final things, originally uploaded by circulating.
Congrats to Iris Shreve Garrott who is retiring from McCracken PL!
I’m swiping some text from her blog bio page:
As the family matriarch and company employee with the most longevity it is my responsibility to show everyone else how important it is to be play and be happy as they work on the web.
Oh… and I am happy 100% of the time now… for really.
for more career bio, here is a press release from April 27, 2006…
Although plenty of people work extremely hard for youth in the Paducah community, few ever are recognized as one of the best in the state of Kentucky for those efforts.
But McCracken County Public Library’s youth services manager, Iris Shreve Garrott, was honored for her outstanding contributions to the development and promotion of public library service on the local level when the Kentucky Public Library Association presented Garrott the Margaret F. Willis Outstanding Community Library Service Award. The tribute was presented to her at the KPLA’s annual conference in Louisville in April, 2006.
“It is so thrilling to know that the library’s dedication to our community is recognized across the state,” said Garrott. “Our services and programs are entertaining, educating and delightful, and so has been my experience over the past 20 years.”
Iris invited me to breakfast via email when I was visiting Kentucky for the KLA meeting:
A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a librarian in Kentucky inviting me to breakfast during my stay in Louisville. I’m glad I said yes! McCracken PL (Paducah, KY) librarian Iris Garrott, who blogs athttp://circulating.wordpress.com and library director Marie Liang treated me to breakfast and told me all about what they’ve been doing at their library.
Using the works of Jim Collins, including his book Good to Great, these librarians reported their library was inspired to be great: great customer service, great interactions between staff, and great communication. I was impressed with something Marie told me: employess at the library can get funding to take classes — not just library classes — but any type of college courses, undergraduate, etc. She confirmed something I suspected. Give folks a nurturing environment, give them some assistance to learn and follow their interests and they pay the library back with dedication and enagement! I was also very impressed with their whole story and very sorry that I could not be at their presentation detailing the journey — we were scheduled at the same time!
Luckily, Iris has put up the slides as a Flickr set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/circulating/sets/72157594302022399/
Take a look. It might inspire you. Thanks Iris and Marie — for breakfast and for an official McCracken PL tote and my own copy of Good to Great.
I was inspired then, and I’m inspired now by what Iris achieved in her years of service to libraries. Best wishes!