From the desk of Rand Simmons

You know how it feels to receive a call, letter, or greeting card of encouragement from a friend?

I feel the same when I receive a message from a customer telling me just how wonderful my staff is. I know it, but it’s so much better to know that our customers know the staff is helpful, encouraging and competent.

I received such a hand-written card in December before Christmas. It was from a manager of a rural branch of one of the larger library systems. She wrote to say, “I would like to thank you and the Washington State Library for the outstanding support and assistance we received this year.” Of one staff member she wrote, “she works 24 hours a day to connect people with resources and each other. All this assistance allowed us to continue to serve our rural patrons, even in this time of reduced hours, layoffs and deleted training budgets. The rural libraries and their communities depend on the State Library and your staff members deliver.”

All I can say is, “Right on.”