Hello All,
I heard from my parents in Michigan that one of my first mentors is retiring (article link is at the end of this blog entry). This cannot be possible, as I am not getting any older, which means she cannot be old enough to retire; but, I digress.
My first job was working as a page and a circulation clerk at the Huntington Woods Public Library (Huntington Woods, Michigan). I worked with two women who strongly influenced my decision to become a librarian.
Elizabeth Gulick worked with me at the Huntington Woods Public Library for several years. At the time, she was the Adult Services Librarian, and I definitely got to see a good librarian in action. Elizabeth was one of those librarians who wouldn't let a challenging patron question get the best of her. She was kind, she listened, and asked good questions to make sure the patron would get the exact information they were looking for.
As Elizabeth was my supervisor, she came up with creative ways (I thought at the time) to keep track of what the pages were doing. Reading in the stacks as I was shelving seemed to be frowned upon... We had a little time sheet where she asked the pages to record what we did during each of the three hours we were there for our shift.
Despite these harsh conditions :), Elizabeth and I found out we were both big mystery readers, and have exchanged titles of books and author both then and more recently. When I decided to become a librarian, I cited both Elizabeth, and the director of the Huntington Woods Library, Shelley Gach Droz, as my influences. Both remain supportive of my library career today, despite my having moved to Tucson to continue my career.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for your inspiration. May your retirement be joyful.
Sincerely,
Patti
http://www.dailytribune.com/lifestyle/20140321/clawson-librarian-to-close-the-book-on-long-career
