50 Remarkable Alumni: librarian Rob O’Brennan thrived after college reboot

When Rob O’Brennan started at the Fraser Valley Regional Library, he wouldn’t have guessed he would become its CEO.

But that’s how it turned out, and Fraser Valley College helped him get there.

Rob got off to a bit of a rocky start in post-secondary education with what he calls a “less-than-serious attempt” to study at UBC. After failing his courses there, he decided to try again at what was then Fraser Valley College (FVC).

This time, Rob thrived.

“FVC was a great experience for me. The teaching was very good. I learned a lot from instructors like Dave Wyatt for anthropology, Kevin Busswood for sociology, and Don Tunstall for geography.” He remembers holding pub nights, dances, and bridge games at the Yale Road campus in Chilliwack, with instructors often joining in.

After finding his academic groove, Rob returned to UBC. He finished a BA in anthropology and a master’s in library science.

After a role in the library in Prince George, Rob returned south, joining the professional staff of the Fraser Valley Regional Library. “People from Vancouver thought Clearbrook was too far away, so I had an advantage in that I was happy to relocate to the Fraser Valley.”

At first, Rob worked as a frontline librarian; in those early days, he wasn’t thinking about joining the leadership team. But he worked his way up and transitioned into administration; once he did, he started to think about taking on the CEO role. He was mentored by the former CEO who had been brought back to help modernize the library system. He and another library administrator then shared the position for an interim period before he became the sole lead administrator.

Rob has now been retired for more than a decade and has spent his time indulging his passion for musical performance and restoring old houses. He also works for Elections Canada during federal elections.

Today, as he reflects on the decades he’s spent living in the Fraser Valley, Rob says he values the impact of a local university.

“It might take a hundred years to really see the value of a university,” he notes. “It’s great that UFV is here, and the local population can take advantage of it to earn a credential or get a good start that can take them to the next level.”

He notes that, while UFV helped him personally, it has also aided his family in their pursuit of post-secondary education.

“It had a huge impact on my family, both in its early years and later on as our children attended. It helped set me and my first wife on the path to earning our master’s degrees in library science. My two sons earned teaching and aircraft technician credentials there. My second wife got her library tech diploma there. Some of our other children started their bachelor’s degrees there.

“I wonder how different all of our lives would have been if UFV hadn’t been there for us. UFV has been very good to our family.”

More than 50,000 people have graduated from UFV since 1974. Over the next year, we’ll be introducing you to 50 remarkable alumni.

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