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

Mrs. Strickland, President Halsey, Vice President Sobol, Members of the Awards Committee, Friends:

On behalf of the INFOhio Governing Board, I want to thank you for the opportunity to join with you in this celebration of our profession.

Hugh Durbin was a mentor and friend to a generation of library media specialists across Ohio. He served for 19 years as the Director of Library Media Services for the Columbus Public Schools. Hugh was President of OELMA in 1978 and served on the national level as Treasurer of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). The INFOhio Hugh Durbin Leadership Award celebrates the memory of Hugh’s vision, leadership and dedication to our profession by recognizing a licensed school library media specialist who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the use of INFOhio provided resources to meet the needs of students and teachers.

The author and futurist, Joel Barker, defines a leader as a “person you would follow to a place you would not go to by yourself.” Under this definition we are in a room full of leaders. Governor and Mrs. Strickland are leaders in the area of education reform who are leading us to an Ohio where all children receive a high quality education no matter where they live. As a library media specialist, you are a leader when you help a student connect with a book that turns them on to the pleasures of reading. You are a leader when you help a teacher create that first WebQuest that helps him/her see the value of technology in creating interested, engaged learners. You are a leader when you help students acquire the 21st century information skills that will help them make a successful transition to post-secondary education and the world of work. Your leadership is evident in your schools everyday.

Today it is my pleasure to announce that the 2008 recipient of the INFOhio Hugh Durbin Leadership Award is Karon Lippincott, the library media specialist at Beachwood Middle School in the Beachwood City School District.

Karon’s career in education includes time as a high school social studies teacher and elementary school library media specialist prior to her current position in the middle school library.  She has developed a library program that integrates the library and INFOhio resources into the daily activities of the entire building.  As her nominator explained:

Karon has worked diligently to fuse libraries to the curriculum, while she has also assumed responsibilities with agencies that support school libraries such as the local ITC, ILILE and INFOhio. Her enthusiasm for libraries and children is contagious. The students, teachers, administrators and parents benefit from her vision of virtual/physical libraries that meet individual needs.

Since her high school days when she served as class president, Karon has been a leader who brings great energy to every task she undertakes. Please join with me in welcoming our 2008 INFOhio Hugh Durbin Leadership Award winner, Karon Lippincott.

I would like to recognize our previous recipients:  Nancy Nickel, Diana Kiehl, Jane Puleo, Carol Gibson, Cheri Forster, Debbie Reynolds and Connie Carnicom. I would also like to thank the members of the selection committee for their work. It is always a difficult decision to make because of the excellent candidates we receive. Please consider nominating a colleague for this award in 2009. Also, remember to nominate ITC personnel for the INFOhio Spence White Award when the request for nominations is posted on the INFOhio listserv after the first of the year.

Congratulations again to Karon and to all who were nominated. Thank you for your support and remember, THINK INFOhio.