Washburn University Law Library's Virgie Smith Awarded Faculty Emeritus Status

Congratulations to Virgie Smith! Here's a excerpt from the official petition filed by Andrew Evans, Gov Docs Librarian/Legal Reference Coordinator:

Ms. Virgie Smith first joined Washburn in 1976 as a cataloger. In 1986, she switched to her present position of reference and collection maintenance librarian. For the past thirty years, she has been and continues to be an inspiration to other law librarians. She has worked diligently to maintain the law library’s archive and general stacks collection. In doing this, she has become a wealth of knowledge about and for the law school. She has helped hundreds of law students accomplish their educational/career goals. As a reference librarian, Ms. Smith spends almost half of her time at the reference desk teaching legal information literacy. However, when necessary, she goes above and beyond ordinary service by providing a personal touch and creating memorable relationships. Alumni who visit their alma mater often make a special effort to seek her out. She is that memorable! [Emphasis added]

In my mind there is no greater recognition of service when visiting alumni want to touch base with "their" law librarian. I have never had the pleasure to meet Virgie Smith but I know she is a very special law librarian. [JH]