnam and spending more time gardening.
The TRU Library team thanks Katherine for her professionalism, generosity and many years of service, and we wish her every happiness in this next chapter!
