Eli Holliday

About the Toronto International Film Festival Film Reference Library:

The Film Reference Library is dedicated to preserving Canadian cinema heritage and promoting cinema scholarship by collecting, preserving, and providing access to a comprehensive, non-circulating collection of reference resources, as well as film and archival materials — including the corporate archive for the Toronto International Film Festival.

About My Work:

As Librarian, I am the first stop for all reference queries for our patron base of local and global film scholars, post-secondary students, TIFF employees, and film enthusiasts. My role on this small team encompasses access to and maintenance of our multi-media Reference Collection, including cataloguing and collection maintenance, policy creation, collection development, donation processing, exhibition design, and in-depth reference assistance. Additionally, I am responsible for curating and executing exhibits and displays, organizing and hosting tours of our spaces and collections, and managing a team of volunteers, interns, co-ops, and junior Library staff.

About Another Story Bookshop:

Located in Roncesvalles Village in the west end of Toronto, Another Story Bookshop sells a broad range of literature for children, young adults, and adults with a focus on themes of social justice, equity, and diversity. We are a proudly independent bookstore with over twenty years of history and a commitment to providing quality customer service.

About My Work:

As a retail associate at Another Story Bookshop, I provide comprehensive customer service to our clientele of long-term customers and first-time shoppers. In addition to reader’s advisory, I specialize in stock receiving and processing, and facilitating in-store and off-site events.

About Glad Day Bookshop:

Glad Day Bookshop is the oldest LGBTQ bookstore in the world. Serving the queer community since 1970, we specialize in offering the widest possible selection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans literature, both in and out of print, as well as DVD, magazines and novelties.
Glad Day also operates as a Coffee Shop, Restaurant & Bar, and event space, serving fair trade, local, handcrafted and delicious drinks.

About My Work:

As Assistant Manager in charge of Bookstore Curation & Community Partnerships, I co-manage our tight-knit team in a variety of functions. As curator for the collection, I select and order materials for store stock, special orders, institutional sales, and special events. As lead on Community Partnerships, I coordinate special initiatives with community partners, including promotional exchanges, donations, and specialty book distribution. In my daily sales work, I work with customers to find the perfect LGBTQ+ literatures for their needs, working with Book Manager on database maintenance and adjustments relating to our growing inventory. I also work in appraisal, where I appraise rare, specialty, and vintage LGBTQ+ texts for institutional and public sale.

About The Collaboratory:

Based at the University of Toronto, the LGBT Oral History Digital Collaboratory connects archives across Canada and the U.S. to produce a digital history hub for the research and study of gay, lesbian, queer, and trans* oral histories.

As the largest LGBTQ oral history project in North American history, the collaboratory connects hundreds of life stories using new methodologies in digital history, collaborative research, and archival practice. The project develops these methods through practice: our collaborators connect to share resources and ideas, but also roll up their sleeves to digitize tapes and make this material available online.

About My Work:

As Lead Project Associate for Dr. Elspeth Brown, my work with the Collaboratory has been wide-ranging, but has included:

• Completion of the Trans Collections Guide for The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives.
  
• Collaboration on the Trans Activism Oral History Project with the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria.
  
• Contribution to the “Archival Description and Metadata for Trans Collections” Panel at the 2021 Moving Trans History Forward Conference.
• Processing of Jearld Moldenhauer’s Book Donation to The ArQuives.

About Tarragon Theatre:

Tarragon Theatre is Canada’s home for groundbreaking contemporary plays. Established in 1970 by Bill and Jane Glassco, Tarragon Theatre’s mission is to create, develop and produce new plays and to provide the conditions for new work to thrive.

About My Work:

As Archival Assistant for the Summer of 2020, I helped Tarragon prepare for their 50th Anniversary Season in 2021/22. Under the supervision of Anne Wessels, I accessed all available archival materials on Tarragon (within pandemic restrictions) to create a 130+ page thematically-organized research guide on Tarragon’s history. This guide includes in-depth bibliographical work as well as primary resource interview transcripts and recordings generated through interviews with Tarragon alumni.

About Massy Books:

A retail destination in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood, Massy Books specializes in buying and selling books in a wide variety of genres, including the most rare and unique texts. Including an event space, art gallery, and secret book room, Massy Books is equal parts independent bookstore and community space with a strong Social Justice core.

About My Work:

As Bookseller and Media Manager, I was responsible for the operations of Massy Books both online and off. In addition to in-depth book knowledge on a variety of topics and genres, I contributed to special research projects, the organization of community events, off-site book sales, and the creation and dissemination of promotional materials for our busy calendar of monthly events.