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Library searching for new CEO

Okanagan Regional Library’s Stephanie Hall sailing away
9939406_web1_171222_VMS_Vernon-library-branch

The Okanagan Regional Library is looking to fill to key management positions this year.

ORL chief executive officer Stephanie Hall has announced her resignation effective as of March 2018 to pursue a dream of her to sail around the world on the tallship Barque Picton Castle.

This is not the first time Hall has taken an offshore sailing voyage, having sailed from Seville, Spain, to Victoria aboard the topsail schooner Pacific Swift at the age of 20.

“It was a difficult decision as the team at the ORL has been stellar, and the work our staff do in communities is so important,” said Hall, who has been the library CEO since February 2013. “But I’ve wanted to do a total circumnavigation for a long time, and the best time to pursue your dreams is never ‘in a few years.’”

Hall’s tenure at the ORL has been marked by a series of changes, from a renewed focus on the learning and technological role of the library and restructuring to a series of library building projects and renovations designed to create flexible spaces with more capacity for community involvement.

New branding for Okanagan Regional Library

“Stephanie has been a driving force for streamlining the ORL processes and fostering an atmosphere of creativity and enthusiasm among the staff,” said ORL board chair Catherine Lord, a Vernon city councillor. “She is a professional, dedicated and inspirational leader, and will be sorely missed by the staff and the board. We wish her ‘Bon voyage’ and happiness in this new phase of her life. ”

Also leaving the ORL’s senior management team is Georgia McKay, director of public services for the ORL southern branches, who is retiring.

‘Georgia has been a mainstay of too many major projects to list, but standout projects included the new library in Summerland and the renovations in Peachland, Rutland, and Kelowna’s downtown branch. She will be missed,” Hall said.

McKay will be succeeded by Christine McPhee, formerly with the downtown Kelowna library branch.

The ORL board will conduct a nation-wide job search for a new CEO.



Barry Gerding

About the Author: Barry Gerding

Senior regional reporter for Black Press Media in the Okanagan. I have been a journalist in the B.C. community newspaper field for 37 years...
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