Infinite Mile Awards, 2006

Individual | Team

Innovation and Creativity: Lois Beattie
Communication and Collaboration: Angela Locknar
Results, Outcomes, and Productivity: Greg Padilla
Community: Stephen Skuce

Innovation and Creativity: Lois Beattie

It has been said that creativity is a result of good work habits. This perfectly summarizes one of our colleagues, for whom work habits and creativity go hand in hand. This recipient brings an artistic eye, an experienced editorial pen and a willingness to explore the bounds to design in all of endeavors. And there are many endeavors! Have you ever wanted to add an audio component to your presentation? Maybe you want to create an interactive puzzle as an instructional tool? Or perhaps you want to find a way to use audio tools to bring more attention to your collection? This person has gracefully choreographed these dynamic and interactive exhibits that draw attention to the collections, projects and services of a particular library unit, as well as to the treasures throughout the MIT Libraries. Stretching beyond regular duties, this individual has also contributed a creative flair in promoting the Libraries’ Honor with Books program. Students, faculty, administrators and even presidents have stopped to read her exhibits, and it’s not unusual for her unit to be contacted for further information about her displays. But you don’t have to walk the halls to find signs of this recipient’s creative touch; her web designs have made it to the MIT home page several times. From the physics of baseball and Robert Richard’s field survey diary, to William Barton Roger’s 200th birthday celebration and Charter Day 2005; this person has found a way to showcase a collection that has a reputation for gathering dust! For carving the Libraries an artistic niche in the fabric of MIT, the Libraries’ 2006 Infinite Mile Award in the category of Innovation and Creativity goes to Lois Beattie.

Communication and Collaboration: Angela Locknar

Have you stood in front of a large group to present or to teach? It is difficult for the best of us but in the words of one nominator this individual “can stand in front of a room of hundreds of people” and talk to them in a way that “holds their attention and makes them smile.” One of this staff member’s greatest accomplishments this year was successfully gaining entry into the curriculum of one of MIT’s “most vibrant first-year core courses”. The challenge of teaching several hundred freshmen in such a short period of time might have given a lesser person pause, but this recipient “doesn’t worry about challenges, or back away from them, but engages fully [and] gracefully.” This individual corralled seventeen librarians to lecture to twenty-seven recitation sections during an intensive one-day period in addition to organizing all of the details, writing the script and creating a web page for the class. The overwhelming success of this experience, along with the professor’s respect for this librarian’s professionalism and talents, led to a D’Arbeloff grant for the Libraries and has established a collaboration that will utilize new technologies in the future of teaching. Never one to be selfish about personal talents, this individual has shared them, as well as her precious time, in mentoring and assisting others across the MIT Libraries. This librarian has assisted colleagues in developing course pages, has taken the time to “ease [a new librarian] into the world of instruction”, and has collaborated with librarians across the system in developing instruction plans for all of the MIT Libraries. Her willingness to share her vision and her ability to garner buy-in from her colleagues throughout the system has been instrumental in creating an environment of instruction in the MIT Libraries. For her exceptional contributions to the Libraries’ instruction program, for helping to knit together the staffs of her two home libraries, and for her infectious team spirit the Libraries’ 2006 Infinite Mile Award in the category of Communication and Collaboration goes to Angela Locknar.

Results, Outcome and Productivity: Greg Padilla

Mens et Manus - "mind and hand". The laborer at the anvil and the scholar with a book depicted on the MIT seal represent the “earnest co-operation of intelligent culture with industrial pursuits." This recipient’s contributions testify to both intelligence and industry, while colleagues testify to generosity of character. This staff member, through “leadership, example, and job knowledge… (has) inspired, challenged, and helped develop” co-workers. And, if that weren’t enough, he has even been called “super nice”. Dedicated to an unsung aspect of library work, this person does the work exceptionally well. Often early to work, and late to leave, this individual insists on completing tasks. Using available tools and creative intelligence, this wunderkind has created macros that make others’ jobs easier, system-wide, reducing keystrokes to a small fraction of the original number. This staff member has not only made the workflows of fellow staffers more efficient, he has even made the macros more efficient -- they update themselves! But this person is no corner-cutting layabout. As a matter of fact, you might want to draft this guy as a ringer for next year’s GetFit@MIT team. He has done the most reshelving, at the fastest rate, in the unit with the highest volume of circulation. He does not shy away from the dirty work - literally dirty work. When the collections of two libraries needed to be shifted - again - this person did 40% of it, amounting to 6,300 feet! That includes the dark, dusty, sometimes red-rotten journals in the Hayden basement. But maybe that’s overstating the dust. Some of it must have come off the old journals and shelves the previous year, when he barcoded a vast percentage of them, using some of his wonderful macros. Oh, and he did that when he was a student worker. For his dedication to the collections and services of the Hayden Library and for developing tools that make our (work) lives a little easier and more efficient, the 2006 Infinite Mile Award in the category of Results, Outcome and Productivity goes to Greg Padilla.

Community: Stephen Skuce

We all know that it takes a great effort to keep a library running smoothly, and much of that effort occurs away from the eyes of the general public. The employees who keep the inner workings of the library churning are generally considered the “back room” folks. They are the ones who take our vast and diverse collections, and bring them together as a cohesive whole that may be accessed by computer anywhere in the world. Their work is seen and used by many but they often remain the “ghost in the machine”. This individual has proven time and again that “back room” does not mean “back seat”. Through daily work and contributions to numerous committees, this person has made the Libraries a better place for staff as well as the patrons we serve. One nominator describes this individual as “a big picture type” who is always looking for the best way to accomplish a task or project and thinking of what will work best for our users rather than what is easiest to do, personally or for the Libraries. “This individual is always questioning [personal] assumptions and asks the rest of us to do so as well.” In the words of another nominator this colleague “excels in the ‘soft skills’ that make a workplace a place where I want to be: positive communication, good listening, treating others with respect, mentoring and supporting colleagues, and recognizing the efforts of others in our organization. It's easy to forget any of these things in light of urgent priorities...and the constant pressures of change that we come up against --but [he] doesn't forget, and practices these things each day. He's the kind of librarian that I want to be.” For his continual efforts to foster positive working relationships, his constant concern for what is best for our users, and his unending dedication to improving the accessibility of our collections, the Libraries’ 2006 Infinite Mile Award in the category of Community goes to Stephen Skuce.