[Libs-Or] Thank you for all the support following the loss of a mentor

[hleman at samhealth.org]

Hello, fellow librarians. I just want to thank express thanks for the outpouring of sympathy and notes of condolence about the recent death of Dorothy O’Brien, former head of library services at Samaritan Health Services here in Corvallis, Oregon.

I have made a compilation of those notes for Dorothy’s family and I think they will be touched not only by the beautifully written, heartfelt notes I received from many of those who knew and loved Dorothy but also by those who had not known Dorothy but who wrote to say how they wished they had and who said how lovely a person she must have been. I had not anticipated receiving notes from that latter group and that was a very consoling, inspiriting experience and a real tribute to Dorothy.

It really made me proud to be in our profession to be the recipient of such kindness from strangers (and I know how busy you are!) when I was obviously quite sad and feeling bereft of a beloved mentor. I was also impressed by the eloquence of the notes, many of which stated very powerfully how important it was to the writer to have such models as Dorothy, what a consummate librarian she was and that the writer felt proud to be in the same profession.

An added benefit of all of these notes was that they made me reflect on our profession and the sense of vocation and commitment to librarianship that suffused these notes. Reading them and compiling and was quite moving and also gave me something worthwhile and diverting to do in the sad interval between Dorothy’s death and her memorial service. I am personally very grateful for all those who wrote. Simple gestures have greater impact than we might realize and I was helped a great deal emotionally by opening email messages from librarians far and wide, from community hospital libraries to large research institutions.

I would like to pass on one suggestion. Dorothy’s daughter very thoughtfully asked me after Dorothy’s death if there was something in her mother’s house I would like to remember to have to remember Dorothy by.

I said that there indeed something and asked if I might have Dorothy’s library school diploma, which had hung in her office and which I had often looked at and had which spurred me to earn one of my own, which I did in 2009. It is now in my apartment and I will keep and treasure it for the rest of my life.

If you have not hung your diplomas in your offices, you might consider doing so. It could be well that it will be gazed at by young housekeepers cleaning your office late at night and make them think seriously about higher education and would certainly be an inspiration to your staff. I often thought about the wording on Dorothy’s, “rights, privileges and honors thereto” and am grateful to her for introducing me to a profession that includes such an amazing number of considerate people. That is one of the privileges and honors that Dorothy passed along to me and to her many other mentees.

Here are links to the online obituaries of Dorothy for the newspaper of her hometown of Buffalo, Wyoming and that of Gillette, Wyoming where she worked as a medical librarian for many years if you would like to add comments:

http://www.buffalobulletin.com/articles/2010/05/21/obituaries/doc4bf4237423bdf612190072.txt

http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/articles/2010/05/21/obituaries/monday/obit01.txt

Hope Leman, MLIS
Research Information Technologist
Center for Health Research and Quality
Samaritan Health Services
815 NW 9th Street Suite 203A
Corvallis, OR 97330
(541) 768-5712

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