Public Service Clerk/Associate Supervisor/Programming Assistant
Oxford County Library
Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada
My name is Leslie Van Santen and I have been with the Oxford County library system for nine and a half years.
I began working at Oxford County Library in the Ingersoll branch as an adult Page, then moved into a Public Service Clerk position after about a year. Throughout my time at OCL I have had the opportunity to partake in various roles within the branch. From running the home delivery program to bringing back the cookbook club, programming at the library has been a passion of mine for sometime now. In 2019 my colleague Shannon and I put our heads together and came up with Crafty Night Out, an adult craft program. It was a huge success and got the wheels spinning looking at what else we could do together. When the pandemic hit in 2020 the need for virtual programming arose so Shannon and I took it on full force with the development of online crafts and stories as well as the 2020 summer reading club videos. That in turn won us the innovation award through the Oxford County ACE awards that we are both incredibly proud of. Prior to working for Oxford County Library, I worked in automotive for 10+ years before making a career change. Even without a background in the library field, I have been able to use my creative thinking, drive and enthusiasm to succeed in my position at OCL and in these challenging times. I look forward to expanding in the programming world along side Shannon in 2022 and beyond!
Outside of the library I'm a mom of 2 beautiful girls Alyssa and Aliyah and have been married to my husband for 18 years. I was born and raised in Ingersoll and plan on retiring there as well.
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