Pablo Wegesend's photo
LIS professors
Andrew Wertheimer and Rebecca Knuth (retiring)
This was my draft of the speech I gave
Hello everyone, my name is Pablo, I am a current student in the LIS program.
I want to thank Dr Knuth for being a great academic advisor and a great professor. I took her class in Intellectual Freedom last semester and I am taking her last class, History of Books and Libraries, this semester.
The overall themes of both classes include the importance of recording and storing information and the importance of allowing for the diversity of ideas and how we can’t take it for granted, knowing how vulnerable our libraries, archives, museums and even our computer systems are.
I know the LIS department is still in the process of finding the next professor. It is my hope that the next professor will have the same level of patience, open-mindedness, humility and friendliness that Dr Knuth has.
Dr Knuth, the LIS students will miss you greatly, and we wish you good luck in your new adventures.
Obviously, during a speech, most of us don't even read the draft word-for-word, we deviate a bit from the speech, adding a few words and phrases.
But somewhere in my actual speech, I did mention that Dr Knuth was a living treasure and I mentioned a few things about the 2 of her books ("Libricide" and "Burning & Leveling Libraries"
But overall, my speech captured the spirit of the above draft!
Pablo Wegesend's photo
Me giving the speech
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There were also many other speeches at the party, some from colleagues, others from former and current students.
The most powerful speeches included one from a member of the alumni association, as well as one from a current LIS student who had her class in the past.
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At the party, I saw a few of my current classmates, as well as a recent graduate from last year. I also some librarians I have recognized from visiting various public librarians. We all talked some stories and did some networking.
Thank you to everyone who organized this event. I really appreciate it!
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BONUS PHOTO:
Pablo Wegesend's photos
Me and a few friends at the party!
