The Friday Follow-up: Filomena Jack – Capturing the Human Spirit

Wow! What a crazy week. Many of us here at STLS are trying to unwind after a 12-hour day at Watson Homestead Conference and Retreat Center. More than 115 member librarians and trustees took part in yesterday’s Annual Meeting and Conference. It was a great day of learning, growing and sharing for our fantastic library system known as STLS.

I want to thank our STLS trustees and team members who worked so hard over the weeks and months to make yesterday a reality. Most importantly, I want show appreciation for the member librarians and trustees who participated. It is one of my favorite days of the year to see our membership fully engaged in the participatory process of public librarianship. I couldn’t be more exhausted and elated at this moment.

It has been sometime since I sent my last Friday Follow-up. There has been good reason for this… I have been extremely busy. There are times when visiting, meeting and supporting library boards and directors just takes precedence over writing a message to the entire membership on Friday morning. I know all of you understand and support me on this decision. I do look forward to getting back into the routine effective today.

For this Friday’s message, I want to demonstrate genuine appreciation for an STLS team member who has served in several roles since coming to STLS. Her knowledge, skills, abilities and talents have allowed her to be a vital part of our organization. And our membership along with OUR community has realized the benefits of her assistance.

Filomena Jack came to STLS several years ago. Her first position involved working as a JobLink technology trainer. She would travel the five county area offering technology assistance to library patrons at various member libraries. When JobLink funding was no longer available through federal assistance, Filomena moved into the position of ILS Specialist.

In her roles, she has cataloged thousands of library materials in a timely manner to ensure patrons have them readily available for life-long learning. I can only imagine the intellectual impact she has had on the minds of all Southern Tier residents.

Additionally, she has trained hundreds of community members and librarians on the use of various technology platforms including Workflows and STARCat. She has also infused her own artistic abilities into the mission of STLS by capturing thousands of photographs that shed light on STLS working with librarians, and member librarians working with their community. Her natural eye for the human spirit has been posted on our Flickr account time and time again. And in the very near future, her work will be showcased in the halls of STLS Headquarters to serve as reminder that STLS libraries are absolutely amazing.

Today is Filomena Jack’s last day at STLS. She will be greatly missed. It is one thing for a professional to bring their time and talents to an organization. But, when that individual brings an overall mindfulness of human well-being, both for her colleagues and her membership, that truly is the thing that makes an organization special. Thank you, Filomena! We wish you the very best.