Sylvia Crooks was born and raised in Nelson, BC, and graduated from Nelson High School in the class of 1954. Her father, T.S. Shorthouse, was mayor of the city in the 1950s and '60s. She has a BA in English and History, and a master's degree in library science from the University of British Columbia. Sylvia worked in public libraries in Vancouver and Burnaby before joining the faculty of the UBC School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, where she taught reference and outreach services for 15 years before retiring in 2002. Her book Homefront & Battlefront: Nelson BC in World War II, received an honourable mention from the British Columbia Historical Federation in its 2005 Historical Writing Competition.