Korinek has stated that she expected to work there for two years and then to move back to Ontario, but she ultimately decided to stay at what she considered "a marvelous History Department.
Once she contacted one of the people from the note, former librarian Neil Richards, she began reading his collection of LGBTQ archives and became interested in sharing the work.
[4] As she began working with Richards on this new project, Korinek published her first book, based on her doctoral dissertation and titled Roughing it in the Suburbs: Reading Chatelaine Magazine in the Fifties and Sixties through the University of Toronto Press.
[6] The book focused on the lived experiences of LGBTQ people in Western Canada, especially in the urban centres of Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary, during the 20th century.
[13] Following the publication of Prairie Fairies, Korinek was appointed vice-dean faculty relations in the College of Arts & Science for a five-year term.