In Memory of Brenda Hutchins

Birdie MacLennan wrote the following memorium to Brenda for the annual report. I wanted to repost in honor of our lost colleague.

Brenda Hutchins, our cataloging, serials, and database maintenance specialist, passed away on October 26, 2012. After 36 years of service to the UVM Libraries, Brenda was planning to retire on October 31. In lieu of the retirement reception that department members had planned with her on October 29, colleagues gathered in her absence on that day in the Dean’s Conference Room to commemorate and celebrate her many excellent accomplishments and contributions to the libraries.  Brenda was known to many as a resident expert on serials cataloging and database issues, a teacher, trainer, and ace problem-solver. She loved a good challenge and had the knowledge and patience to teach a generation of colleagues about quality standards in maintaining long-term accuracy of catalog records that required detailed maintenance every time a new issue is checked-in, sent to the bindery, or added to the collection, transferred to a new location or withdrawn.

 

In recent years, Brenda played a lead role in maintaining database record accuracy for the tens of thousands of volumes that have been transferred or withdrawn throughout various moves and (re)locations –LRA, Williston, etc. – across the libraries. She mastered the intricacies of Voyager reporting (with the Analyzer tool) and knew how to get what she needed out of long excel spreadsheet reports – which she could interpret relative to updating Voyager records in bulk – using the “Pick and Scan” tool! Her goal was to maintain the best quality and accuracy of catalog records – and to time the updates just right with Scott Miller and the move – so that library users would not be inconvenienced and would find what they are looking for.

 

Notably, during the Cook Chemistry and Physics Library closure in 2011, Brenda coordinated the database updates for the transfer or withdrawal of over 40,000 volumes – no small feat! She was a quiet, smart, and most of all patient, “behind the scenes” worker – and a friend, too, who liked to help others and who took quiet satisfaction in seeing a challenging project come through as a job well done.  She was a person who made many extraordinary contributions – both to the quality of catalog and to the quality of our workplace.  She will be greatly missed – and always in our hearts.