A Very Gracious Thank You!

As you may remember, we give the winner of the Noyes Award at the annual Medical Librarians Conference a bouquet of flowers from MedChi, in memory of our dear Marcia Noyes. This year’s winner was Margaret Bandy, AHIP, FMLA, from Denver.

We received the most lovely and gracious thank you note from her and I am so pleased to share it with you.

…The pictures really don’t do justice to unique variety of white flowers—hydrangea, roses, tulips, and many others. I am sure you can tell from the picture of me with Michelle Kraft that I was so happy to receive this tribute.  The entire event was very special to me and your gift added so much to the occasion.  I was able to enjoy the flowers for several days and the fragrance in our hotel room was delightful…

In my brief remarks at the celebration on Tuesday, I quoted from some of the writings by and about Marcia C. Noyes, including the obituary that appeared in the January 1947 Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. I am sure you are familiar with it, but these lines especially touched me:

Miss Noyes was not only admired, but was loved by medical librarians from coast to coast, and in her death, each of us experiences a deep sense of personal loss...  Even more important [than her many achievements], have been the principles of altruistic cooperation and service, which she has ever fostered and nurtured in the Association's activities. We are wealthy in the heritage of ideals with which we have so been endowed. . . May the spirit of friendliness and devotion to service, which Miss Noyes so well exemplified, remain with us as we carry on in the field of medical libraries which she loved so well.

Again, many thanks for this very thoughtful gift, and please extend my thanks to the board and staff of MedChi.  I hope someday to visit to see where Marcia C. Noyes worked and lived, and to thank you in person.

Clearly, Ms. Bandy was a worthy recipient of the Noyes Award, and has carried on the spirit of Marcia through the years. We are proud to play the tiniest part in the recognition of the Noyes Award winner.