INFOhio Spence White Service Award, 2019
Judy Benner (META Solutions), Janah Shumaker (INFOhio Technical Services), and Terri Fredericka (INFOhio Director)
Judy Benner, Janah Shumaker, and Terri Fredericka have been named the 2019 Spence White Service Award recipients. They were recognized at the virtual Management Council Membership Meeting on May 8, 2020.
Judy Benner
Judy Benner is a Library Support Specialist at META Solutions in Marion. She provides technical support, assistance, and training for library personnel on all phases of INFOhio. In addition to training library staff on the automated library circulation system, Judy provides hands-on training on INFOhio resources. Judy is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in Library/Media, English and French.
Judy is known as the epitome of a service professional, always making herself available to serve her member districts as the calm and accurate advocate for the power of school libraries.
One of Judy's nominators shared, "Judy Benner stands out as the exemplar of a profoundly dedicated and exceedingly competent service-oriented professional. More than that, she is kind, thoughtful and a joy to work with. Judy Benner not only exemplifies the goals of INFOhio, she embodies them on a daily basis."
Janah Shumaker
Janah Shumaker is a Technical Services Support Specialist with INFOhio and assists ITC Providers across Ohio. One of her roles on the technical team is to assist with the Integrated Library System (ILS) transition to BLUECloud. Before working at INFOhio, she was an INFOhio Liaison/Library Services Support Provider with one of Ohio’s regional ITCs. She has also been an INFOhio ICoach. Janah has a Master’s degree in Middle Childhood Education from The Ohio State University and is a Level 1 Google Certified Educator.
Janah has energetically taken on the task of rolling out the new BLUEcloud library software, providing friendly support, encouragement, and training to library staff statewide.
Janah's nominator stated, "Janah is truly qualified for this service award displaying the work ethics and leadership attributes of Spence White in her everyday dealings with her team, as well as when working with SirsiDynix, our software partner. She is always willing to go above and beyond."
Terri Fredericka
Terri, who was unaware that she would be receiving this award, has led INFOhio for the past 25 years, becoming a much beloved and admired advocate initially for library automation and related services, and subsequently for an array of digital teaching and learning resources. She is retiring in June and leaves behind enormous shoes to fill.
Her nominator noted, "Terri is the only Director INFOhio has ever known. She has been there through all of the war stories, the successes, the lobbying, the more challenging days, and throughout it all she has maintained her abiding commitment to assuring equitable access to learning and resources for Ohio’s students."
All of us at INFOhio congratulate and thank Judy, Janah, and Terri. We are proud to work with you!
