Turning the page: University Librarian Todd Mundle reflects on his 14 years at KPU

Cyclist, T-shirt enthusiast, marathon runner, and university librarian — Todd Mundle has done it all.

Mundle has been Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s university librarian for more than 14 years. He’s retiring on July 10 to embark on a new journey.

After elementary school in Saskatchewan and high school in Calgary, he eventually landed in Vancouver. Within the library world, Mundle has been part of many organizations, including president of the British Columbia Library Association (BCLA).

The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.

What was your journey before KPU?

I intended to be a high school social studies teacher because I’ve always wanted to work with youth.

After completing my undergrad at the University of British Columbia (UBC), I went through my teacher training. It was the early ‘80s and there weren’t many jobs available — unless you wanted to go nowhere, which I wasn’t really interested in.

I started at UBC’s Education Library. That led to my masters degree also at UBC, and then I moved back to Saskatchewan to work at the University of Regina.

In 1995, I moved back to B.C. and worked at Simon Fraser University (SFU) for almost 17 years.

Why KPU?

I ended up number two in charge at SFU, and I was looking to do something beyond that.

This role opened up at KPU and it was exciting. KPU was only four years into being a university, and it just felt right to see what that experience was like.

None of the administrative stuff was really part of the plan, but it just seemed like the natural step.

What does a university librarian do?

I’m responsible for the overall administration of the library, and that’s a variety of things.

Mainly, it’s making sure we have what we need for the libraries to stay open.

Also, proper employment, that faculties have what they need, and providing students with services they want, rather than doing it of our own will. There’s human resources and budget work that happens too.

What are you most proud of during your time at KPU?

When I started, we were in the early stages of the Open Publishing Suite, which provides the KPU community with freely-available pieces. It won the BCLA’s Outstanding Contribution Award in 2021.

In the last five years, we’ve also looked at a variety of Indigenous initiatives. One is the χʷəχʷéy̓əm oral storytelling collection, an Indigenous-focused library space and resource collection.

The collection provides visibility. It’s also organized through a localized version of the Brian Deer classification, so what we use at KPU would be different then even as close as UBC.

Behind the scenes with the library catalog, we’ve been working on identifying Indigenous authors and updating language around subject headings. We still primarily operate within a colonial structure, so some language is pretty offensive. Changing it makes it more reflective of Indigenous peoples.

The last initiative was keeping the library open during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were one of about six post-secondary libraries across the country that stayed open throughout the entire pandemic.

There were lots of phone interactions and plexiglass at the counters — it was an interesting experience. It was really important for us to provide spaces for students to go during a time where they may not have been able to leave their homes or go anywhere else.

How did you get into cycling and running?

I cycle about 40 kilometres every day. I live in Kitsilano, so I cycle to the SkyTrain and then to and from KPU.

I’m also a runner, but I don’t run as much as I used to.

In running you can do streaks, so some people run a mile a day. I figured if I’m going to get sweaty, I’m going to run more than a mile, so in 2016 I started running five kilometres a day.

The plan was to do it for a year, but I couldn’t stop, so I kept running and did it for a year-and-a-half. Then, I got injured.

I needed to find something else, so my wife suggested cycling. She bought me a bike and I just started cycling to work.

I’ve run a few marathons in Vancouver, Victoria, and a few cities across the U.S. My largest, and last marathon, was the 2022 New York City Marathon, which had more than 50,000 people.

My fastest marathon time is three hours, 39 minutes, and change — so it’s fast, but it’s not an Uber.

Why do you wear KPU T-shirts?

I rotate wearing different KPU T-shirts every day. I’ve got a drawer in my office, and I just started collecting them through swag and some from the bookstore.

Someone offered to turn my collection into a quilt. I have about 18, so about 10 will go on the quilt. My favourite T-shirt is from when the brewery opened 10 years ago. It’s starting to show its age, so it’s going on the quilt.

What led to retirement?

I turned 65 at the end of May, but I’d planned to retire a couple of years ago.

I think people should move on — there’s some university librarians across the country who are in their 70s. They’re not dead wood, but it’s time. There’s lots of youngsters coming up to take these spots.

I’ll be volunteering with the political party Vision Vancouver. Also with HUB Cycling, Vision Zero Vancouver, and Movement. They’re all about transit, better biking infrastructure, and getting people out of their cars into reliable and useful environments.

It’s been a really good time here. I think I’ve done everything that I wanted to do. There’s always lots more to be done, but I think it’s time for change.