Tomorrow is Tom’s birthday. Tom is a reference librarian at UW in Seattle. He helped me in many ways when I started my first student assistant job in the US. Tom made me believe that reference librarians have the most rewarding job in the world. He helped me to provide instruction sessions with confidence to native students.
I wasn’t the only student whom Tom helped. Tom delivers yummy snacks every day to student assistants at all service counters because they rush from classes to the library without time for lunch. Tom and his wife are leading very moderate, and mentally wealthy lives.
Above all, from the very beginning, Tom trusted I would grow to a decent librarian someday. I still remember his words: “One day, you will have students work for you, please treat them as you were treated here.”
Happy Birthday Tom!