91´«Ã½

The 2005 Bernadine Abbott Hoduski Founders Award is presented to Sue Selmer, retired Documents Librarian from the Everett Public Library in Everett, Washington. This award recognizes documents librarians who may not be known at the national level but who have made significant contributions to the field. Their contributions are to have benefited not only the individual's institution, but also the profession. These criteria easily describe Sue Selmer.

Sue began her professional career at the Everett Public Library when she became its government documents librarian. During her 33 years in this position, she was responsible for the local, state, and federal documents in the collection. The letters from her colleagues speak highly of her work in organizing the collection and publicizing government documents. Prior to Sue's arrival the documents in the library were shelved and little used. Sue began adding subject headings to those documents that she thought would be useful to the patrons and had those records included in the card catalog. Those of us who were young librarians at this time know that this was not the common practice within libraries. Sue began to work with documents beyond the federal collection by gathering city and county documents to supplement those issued by the state of Washington. As no classification system existed for these reports, she devised one. Government information on all levels was becoming accessible to the public.

Sue also began to publicize the documents within the library by working at the reference desk and informing her colleagues of their usefulness. As new librarians were hired, Sue gave them a test to determine their familiarity with government resources. Her continual training resulted in the reference staff being able to provide good service during her absence. With the use of email, she kept the staff aware of newly received publications by sending them weekly updates. She worked with the staff of the county law library, as well as those at Everett Community College library, to keep them informed of the public library's documents holding and services that she could provide. Sue also conducted an annual orientation class for the students at the community college. As her knowledge of the collection increased, Sue became a resource herself for the library. Library patrons were referred to her from both inside and outside the library. A fellow librarian at Everett Public said, "She was never too busy to spend whatever time was necessary in assisting them with research."

Sue was active in the documents activities within the Washington Library Association and was a founding member of the Northwest Government Information Network, a professional association of documents librarians in the Pacific Northwest. Sue's participation in state, regional, and national meetings allowed her to give input into the policy making decisions of the Federal Depository Library Program. A former director said, "Her highly professional demeanor was refreshing and she could be a formidable proponent of her cause."

Another supporter of Sue Selmer noted in her concluding statement, "she will remain in her colleagues' and the public's mind as someone who made a difference? who served as a role model for new and aspiring librarians? Sue demonstrated that the actions we take to index, archive, safeguard, and provide access to the records of our political life and times can have a permanent effect on our shared future." As one letter stated, "do recognize an unsung hero from a medium sized public library who believed in an individual's right to know what their government was doing." This is done, in part, with Sue Selmer receiving the 2005 Bernadine Abbott Hoduski Founders Award.