5 library heroes

There's a meme, of sorts, going around library blog land -- you are to name your 5 library heroes or library blogging heroes. I know I will never appear on the lists of the big names (librarian.net, library stuff, shifted librarian, etc) -- but I consider it a very great honor to have been mentioned on Scattered Librarian's list. Thank you, again, Sarah and you have a fabulous blog -- and as you know there are people reading -- so keep up the good work.

As to the names of my heroes (in no particular order and including blogging and non-blogging)--

• Anonymous Library Bloggers -- there are a lot of librarians out there who blog the honest ugly truth about working in the library stacks. Uncensored -- they bare it all about the demand for increased programming and materials on declining budgets and restrictive legislation. These librarians, at times, have put their jobs on the line to keep it real -- and I admire and salute them.
• School Library Media Specialists -- Yeah sure it's cheesy. But truth be told -- if it wasn't for a string of wonderful librarians I had growing up -- well I never would have seriously considered this field. My elementary school days were filled with the library and the kind women and men who ran them. The school library is where I performed in the play about computers (and kept butchering Charles Babbage's name) -- where I was sent when I pulled the chair out from underneath my 3rd grade teacher -- where I escaped and read everything from the Witches of Worm to Kon Tiki when my parents divorced. Heck, even my step-mom is one of these wonderful souls that brightens the day of children regularly -- they are great people.
• Jo H. - When many people retire they step away from their previous professional life. Not Jo. She dedicated her retirement days to tutoring children, quilting, being a kind soul, and building up Temple B'nai Israel's library. With out the hard work of Jo and her committee the OKC Jewish Community would be without an amazing collection of Judaic study materials. Her hard work helped a crammed collection in a tiny room grow into a library of over 5,000 volumes, with wi-fi access, a children's collection, an online catalog, and a legacy that will live for a very long time.
• Carolyn T. -- retired Head of Reference at SWOSU in Weatherford. Carolyn was my boss for my very first library job in college. For those who know Carolyn they'll say she's loud, controversial, annoying, and at times a pain in the -- well you if you know her you know. But she cared deeply about the library and those students who wanted to learn. She also gave me a giant boost of confidence in regards to my skills. Without Carolyn I wouldn't have known that with a little confidence and creativity you can encourage people to succeed in this field.
• You -- Well after all you were the person of the year -- so you have to have something special about you, right? Whether you are a patron, librarian, administrator, or an accidental tourist -- something made you stop here on your intertubez trek and take a break a read a little. You have a desire to learn something new and you are gathering information. You are a librarian's dream -- literacy will never die as long as there are individuals wanting to expand their intellectual horizons.

Ok-- so there you have it -- my first attempt at participating in a meme. Painful? Maybe -- but thanks for reading my ramblings. Consider you all tagged -- now you get to share your library heroes.