This month, Jana Valasek celebrates 20 years as Executive Director of Pettes Memorial Library, and there’s every reason to believe she will stick around for many more. Says Jana, “I’m where I’ve always wanted to be.”

Born in what is now the Czech Republic, Jana was two in 1968 when Russian tanks rolled in to quell the turbulent period known as the Prague Spring. Jana and her parents managed to get out of Prague and join family in Montreal, but Soviet occupation had left Jana a shy and anxious child. Then she found a library.

Safe, calm spaces, filled with information

“I always really liked libraries; they were a sanctuary. Safe, calm spaces, filled with information about every- thing,” says Jana. “There is nothing I love more than learning about things reading books. Libraries are like fertilizer for the mind. A place that offers one so much enrichment!”

Escape from the city

Jana followed up her history degree from McGill with another in Library Science. Her career was in the city. Her heart, however, was in Sutton Junction, where the Valaseks had spent their weekends since soon after arriving in Canada. Influenced by Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie as a child, Jana craved country life. “All I ever wanted was to be out here, with animals. I do my best thinking mucking out stalls,” she confesses.

So, in the late summer of 2004, fresh off maternity leave, Jana decided to leave her post at the Atwater Library in Westmount, even though it meant giving up life in a library. Days later, the phone rang. It was Peter McKinnon, then president of the Pettes Memorial board of trustees, calling to ask if Jana was interested in a job. Kismet! She started the week after Labour Day and left the city behind.

Happy ever after, looking forward

Jana has seen libraries change through the years. Her safe, calm spaces, she says, have grown in importance. “Libraries are the last remaining commons. We’ve become quite a fragmented world and I think the way libraries open their doors to one and all, are non- judgemental about who you are, what you read… Libraries are very democratic.”

Looking forward, Jana is excited about the expansion plans at Pettes. “Libraries are places that hold culture. They offer the chance to discover, develop, gather and hang out, and so the expansion will bring new and exciting opportunities for our community: new dedicated spaces for meeting, learning, making and relaxing.”

Jana is truly where she wants to be: in this community and, as a his- tory buff, in this particular library. “Pettes Memorial has a compelling history,” she concludes. “Narcissa Farrand Pettes was a confident, generous woman who really cared about her community and did something exceptional for it. I am proud to be part of that story.”