Connie Van Fleet, an Appreciation

Abstract

Connie Van Fleet, who died on February 5, 2013, served as coeditor of this journal with her husband Danny Wallace for twelve years, longer than any other editors. Their work maintained the journal's status as a premier publication for academic and public librarians engaged in reference and user services. (1) Connie's skill as an editor, writer, teacher, and mentor will be missed by many in the library profession. I was fortunate enough to have the chance to work with Connie in several of those roles. She and Danny offered me the opportunity to edit the readers' advisory column in RUSQ and were patient instructors in the ways of academic publishing. Their willingness to give new writers a voice started me on the path to becoming current editor of the journal and shaped my view of the role of editor. I also had the pleasure to have Connie write a column for me on readers' advisory education in LIS programs. Moving from the role of editor to the one being edited can be challenging, but Connie was a delight to work with as a writer, open to ideas and accepting suggestions with grace. I learned a great deal simply from watching how Connie went about her work, with passion, with thoughtfulness, and always with joy. That is a model we all should all aspire to in our practice. In this column, I have asked some of Connie's teachers, colleagues, and former students to share their memories of Connie.--Editor Connie Van Fleet submitted an application to the Louisiana State University, School of Library and Information Science master's program in 1985. When I read her statement of purpose I simply picked up the phone, called her at the Napoleon branch of the New Orleans Public Library and asked her to come to LSU to study full-time right away. field of public librarianship needed this young woman's passion and intellect. At that time I had an ALA Goal Award grant for the project in the Eighties to replicate the 1952-1953 Helen Lyman Smith study. Connie Van Fleet was appointed Project Coordinator 1986-1987. In addition to the coordination work, she reported on the project for the ALA Yearbook of Library and Information Services, for RQ, and for the Literacy Alert Newsletter of the Louisiana Library Association. She did all this while a mother, a full-time master's student, and president of the Graduate Library and Information Science Students Association. Connie displayed such a keen intelligence and deep concern for lifelong learning that she went right from the LSU program to doctoral work. As a doctoral student at Indiana University she continued scholarship on adult writing two substantive essays: Lifelong Learning Theory and the Provision of Adult Services and The Public Library as a Social/Cultural Institution: Alternative Perspectives and Changing Contexts, which appeared in Adult Services: An Enduring Focus for Public Libraries (American Library Association, 1990). These are both classic scholarly assessments and are regularly used in LIS programs world-wide. Others writing tributes here will address Connie's career on different pathways, but I think the honor bestowed upon her in 1996, the Margaret E. Monroe Library Adult Award by the Reference and Adult Division Honoring a librarian who has made a distinguished contribution to and an impact on library adult services, stands out as the shining example of the full circle of her career--from librarian in an urban setting working with a diverse clientele, to distilling and analyzing lifelong learning needs to extend her perceptions to students and librarians serving adults. But most of all, I remember Connie and other LSU graduate students from the Research Annex standing on the steps of the state capitol in Baton Rouge waving signs, to Save Our Libraries. Connie worked her whole life to save libraries so that all may learn.--Kathleen de la Pena McCook I had the pleasure of helping to organize a reception in honor of Connie Van Fleet and Danny Wallace at the 2006 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. …