ACQNET v9n002 (January 20, 1999) URL = http://www.infomotions.com/serials/serials/acqnet/acqnet-v9n002.txt ISSN: 1057-5308 *************** ACQNET, Vol. 9, No. 2, January 20, 1999 ========================================== (1) FROM: E. Cook, ACQNET Editor SUBJECT: Special Issue in Memory of Judy Webster (28 lines) (2) FROM: K. Strauch SUBJECT: Memorial for Judy Webster at ALA Midwinter (24 lines) (3) FROM: W. Schenck SUBJECT: Tribute to Judy Webster (39 lines) (4) FROM: L. Newlin, C. Ammons, J. Laraway, K. Strauch SUBJECT: Remembrances - reprinted from ATG (157 lines) (1)---------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, Jan 20, 1999 From: Eleanor Cook (Appalachian State Univ.) Subject: From the Editor: Special Issue in Memory of Judy Webster In late December I had the difficult task of posting to the subscribers of ACQNET the sad news of Judy Webster's death. This happened just as many people were leaving for the holiday season. Since ACQNET has subscribers from all over the world, those of you who either do not take holiday at this time (so many of us do, regardless of country or religion), or who have never heard of Judy, may wonder why we are devoting a special issue to her. Read on and you will see. If you never met Judy or if you have never heard of her, you need to know that in the world of acquisitions librarianship (especially in the US) she was been a beloved person to many of us. She was not a flashy person, as important people go. Her importance was based on her quiet, consistent and supportive manner. I did not know her as well as I would have liked. However, the following people who have taken the time to write their thoughts did know her - there are others out there who wanted to write something but their grief or their schedules did not allow. If you would like to contribute later, please do. Several of these remembrances are from with permission, and I thank Katina Strauch for sending them to me for this issue. I also would like to encourage anyone who is attending the ALA Midwinter Conference, to please try to come to the memorial service (see the first posting). --The Editor (2)---------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 16:56:38 -0500 From: Katina Strauch (College of Charleston) Subject: Memorial Service at ALA Midwinter for Judy Webster Judy Webster, Head of Acquisitions and Processing, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, passed away on December 15, 1998, from cancer, at her home, surrounded by her family and friends and pets. She was 54. Judy was active in ALA as well as the Charleston Conferences on Book and Serials Acquisitions. There will be a memorial service for our beloved friend and colleague, Judy Webster on Saturday, January 30, at 5 PM, at the First Presbyterian Church, 201 S. 21St., (21st and Walnut) in downtown Philadelphia. All are encouraged to attend. Katina Strauch Head, Collection Development College of Charleston Libraries 66 George St. Charleston, SC 29424 843-953-8020, 8008, 8009 (phone) 843-953-8019 (fax) strauchk@cofc.edu (3)---------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 17:05:51 -0500 From: William Z. Schenck (Library of Congress) Subj: Tribute to Judy Webster Tribute to Judy Webster: Judy and I met at one of Ballen's ALA receptions in the early 1970's. I don't remember which ALA but I remember meeting Judy. We were both in acquisitions and we developed a friendship based on our shared library interests. We'd get together for breakfast at Mid-winter and summer ALA and, in the early days, at the annual Charleston conference. It was always something I looked forward to a chance to catch up on our lives and to share acquisitions stories. We also shared an interest in selling ads. I sold ads for _North Carolina Libraries_; Judy did the same for _Tennessee Libraries_. (I believe that was the name of the journal.) We would talk on the phone and share ideas for selling ads and see who could sell the most (a friendly competition...). Judy was somewhat responsible for my getting the job as Collection Development Librarian at Oregon. I knew that George Shipman, the director at Oregon, had worked with Judy at Tennessee and she must have said nice things about me, as I was offered the job. After I moved into collection development we continued to meet at ALA for breakfast. Judy always had good ideas for collection development (as she did for acquisitions) and she taught me a lot. I didn't know much about her personal life. Others may say she was a private person and that may well be. But she shared with me enough so that I knew what was happening in her life in general. I remember when she told me at one of the Charleston conferences I was able to attend that she had gotten married to Bill, and Lynn (my wife) and I took them to dinner in San Francisco (ALA, of course) as a wedding present. I will miss Judy as a friend and a colleague; the library profession will miss her for her enthusiasm and many contributions. Bill Schenck Library of Congress December, 1998 (4)--------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 16:56:06 -0600 From: Katina Strauch (College of Charleston) Subject: JUDY WEBSTER remembrances (from _Against the Grain_) Papa Lyman, Carolyn Ammons, John Laraway and Katina Strauch REMEMBER JUDY WEBSTER Writing this column is always a chore - for me to get started on. But once I get it going it's a cinch. In fact I was so far behind I was soon to miss the deadline for this issue of ATG. Then this morning the getting started became automatic with the saddening news of the death of Judy Webster on December 15. I have enough material but it's a burden to look at it as it lies before me on my desk and then to realize that the subject is no longer physically with us. Here then, is my feeble effort to eulogize a very dear friend. I'll begin with the lead story of the Special Birthday Publication of ATG in celebration of the fifteenth anniversary of _Against the Grain_ (November 1995). I copied an entry from my Pocket Daytimer for November 1985: "Among the new librarians I made friends with was Judy