December 31, 2008 will mark the end of my fifth year as Executive Director. Although I have been at UMB for over 20 years, and jokingly tell people I clawed my way to the top, I can honestly say the past five years have flown by. During that time, Library staff have made great progress in advancing our programs, resources, and services. We started by building our foundation with a new strategic plan, and we haven’t looked back. We are committed to meeting our users wherever they are – at the bench, in the community, around the state, throughout the region, across the country, and even in remote and exotic locations such as Africa and Shady Grove. We serve on IRBs. We go to health fairs. We partner with educators in the classroom and online. We advance new technologies through tech fairs and our web sites. We remodel entire floors and welcome new uses from the physical space of the Library. We build digital collections. There are very few opportunities on which we pass.
We do this work with you and for you. Thanks for pushing us, challenging us, and inspiring us to be the best we can be. All the best in 2009.