WINNERS OF THE SECOND QUARTER LEADERSHIP-INITIATIVE AWARDS

On Thursday, March 1, at the Libraries pre-Spring social held in the Special Events Room of McKeldin Library, Dean Lowry and the Awards Committee took the opportunity to present certificates to 13 employees for the second quarter Leadership-Initiative Awards. Each recipient will receive a cash gift of $150.00.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR RECIPIENTS!!!

The following is an account of the initiatives and contributions of our 13 winners whose efforts and commitment reflect true leadership.

Mary Dalto, Facilities and Services

In recognition of Mary’s tireless work and patience in keeping things running smoothly at Hornbake Library throughout all the renovations and moves, despite the major obstacle of the flood and its ongoing aftermath. Throughout the flood, Mary was on the scene for long hours, including weekends, keeping track of what was happening and solving problems as they arose – all this in an atmosphere of high heat and humidity, darkness due to lack of electricity, and an incredible level of noise from all the heavy equipment – while managing not to lose her amazing patience and good humor. Most importantly, Mary helped facilitate communication among all those affected by the flood and involved in the clean-up, and has continued that facilitative role throughout the ongoing diagnostic and repair process.

Judy Dillon, Architecture Library

Judy Dillon received an award for her initiative to rearrange the architecture bound periodicals from title to call number order. Judy initiated the idea, surveyed several libraries to assess its validity, and supervised the students who did the move. Users no longer search for a serial under several different title changes in disparate areas of the periodical stacks, as all variant titles have been brought together into one place: the call number. Now users check whichever title they have, get the call number from Judy’s finding aid, and find all issues of their journal in one place, quickly and easily. Judy produced useful lists by both title and call number, making the transition seamless for patrons.

Early Modern Women Database Group: Marian Burright (Science & Technology Team), Louise Greene, Pat Herron, Eric Lindquist, Yelena Luckert, Judy Markowitz, Alan Mattlage, Susanna Van Sant (Arts & Humanties Team)

In early November 2000, the Attending to Early Modern Women Database group unveiled an innovative web gateway created through the collaborative scholarly and technical efforts of members from the Arts & Humanities and Science & Technology teams. The database, which facilitates scholarly research by aggregating over 250 online resources, was introduced at four separate instruction sessions at the triennial Attending to Early Modern Women International Conference sponsored by the UMD Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies. These sessions were well attended, and the database was universally recognized as a unique contribution to scholarly research in the study of early modern women. The Early Modern Women database group is to be commended for their innovation and emulated as a model of inter-team collaboration.

Kathryn Pickard, Lee-Jong Teo, Jerome Weiland, Circulation Department, McKeldin Library

Kathryn, Lee and Jerome have been the leaders in the shifting of the McKeldin general collections in order to get material off “overflow” trucks and onto shelves. All three have been working tirelessly and quietly to make the McKeldin stacks a better place for staff and patrons. For many months there has not been enough room for returned books. Staff and patrons spend time searching “overflow” book trucks and full pre-shelving areas in hopes of locating materials. According to Terry Sayler, “these three McKeldin Stacks staff have made all our work lives a lot easier by reducing the number of “overflow” trucks, ensuring that the areas are shelf-read and that all materials are re-shelved within 24 hours.”

All three have excellent working relationships with staff. They recognize areas that need extra time and effort and proceed to get the job done. Their commitment to this work solved a long-term chronic problem that vexed stacks maintenance.

On behalf of the Awards Committee, thank you for your participation and support of the Awards program.

Awards Committee

Julie Arnold, Gerri Foudy, Chuck Howell, Alice LaSota, Brenda Semeleer, Phyllis Waters, Lupe Fernandes