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Semonche Accepts the |
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Semonche was unable to be present at SLA’s Awards Banquet during the June 2000 Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA, so her remarks were read by SLA President Susan DiMattia. Greetings and salutations to all my friends and colleagues gathered here this evening. I'm truly grateful for this honor and would like to begin by offering a heartfelt tribute to Rose Vormelker. She is a guiding light for many of us, but perhaps especially to her Cleveland Chapter, to her students at Kent State University and to her colleagues in the News Division. We all lay claim to her wisdom, intelligence, energy and dedication to professional excellence. A salute to the two previous winners of this award is appropriate this evening. Larry Wright from NIEHS in North Carolina and Lynn Tinsley Berard from Carnegie Mellon University are long time champions of student members and young professionals. These two, along with the network of Student Group Advisors, form the core of SLA's student mentoring program. I owe a great deal to the mentors throughout my career, for their friendship, inspiration and leadership. Their support has never been more evident than recently. Such warmth, concern and good humor goes beyond the professional and enters the human domain. A web is formed that encourages and supports. The true web, as far as I can tell, is not just the virtual variety; it is the real, genuine network of personal and professional associations that sustain not only me, but all of us. This is a web that is strong yet flexible, expansive but stable, enduring yet constantly renewing and reinventing itself. I'm proud of my association with the North Carolina Chapter, the News Division and the UNC-CH School of Information and Library Science. I marvel at the talent and accomplishments of these information professionals and am profoundly grateful for their guidance and support. SLA is the hallmark of all that is excellent in our profession and serves as a model for the future. I certainly plan to be around to chart its course, document its progress and celebrate its achievements. For now, please know that I am truly appreciative of this high honor and will treasure it in the years to come. Until next we meet, I toast the continued success of you all. Fondly, Barbara Semonche |