Presentation Remarks
John Myles, Past Co-Chair, INFOhio Governing Advisory Board

My favorite definition of a leader comes from the author and futurist Joel Barker, who describes a leader as "a person you will follow to a place you wouldn't go by yourself." Hugh Durbin was such a person, and our 2006 INFOhio Hugh Durbin Leadership Award recipient also fits this definition.

It is very appropriate to present this award at this event and in this city. Hugh Durbin served as the Director of Library Services for the Columbus Public Schools for 19 years. He was president of OELMA in 1978 and served on the national level as the treasurer of AASL. But much more than serving in official capacities, High was a cherished colleague, mentor and friend to a generation of library media specialists from all over Ohio.

In 1983, Hugh wrote an article for Ohio Libraries, a publication of the Ohio Library Association, entitled "Ohio School Libraries in 2002," in which he described what he called the School Electronic Information Center, or SEIC for short. His vision for the school library of the future predicted the use of many online resources, including the online public access catalog and resources that would combine text and media to take students beyond the four walls of the physical library. High's vision for his SEIC looks very much like the reality of INFOhio today. I believe that he would be very excited about where INFOhio stands today, and he would have some challenging ideas to share about our future. Unfortunately, we lost Hugh to cancer six years ago, but we are committed to keeping his memory and his goals for the profession growing through this award.

Debora Reynolds is the library media specialist at Findlay High School. Debbie turned the challenge of being a new hire in a large high school with a veteran staff into an opportunity to promote the use of INFOhio resources to students and teachers alike. Through her leadership, hard work and enthusiasm, Debbie has helped her students and teaching staff embrace the use of INFOhio resources way beyond previous levels. As her nominator wrote, "Because of Debbie's knowledge and passion for the utilization of INFOhio, she has sparked literally thousands of students and a multitude of staff members into making INFOhio their first choice when in need of a credible resource.

Today, Debbie joins Nancy Nickell, Diana Kiehl, Jane Puleo, Carol Gibson and Cheri Forster as a recipient of this award. It is my pleasure to present the 2006 INFOhio High Durbin Leadership Award to Debora Reynolds. Congratulations to Debbie, and thank you all for your continued support of INFOhio!