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SEMONCHE'S SPEECH FOR PRESIDENT ELECT
THE SLA'S CANDIDATES' FORUM
January 22, 1999
San Francisco, CA

President Hayes
Pres.-elect DiMattia
Past Presidents
Exec. Director Bender
Board Members
SLA Staff
Chapter, Division, Caucus Leaders
Fellow Candidates

Good Morning!

San Francisco has a special place in my memory. It was here, in June of 1992, that I served as SLA Conference Program Chair. It was a terrific conference thanks to the extraordinary leadership of the Divisions and support from the California Chapters: San Francisco Bay Region, San Andreas, San Diego, Southern California and Sierra Nevada. And from what I've learned here, Minneapolis in '99 will be dynamic.

Today's opportunity presents a special challenge to me. You have seen and read my professional credentials which appeared in the January '99 issue of Information Outlook. I wondered what else I can tell you about myself that would reveal the kind of person I am now, and how I might lead the Association.

First, it occurred to me that this group might be curious about why I become a special librarian. Actually, this is not my first career; it is my fourth! My professional life is a classic case of "career evolution." I worked first as a speech therapist, then became a teacher of the deaf, and later "morphed" into a language researcher. It wasn't until much later that I found my forte . . that of research librarian in a small southern newspaper. Launching that library was a first for me AND the newspaper. Neither of us knew exactly what to expect, but we learned together. I came to love the excitement and urgency of demand for data on deadline. I discovered the tension between getting the news first and getting it right. And I discovered that while I might have been the only newspaper librarian in that town, I wasn't really alone; an entire group of media researchers in North Carolina and throughout the world were available for guidance about what's new, what lies ahead, and who knows. For the first time I joined a professional association. And SLA members and staff have guided me ever since.

Next, I like to introduce you to the people in my life whose wit and wisdom have had a long-lasting impact on me.

With me this morning is my husband, John Semonche. He is a professor of history, a lawyer, a published author, and a multimedia wizard. [I hasten to add that he is not available for interlibrary loan!] Jack also has a marvelous sense of humor. During one SLA conference, while I was recovering from a particularly harrowing plane trip, Jack collected my registration materials. As he did so, the registration staffer inquired,
"Mr. Semonche, are you attending the conference?"
Jack smiled and responded, "No. I am attending my wife."

My grandfather, Jeremiah Lemual Betts, came from a long line of Iowa farmers. Recently I discovered a photo of him with a message to his younger daughter, Vera, (my mother) on her 16th birthday. He wrote:
"Vera: to succeed in life, work hard to earn the friendship of all who are worthy and then strive to hold it - - - to do this be honest, upright and forebear." A good maxim to follow.

In the early '60s I was a student intern for a master teacher at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Her name was Alice Streng. She was a miracle worker with deaf and hearing-impaired children. At the end of that semester, I summoned my courage to ask her,

"Miss Streng, what does it take to be a really good at what you do?"
She replied, "Barbara, it takes three things - - - materials, methods, and me."
I thought what about she said and then I responded:
"Miss Streng I think I understand the 'materials and methods' part, but I'm not certain about the 'me' factor."
She said quietly, "Barbara, that is what you have to discover for yourself."
In the years that followed, I came to appreciate that her wisdom applied to ANY profession.

But those are voices from the past. Over the years I have been a frequent observer of SLA's Board as well as an active participant through my service as Chair of eight SLA Committees. I have discovered something very important. To chart the future of our Association I need to hear from the present, from each and everyone of you. We have a big job to do. The challenges of the next generation will be more demanding than ever before.

We must build an ever expanding and diverse membership;

• energize our education and mentoring programs;
• establish our primacy in information policy;
• redefine our roles in the next generation of information science, service and commerce.

It will take all our combined courage, creativity and commitment. And I believe that we can begin by cultivating:

The Three Senses

• A sense of direction: Discovering where we are going and how we are going to get there.
• A sense of balance: Discovering the value of not only doing things right, but doing the right things.
• A sense of humor: Discovering how to take our work, but not ourselves, seriously.

Thank you all for listening. I'll be around later to answer your questions and hear suggestions.

Jeremiah Lemual Betts

 

Vera Inez Betts, aged 16 years

 

Barbara Semonche with her class of impaired
hearing students, circa 1960, in Evanston, IL.

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This page was created by Barbara P. Semonche. It was last updated February 1999. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to contact Barbara here.