JONINA ELLEN WOOD

Condolences & Memories (3 entries)

• Jonina Wood was the Librarian at Sargent Park School in 1964. It was 1964 and I was in Grade 7 at Sargent Park School. I spent many hours in the Library as this was my refuge from all the bullying I faced in school. Jonina was very instrumental in helping me find all sorts of books to read. - Posted by: Grant Wichenko (student) on: Jun 19, 2025

• Jonina Ellen Wood, Librarian The obituary for Jonina Wood (Passages, Dec. 20) moves me to remember and comment. Her passing on December 16 at the age of 96 was a surprise, but only because I thought she had left us long ago. Her obituary references that she was the long-time librarian at Tec Voc High School. But prior to that she was also the librarian across the street at Sargent Park Junior High, which is where I met her, as my librarian and teacher. She ruled her empire with enthusiasm, knowledge and firmness; we knew her as "Mrs. Woods". Though the library was essentially closed, over one summer in the early 1960s, I would join her in her library several times a week as she prepared for the next school year. I recall that I helped with the routine maintenance of book cataloguing, repair, re-shelving. etc., but I would also work away at a staged reading program the school had acquired which was designed to both foster and track reading speed and comprehension. It was a challenge and an introduction to many areas of interest I might not have encountered otherwise. My recollection is that I completed the program series and I think that summer's library and reading experience was one of the most important of my life. And earlier to that experience, I fondly recall the Bookmobile trailer that came to our neighborhood every 2 weeks and parked on the gas station lot at Logan and Cecil; and I remember our weekly, and rowdy, single file treks (even in Winter) from Weston Elementary School which had no library, to Cecil Rhodes School which did. I'm told that today there's a statistically significant percentage of the population that doesn't read, not for reasons of basic literacy, though of course that remains an issue, but that they simply don't read. You can imagine how incomprehensible that is to me. To this day I am keenly aware of the importance of libraries for the vibrancy, inclusiveness and democratic health of our communities as we welcome successive waves of New Canadians. To a significant degree I owe much of what has been important to me, literature, scholarship, etc. to libraries. With a wink, I can even say some of my best friends have been librarians. And so, to Jonina Wood, I say Thank You Mrs. Woods, Librarian, you made a difference! Sig Laser, Winnipeg - Posted by: Sig Laser (Former student) on: Dec 31, 2016

• I am now 76 and I recognized the picture of her , she had given me the same photo when I was her elementary student at woodlands. Just want to say sorry for your loss, I remember loving her and she was so kind but I can't remember her last name at that time,and can't find the picture (am still looking) . Wish I could have touched base with her, would have been so nice. Condolences Phyllis COOLIDGE nee Dew . - Posted by: Phyllis COOLIDGE (Student of your mother at woodlands Manitoba school ) on: Dec 20, 2016