Janice Schultz, MGC Branch Manager, to Retire in March
March 07, 2013
It’s time to bid farewell to one of our own this spring. Janice Schultz, MGC Branch Manager, has worked for the Library for over 25 years and has dedicated much of her career to studying and teaching genealogy.
Janice started her library career as a Page at the North Independence Branch in August 1987, where she worked in the Genealogy and Local History Department [GLHD]. She quickly advanced to a Sub position, where she answered queries, managed the Missouri Room Vertical Files, and was in charge of checking in periodicals. The GLHD became the Genealogy and Local History Branch [GLHB] in 1998 in a 12,000 square-foot wing of MCPL's North Independence Branch.
Janice received a Master’s degree in Library Science in 1999 from the University of Missouri and was subsequently offered the position of full-time Reference Librarian that same year. She became the branch manager in 2001 and continued in that position when the GHLB became the Midwest Genealogy Center at our current Lee’s Summit Road location.
Janice will be sorely missed by both staff and the patrons she has served for over two decades. Janice says, "I have worked with a great staff and have met many wonderful patrons. I remember fondly a patron named Harley Cathell. He came into the 24 Highway location every day after retiring from Lake City. He had a favorite microfilm reader that he used every time he was in the Library. When he passed away, we fondly dubbed that machine "Harley’s microfilm reader." I remember the day that our administration first realized how dedicated our researchers are. We had lost power throughout the city, and in many of the library branches, the buildings were virtually vacant. The Library’s senior administrative team had been on tour of the south branches that day, and when they walked into the GLHB at 4:00 p.m., they found people sitting at tables by the front windows trying to research our books. We would walk them to the back stacks with flashlights so they could bring the books to the front. The administrative team looked at the scene in awe. I believe that’s when the decision was made to give us a more visible location."
A public reception to celebrate Janice’s retirement is scheduled from 2-4 p.m. on Friday, March 29th at the Midwest Genealogy Center.
We wish you the very best in all that you pursue, Janice, and we thank you for all your years of dedicated service!
Wendy S.
Midwest Genealogy Center
Comments
Janice and Retirement
Not only do our patrons love Janice, but we staff hold her in extrememly high regard! She is a font of knowledge and sometimes we swear that she knows every book in the library. In all my years here, I can't think of a single question that I asked for which she didn't know the answer! She is a treasure not just to MGC but to the whole Mid-Continent System.
She is steady in a crisis and maintains her authority in a calm, quiet manner. She is not just "behind the glass" in her office, but Janice takes her turn at the reference desk, the information desk and even does some mopping if necessary. This willingness to be one of "us" is very rare for a "boss" and we all appreciate it.
We will miss her, but wish her the very best in the years ahead. We hope that she will finally have some time to do her own research for a change.
Thank you Janice for being such a great boss!
Janice's Retirement
Janice has been such a help to me through the years. I remember she kept encouraging me (even when I was growing discouraged) to continue searching the New York City port's ship manifests to find my great-grandfather coming over from Ireland. I don't know who was happier when I finally found him aboard the S.S. Egypt in April 1880, Janice or me!
She has led a terrific team through the years and has made the Midwest Genealogy Center a port in a storm for me. I keep thinking I am going to go to Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Then I remember how much is waiting for me in the stacks and databases at MGC. I need to exhaust those records before I go so that I don't spend time in a far-off place when I could have found that resource available in my hometown.
Thank you, Janice, for everything you have done to make the Midwest Genealogy Center the stellar place it is. We will all miss you.
Christy Underwood
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