Janis Rapchuk

Library Information Technology '95, School of Business
Client Accounts Technician, Reg Erhardt Library, SAIT

When she arrived at SAIT, Janis Rapchuk was 47 years old and a single parent to five children. "On my first day, I took the CTrain going north. I got off at the SAIT platform, stopped for a minute and seriously considered walking across the tracks and getting on the train going south."

Choosing not to, she says, was the best decision she ever made. "SAIT saved my life. I had to be able to earn money to support my family, and because I went to SAIT, I had a job before I even graduated."

The first 15 years of Rapchuk's library technician career were at the largest aviation library in Western Canada, and the next 15 have been with SAIT's Reg Erhardt Library. "My job has morphed and so have libraries," she says. "As our physical collections have shrunk, our digital resources have exploded."

Taking care of library loaner equipment — laptops and more — is Rapchuk's responsibility along with organizing events, including the library's participation in student orientation. Getting the word out about the library's services, she says, is more important than ever.

"Often, students come in to work on a research paper and have no idea where to begin. In a world of misinformation and disinformation, we need libraries and the people in them to help us find facts and truth."

Rapchuk is passionate about helping students get the help they need.

"I have five children, five grandchildren, and I've been a student myself, so I appreciate what students go through and the problems and hardships they face," she says. Listening, being flexible and having the courage to say yes when an opportunity presents itself have led Rapchuk throughout her career and presented incredible opportunities to make a difference.

For two decades, she has volunteered with Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, even travelling there to rebuild libraries in schools and resource centres. She calls it the most rewarding experience of her life, and it’s only one example of how Rapchuk gives back. Recently she spent hours organizing and cleaning a retirement residence library. But no matter where she goes, all roads lead back to SAIT.

"I remember standing on the big soccer field in October 2016 and watching the incredible fireworks display for SAIT's 100th anniversary," she says. "I remember thinking back on SAIT's history and how much it has meant to so many people, including me."