Thursday, October 9, 2008

Sara Smith: Intern Extraordinaire

On October 3, 2008, I bid a fond farewell to IMPART intern extraordinaire, Sara Smith. Sara is a highly talented and tireless worker, who is truly dedicated to the library and its mission. She is irreplaceable.

Sara was the very first IMPART intern for the SGGL. After only a few months on the job, I felt comfortable assigning her a key role in the rededication ceremony on Oct. 27, 2007. In the year to follow, Sara greatly surpassed my expectations. She became our cataloger (cataloging well over one thousand books using a software she taught herself) the IT trouble shooter (oh, the stories she could tell), the designer of our electronic vertical file, and the creator of this very blog. She was also invaluable as we prepared for our two OMOB events (and you can read her impressions of that weekend--and offer your own reflections here--if you wish).

So taken were we with Sara’s skills that she became the only IMPART intern given supervisory authority. Clearly, her job assignments far exceeded those of a typical intern, but that was just it: Sara was no typical intern. She's all-around outstanding (Did I mention that she's a black belt and fluent in German?). The BDM staff and I gave Sara a nice sendoff at a local sushi restaurant, which is where the picture above was taken. The smiles of that afternoon are tears today however; and I am very nearly inconsolable (chocolate helps, but not enough). Thank you, Sara, for your distinguished service.
--Joni Jones, SGGL Librarian-Archivist

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