"I always loved books: my mom thought I would be a children’s librarian… Medical librarianship…opened my eyes. I realized I could improve people’s health by providing the right research to their medical teams."
"I always loved books: my mom thought I would be a children’s librarian. I went to UBC for library sciences and discovered medical librarianship. It opened my eyes. I realized I could improve people’s health by providing the right research to their medical teams.
I started working in the staff and patient medical library at Riverview Hospital in 2005. I got to know patients with mental health issues and learned about overcoming stigma. I’ve taught workshops all over B.C. to librarians on helping clients with mental health diagnoses.
I joined Fraser Health in 2009 and was recently promoted to manager. We’ve got one of the largest hospital medical library systems – six sites, seven staff – and we handle 800 research requests a year: everything from papers on rare diseases to evidence for new approaches. It’s a challenge to manage the collection: there are no fines – but we try not to advertise that!
I have six-year-old twin daughters; we live in Surrey. I practice yoga daily and I’m vegan – I’m passionate about animal rights. I listen to audiobooks in the car; I love fantasy and Russian literature. My girls are into the book Charlotte’s Web – our tarantula’s named Charlotte. My late husband bought her before he died of an overdose a few years ago. There’s still so much stigma around that too."
- Brooke Ballantyne Scott, Manager, Library Services, Department of Evaluation and Research Services, Royal Columbian Hospital
Read more Humans of Fraser Health stories.