…and then I'll shut up about it.
In a blog post after I won, I said I'd put a “what I really wanted to say” acceptance speech online (as
opposed to what I did say having not really prepared a speech and being
half-drunk and trying to talk while standing on a chair in a bar full
of other drunks.) So here's my shot at that:
Jason's Virtual “Spirit of Librarianship” Acceptance Speech
“First off, I want to accept this Award on behalf of all the other
nominees. All of us are deserving of the award by virtue of our
nomination and I don't think of myself so much as winning the award as
sharing it with all of you.
I want to thank the various people that nominated me and also those who
voted for me. It's an honour that all of you took the time to
make your feelings known on my behalf.
I want to thank my student mentor Sabina Iseli-Otto and my unofficial
second mentor, David Jackson, for giving me a two-for-the-price-of-one
mentorship that inspired me on a continual basis to try to make things
happen in this school.
I also want to accept this on behalf of my classmates. To me, the Spirit of Librarianship takes many forms and I
think that all of us have virtues that embody that spirit in some
way. If I had time, I'd go through the class list and say why I
think each of you deserves a part of this award. But above
everything else, to me, the Spirit of Librarianship is about equality
and fairness. So giving an award that singles one person out is,
in some strange way, contrary to what I think the Spirit of
Librarianship actually is.
I went so far as to ask if I could have “Jason Hammond – on Behalf of
the Class of Winter 2006” put on the plaque but they said there wasn't
room. Still, if anyone wants to list “Co-recipient of the Winter
2006 Spirit of Librarianship Award” on their resume, I would strongly
encourage you to do so. If any future employer needs to verify
this fact, have them call me!
I was joking with someone that this award should be called the “Most
Naive Librarian Award” because that's what it feels like sometimes –
that I am being acknowledged for my childlike belief in the purity of
what librarians do. If I do have any impact in winning this, I
hope that it's maybe opened up a similar window to those of you who are
here, just for the piece of paper or just for the good-paying job you
might get at the end of your studies.
I didn't know there was a Spirit of Librarianship Award when I came to
FIMS and did the things that I did simply because, in my opinion, they
needed doing. I hope this thought continues to inspire me (and
might inspire you) as we go into the “real world” in the future.”
Linda Bussiere's E-mail
Linda Bussiere sent out a very kind e-mail to the entire department
(faculty and students) the day after I won the Award. I'm
reprinting it here with her permission:
Congratulations to Jason Hammond, who was awarded the Spirit of Librarianship Award last evening!
Jason is a first-semester Master of Library and Information Science student who hit the ground running in this program. He galvanized his co-hort by organizing social events the very first week of school -- introducing
many of us to the Jessamyn West book, "Revolting Librarians Redux", and sharing his enthusiasm for
librarianship -- getting us all to talk about social responsibility.
In the spirit of the librarian-as-information-faciliator, Jason started a class listserv to promote discussions both academic and social, which has sparked many involved debates about everything library-related. On this listserv, Jason has shared his favorite librarian blogs, preparing his classmates for the real issues that arise
in the library world.
In a spirit of the librarian-as-community-builder, Jason has set up the Lunch Bucket Series, bringing in special
speakers from outside the library community, but within the world of books. The inaugral visit from Kitty Lewis, from Brick Books (recently featured in this month's Quill & Quire) was an occasion that brought library students together, and Jason's passion for all things books made the room hum with excitement.
In his first semester Jason the librarian-as-educator has also collaborated with other students to organize a student reading for Freedom to Read Week, as well as help initiate an new open-access online journal for LIS
students, called Cantilever.
Jason Hammond has received the Spirit of Librarianship Award because he truly embodies the many-faceted
roles of librarian, and without his presence in this program, the true meaning of librarianship would not quite be the same for for all of us!
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