Acceptance Remarks

INFOhio Spence White Service Award recipient for 2008 Linda Ehrnschwender (left) receives a plaque in her honor from INFOhio Executive Director Theresa M. Fredericka during the OELMA Awards Luncheon at the 2009 conference in October.

Picture credit: Geoff Ehrnschwender

Friends, colleagues, and my son, Geoff, thank you for sharing today with me. I am so very honored to receive the Spence White award. Spence was an outstanding example of dedication and hard work for INFOhio. He also had a great sense of humor. My favorite memory of him was during an OELMA conference many years ago. A few of us went to the Japanese restaurant across the street for dinner. He pretended it was his birthday so we could hear them sing Happy Birthday in Japanese!

I'd like to thank the people that nominated me for this award. The librarians in LEECA-Land are the best anywhere and a joy to work with. I love them all! I was especially touched by Charlie's nomination. I'm in awe of his intelligence and abilities.

I'd also like to acknowledge the people who work with me and make it easy for me to look good. Marie Alford, my teammate at LEECA – our skills complement each other. Lloyd Wright, the director of LEECA, for being so supportive of INFOhio and allowing me the time to work on projects. The Doc Team, Bonnie Blachly from NOACSC, Lori Slingerland from LNOCA, and Ilene King from MEC, plus all of our proof readers and testers – together  we’ve developed a great online manual for you. And of course, the Tech Support Staff at Lima – Terri, Charlie, Jean, Mike, and Juanita. They are the best anywhere! Their knowledge and willingness to help is unsurpassed.

I consider it a privilege to work for INFOhio. Terri Fred has set a high standard for other states to follow. She's our own Timex with Energizer batteries. She takes a licking but keeps on ticking, and going and going and going…..

As we’re moving well into the 21st century, facing unprecedented budget issues, spread too thin and struggling to keep up with all the latest technologies, don’t lose sight of the reason we all got into this profession – to share the joy of reading and the love of learning with children. Take pride in that noble goal.

Thank you.