Cleo Pappas, Associate Professor, retired February 2014 from the Library of the Health Sciences Chicago at UIC. Cleo is a passionate advocate for health sciences librarianship. She frequently guest lectured at Dominican University to library school students on health sciences librarianship. She enjoyed mentoring her colleagues within my department and the library school students who completed their practicum at my library.
Her advocacy for health sciences librarianship carried over into her innovative work at the Library of the Health Sciences Chicago. She was the first clinical librarian in my department. She went on morning rounds with health care teams at the Children’s Hospital at UIC, teaching classes to various departments within the hospital. She also opened the door for librarians in my department to serve on committees within our hospital. For example, she was the first librarian to serve on the Evidence Based Practice Nursing Council and the Ethics Committee. She was also invited to receive a joint appointment with the College of Medicine.
In addition to being a great librarian, Cleo has published several articles, including co-authoring with physicians. She is an excellent writer and has always been willing to give her colleagues feedback on their papers.
Last year, Cleo wrote an article in the LHS Chicago newsletter, E-ppendix, on her perspective on retirement. I feel that I should close with the last few sentences she wrote in her article:
“The older years are often referred to as the age of winter or loss. But, in order to experience loss, you have to have had something you cherished first. My hope is that the memory of deeply gratifying experiences, relationships, and work will carry me through and provide the substance tos hare with future generations of family, mentees, and students.”