2003-04 Chapter Professional Achievement Award:
Marlene Vogelsang

Each year it is the honor of the Past president to introduce the recipient of the Professional Achievement Award. This year I am delighted to announce that Marlene Vogelsang is the recipient of this year's San Francisco Bay Region Chapter Professional Achievement Award. The phrase "notable and enduring contribution" does not begin to describe what makes Marlene Vogelsang exceptinally worthy of this distinction.

Many Chapter members know Marlene as the Chapter President (2000-2001) and the organizer of wonderful tours, both as the Chair (1994-1997), and a continuing member of that committee today. As her nomination document states, "Marleen has been a linchpin of the Bay Area professional librarians community for 14 years. What is most remarkable is that she knows everybody in the local library community and they know her as well. And she doesn't just get to know people casually. She nurtures anyone she meets with a positive attitude and a generosity of spirit usually reserved for one's best friends. Everyone who knows her would agree that she is a genuine class act."

Marlene's first affiliation with Chapter-level volunteering began while she was studying in library school. In addition to her graduate work (and earning a 2nd Degree Black Belt and achieving Referee Rank in Taekwondo), Marleen became chair of the Student relations Committee of the San Andreas Chapter. And she has never stopped. She has held 18 different positions on as many committees, many simultaneously. Marlene's Division-level activities include, Business Manager of the Public Utilities Division and Business Co-Chair of the Petroleum Energy Resources Division. In the local chapters, Marlene has chaired or served on committees such as Program, Fundraising, Tours, Strategic Planning, and Publicity, as well as being President of the San Francisco Bay Region Chapter. She is probably the only member who has held the position of Assocaite Editor of both the Bayline and the Faultline. Marlene is also a founder of the local Architectural and Engineering Librarians Group. Her passion for her profession is perhaps only surpassed by her passion for baseball and as one of the most active members of the SLA Baseball Caucus, Marlene has been lucky enough to combine these passions. Marlene has also served on the Association's Strategic Planning Committee. Currently, she is secretary of BayNet and the Chair of the San Francisco Bay Region Chapter's Strategic Planning Committee. She is also on the advisory council of EOS International, an integrated libarry system provider.

Again quoting from the nomination documents, "there is other work that Marlene does that reflects so admirably on our profession. She works as often as she can in the public library as fill-in on weekends. She has been a representative of PG&E at the San Francisco Science Fair, where she was one of the judges for a special energy award. In her 13 years with PG&E, Marlene has travelled all over the state giving presentations about the Energy Resource Center, a library whose mission is to serve the public as well as internal users with information on energy efficiency. She is very proud of her work, of the Energy Center, and of the library profession."

Marlene has published several articles, including "Web Resources for Energy Efficient Appliances," which appeared in the journal Home Energy. The Association of Energy Engineers' San Francisco Chapter named her Information Guru for 2001. She has also won awards at the SLA Marketing Swap and Shop competition for crerative ideas for promoting her library services.

Marlene Vogelsang is the embodiment of the dedication, energy, and creativity that defines our Chapter. She is an inspiration. Congratulations Marlene!

Maggie O'Brien

Document maintained on server: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu. Last update: June 18, 2004
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