Webster" - after whose name my note reads "she would like to see circulars on _Dictionary of American English Language_ (Harvard) and _Comprehensive English Grammar_ (Longman)." Now you know why Judy talks Tennessean with such syntactic precision." I also recall from the 1985 Charleston Conference an after hours dinner at which I was seated next to Judy. That's when we discovered we both has so much in common - music. We agreed that Bach was the greatest and that the two other "B's" (Beethoven and Brahms) were properly ranked alphabetically and to our estimation. Her love for Bach is mentioned in ATG "Profiles Encouraged," November 1995. And speaking of that Profile, I am also reminded that Judy introduced me to Iris Murdoch about whom two recent magazine articles have been written. Just last week I read an interview with Iris and her husband, John Bayley in their Oxford home. I doubt Judy had the opportunity to read the sad story of Murdoch's struggle with Alzheimer's. Their recent stories started me collecting Murdoch again and I wanted to talk to Judy about it at Charleston Conference, 1998. Alas, she was not in attendance. More than once I found myself expecting Judy to be seated nearby in her usual front row place. All of the Charleston regulars missed Judy last month. Was it foreboding which prompted Katina to publish another "Profiles Encouraged" about Judy in the 1998 Conference issue of ATG? I can't believe that Judy did not intend to be present for 1999. To this I can say that I am sure that the memory of her will be very much present and I predict that Katina and her staff will see to that. As I write this I am listening to a radio production of the Oregon Bach Festival directed by Helmut Rilling, the greatest of our contemporary conductors of classical choral works. They are performing Beethoven's marvelous Choral Fantasy (in C) with many reminiscent passages to the mighty Ninth Symphony. I can't help believing that Judy's spirit is responsible for this coincidence. As a Presbyterian church choir member, she surely is, and I would not be surprised is she's listening right now. Requiescat in Pace. Lyman Newlin __________________ Tuesday evening, December 15, 1998, Judy Webster passed away peacefully at her home, surrounded by her family and pets. Her colleagues were aware that she was fighting breast cancer, but were optimistic because of the manner in which she continued to carry on her normal duties as team leader of the Acquisitions & Processing Team of the University of Tennessee Libraries. She worked on November 20, and took the days preceding Thanksgiving off as vacation days. During the Thanksgiving holiday, Judy was hospitalized. Both the staff and faculty are in shock at losing Judy so suddenly. She was greatly admired and respected by everyone who knew her. Judy began working in the Libraries system in 1969 as a staff member in the Circulation Department, and later was in charge of Reserve. While working, she obtained her MLS, and in 1979 became Head of Acquisitions. Several years later, Judy was named Head of Acquisitions & Processing (Acquisitions, Serials, Binding, and Preservation), and became a full professor. Judy was married to Bill Britton, Head of Systems at the University of Tennessee Libraries, and had one grown son, Charles Webster, who lives in Alaska. She also had two stepchildren, Justin and Sarah Britton, both students at the University of Tennessee. She was a long-standing member of the choir of the Westminster Presbyterian Church. Judy was admired and respected as a colleague and a boss. She was also appreciated and loved as a friend. We miss her already. Carolyn Ammons (University of Tennesee-Knowville) ________________ Memories of Judy Webster The library profession has lost a shining star when Judy Webster passed away earlier this week. I had the privilege of knowing and calling on Judy for twenty years. She was a consummate professional. She was very active in the College of Charleston Conference, ALA and other organizations. Her position at the University of Tennessee included acquisitions, serials, processing, binding, and preservation. During the twenty years that I had the pleasure of calling on Judy, in addition to her professionalism, I was drawn by her pleasant manner and laugh. I always left my call with her feeling better than when I arrived. She was such a pleasure to be around. She will be greatly missed, but I will always have the memory of her wonderful smile. John Laraway (Academic Book Center) _____________ 1998 became an unforgettable year when I learned of the death of Judy Webster from cancer on December 15 at her home. Judy and I had discussed her illness and I knew the prognosis was not good, but she kept smiling and working and acting like she would be all right. This is why it seems unbelievable that she isn't here with us anymore. Words cannot express my sadness. I never had a sister but always wanted one. Judy became that sister. We worked together for many years on the Charleston Conferences - Judy trying to bring order to my chaos, never losing her temper, always asking the questions that should have been asked. She was quiet and unassuming, but she was determined underneath. Her career spanned twenty years and it was one to be proud of. She was a consummate professional. The Charleston Conference will never be the same for me without Judy. She would always sit on the front row and take quiet charge of the proceedings. I never had to worry about things not being done as they should have been when she was there. In this, the most beautiful season of the year, with its breathtaking music, I can't help but believe that Judy is with us. She had a beautiful singing voice and perhaps Heaven needed a singer. May she rest in peace. Katina Strauch December, 1998 >From _Against the Grain_, Dec, 98/Jan 1999, v.10#6. Katina Strauch Head, Collection Development College of Charleston Libraries 66 George St. Charleston, SC 29424 843-953-8020, 8008, 8009 (phone) 843-953-8019 (fax) strauchk@cofc.edu ****** END OF FILE ****** ACQNET, Vol. 9, No. 2 ****** END OF FILE ******