This is a wonder testimonial about Mr. Watson and how very important one person 
can be in serving a community. Thank you for sharing.
Arlene Ratzabi



Get Outlook for 
iOS<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://aka.ms/o0ukef__;!!KGKeukY!n_FCr9QOOZLwa2P77HuilGcMvtXI5PRent5mb6c30fqxlEP7-ipBSqIhnXABtVhCh-E$
 >
________________________________
From: Hasafran <hasafran-bounces+librarian=wjcenter....@lists.osu.edu> on 
behalf of Sally Stieglitz via Hasafran <hasafran@lists.osu.edu>
Sent: Sunday, January 9, 2022 8:50:09 AM
To: Hasafran <hasafran@lists.osu.edu>
Subject: [ha-Safran] sharing an important letter in support of one of the ALA 
Presidential Candidates

Dear Safranim,

With permissions, and with contact info redacted, I am sharing a recent letter 
of support for ALA Presidential Candidate Kelvin Watson from Mrs. Hannah 
Hostyk. As you are considering your choices for ALA President, this may be 
helpful. In addition, it's great to see that we have allies in ALA leadership 
who are working with the Jewish community.
Best regards,
Sally

[text of email below]


Hi Sally!



It’s so nice that Kelvin connected us!



I am  the co-president of the Stirling Library Friends and although our group 
is large (over 400 members), our library is a small one, nestled within a 
heavily Jewish area. For years before Kelvin came  to Broward County, we had 
actively campaigned to have our library open on Sundays (because our library 
was a small one, our hours had been reduced and we  were open Monday, Tuesday, 
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday). All prior directors ignored our request and I 
believe none of them truly understood how key a library was to our community. I 
was so surprised by the insensitivity of the library staff to take our 
situation seriously or to dialogue with us about this issue.



Everything changed once Kelvin became the BCL Director. He visited our branch 
often and took the time to understand the neighborhood around the library. He 
advocated on our behalf to the Broward County Board of Commissioners and worked 
with our branch’s somewhat resistant staff to explain how opening up on Sundays 
would benefit the community and thus would be a good thing for all of us. 
Ultimately, Kelvin succeeded in opening up our library on Sundays and we were 
the only library of our size to do so. We will always be grateful to him for 
the time and energy he spent in getting this done.



Kelvin also  took an active role in dealing with an outside group that used our 
library as a venue for what was seen by the community as an anti-Israel 
program. He spoke with leaders from the Jewish community and discussed this 
also with me and found ways to diffuse the situation. He spent time educating 
the library staff on why this program was not a wise choice for this location. 
He was involved with ensuring proper security to make sure that there would be 
no incidents. Again, he went the extra mile for us.



I have always been impressed by Kelvin’s dedication, professionalism, and 
leadership but I especially appreciate that he puts in the time to  understand 
the different communities served by the public library. He has gone out of his 
way to include the Jewish community as a community with specific needs, at 
least in Hollywood, Florida and I am so appreciative for his sensitivity and 
vision in addressing our concerns.



[end of email text]



--
Sally Stieglitz
she/her
Communications and Outreach Coordinator
Liaison to Academic, Hospital, and Special Libraries
Long Island Library Resources Council

631.675.1570 ext. 2005
sstiegl...@lilrc.org<mailto:sstiegl...@lilrc.org>
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.lilrc.org__;!!KGKeukY!n_FCr9QOOZLwa2P77HuilGcMvtXI5PRent5mb6c30fqxlEP7-ipBSqIhnXABwMd56m0$
 
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.lilrc.org__;!!KGKeukY!l1dRjnXOSTJfn-lWk-R7ig4pqwPSGyOp0h5U9tco1OCRDgGgdM25oUR9nINQq4s0694$>

[ORCID] 
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1552-9188__;!!KGKeukY!n_FCr9QOOZLwa2P77HuilGcMvtXI5PRent5mb6c30fqxlEP7-ipBSqIhnXAB1ECRRjA$
 
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1552-9188__;!!KGKeukY!l1dRjnXOSTJfn-lWk-R7ig4pqwPSGyOp0h5U9tco1OCRDgGgdM25oUR9nINQ5SEhb2I$>

[https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1TlfdHhJXhC4Mfc_xflIHC9ZeJl1WQnTa&revid=0B05HtRs0AIyPb0Z3L09OUWlQN3IvK2F6andSQVdld1grYU5JPQ__;!!KGKeukY!n_FCr9QOOZLwa2P77HuilGcMvtXI5PRent5mb6c30fqxlEP7-ipBSqIhnXABQn3oy24$
 ]

LILRC is a member of the Empire State Library Network 
(ESLN<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.esln.org/__;!!KGKeukY!l1dRjnXOSTJfn-lWk-R7ig4pqwPSGyOp0h5U9tco1OCRDgGgdM25oUR9nINQsb6qIGg$>)

Follow LILRC on 
Facebook<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.facebook.com/LILRCouncil/__;!!KGKeukY!l1dRjnXOSTJfn-lWk-R7ig4pqwPSGyOp0h5U9tco1OCRDgGgdM25oUR9nINQq7c05rU$>
 
Twitter<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://twitter.com/lilrc__;!!KGKeukY!l1dRjnXOSTJfn-lWk-R7ig4pqwPSGyOp0h5U9tco1OCRDgGgdM25oUR9nINQw0y2P-M$>
 Instagram

<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.instagram.com/lilrcevents/__;!!KGKeukY!l1dRjnXOSTJfn-lWk-R7ig4pqwPSGyOp0h5U9tco1OCRDgGgdM25oUR9nINQwe0Wv6I$>
__
Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author
and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL)
==================================
Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to:
hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu
To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: 
https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu
Ha-Safran Archives:
Current:
http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html
Earlier Listserver:
http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html
AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
--
Hasafran mailing list
Hasafran@lists.osu.edu
https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran

Reply via email to