A Letter of Thanks From Jason Touchatt

Posted on March 7, 2008 by Shannon Cary — No Comments ↓

As many of you are aware, my last day at Ellis Library was March 5^th, 2008. I had worked for Ellis Library for over 6 years and have built many great relationships since the start of my employment in October of 2001. I wanted to write this letter to acknowledge several people whom I have worked with over the years because I feel like they made my time at the library a positive one.

Pat Jones: Thank you for your compassion, encouragement, and your continual belief in me as a person.

Bob Almony: Thank you for your generosity and consistently asking about my family.

Zephan, David, and “Neo”: Thanks for working as a team and helping create a “security family”.

Dottie “Bonnie” Heuer: Thank you for your fun loving spirit and for letting me pick on you incessantly.

Erica Dismang: Thanks for the gum, the jokes, and your jovial nature.

Sarah Moore: My little sister. You are many prayers answered.

Kat Koehn: Thank you for your willingness to fill in when I had to miss work and for the fun we had in the office… “I’m not dead yet!!”… “Badger, badger, badger”…Worms World Party!!!

John Meyer: Thank you for your encouragement and ability to cut up.

Terry Brooks: Thank you for funny stories about “mugawumps” and such. They always kept me laughing.

Michael Bland: Thank you for the encouragement in finishing my degree and your tech help.

Ernest Shaw: “Shammmmmyyy!!!” Thank you for the funny talks and for sharing your sense of humor.

Michael Salmons, Adam Banning, and Sam Napier: Thank you for your tech help and your willingness to stay and help until we could get our problems figured out.

Alan Bloom and Daniel Dodd: Thank you for helping in the mornings when I let you in early…hey, wait… you should be thanking me!

Hunter Kevil: Thank you for the Cardinals talk and for the personal spiritual talks.

Gwen Gray, Cindy Cotner, Ricky Kerns, Karen Eubanks, Mary Ryan, Paula Roper, Debbie Melvin, Deloris Fisher, Rhonda Whithaus, Gena Scott, Sheila Voss, Wayne Barnes, Nancy Turner-Myers, Kathy Peters, and Cathi Veach: Thank you for saying “Hi” and “How are you?” on a consistent basis. I can tell you care about your fellow co-workers and it did not go unnoticed.

Jen and Yolanda in Admin.: Thank you for always smiling and saying “Hi”

Mark Ellis: Thank you for the HR talk and the encouragement to keep pursuing my dreams.

Leo Agnew: Thank you for the HR, career help, and baseball/ softball talk.

Karen, Alla, Katy, and Erin in Special Collections: Thank you for the conversations, funny stories, and general encouragement.

Ryan Bish and the “Shelvites”: Thank you for all of the conversations about a variety of issues from “Seinfeld” to the NFL, from Japanese weaponry to spaghetti westerns; it was never a dull moment.

Kathryn and Marie in Govt. Docs: Thank you for saying “Hi” and for always being

Tammy Green: Thanks for all of the funny family stories and for stopping by on your daily cookie run.

Bev at the Bookmark: Thanks for asking about my family and making my drinks the way I like ‘em!

Cathy, Kim, and Laura in Copy Service: Thank you for the conversations and the friendship.

Ellen Blair: Thank you for all of the conversations about family and for the baked goods!

Carla Blair: Thank you for all of the food you’ve made…it sure has been awhile!! 🙂

Mary Heinin: Thank you for the Steelers talk! Good stuff!

“Charlotta Carlotta” Charlotte Mustain: Thank you for your funny jabs at me as I walk past!

Jodi Webb: Thank you for the funny family stories your positive demeanor.

Shannon Cary: Thank you for posting this in News Notes and for editing and posting past articles, I am always forgetting words!!!!

Rebecca in State Historical: Thank you for the baked goods and the funny stories.

Jeremy and Duane: Thank you for all of your help moving stuff, helping us with opening sometimes, and for all of the funny stories and conversations.

Unfortunately, I’m sure I missed someone and I may have misspelled some names, but I hope my goal was accomplished and that was to make sure I thanked as many of you as I could for making my time at the library a memorable and worthwhile one.

Thank you and good luck in all you do,

Jason Touchatt, Formerly of Ellis Library Security

Goodbye to Geoff Swindells and Jason Touchatt

Posted on March 6, 2008 by Shannon Cary — No Comments ↓

Goodbye to Jason Touchatt, Security Guard, Administration. Jason accepted a position in Jefferson City with DST Systems as a Business Analyst.

Goodbye to Geoff Swindells, Coordinator of Government Documents. Geoff accepted the position of Department Head, Government Information at Northwestern University Library in Evanston, IL.

Office Fire Safety

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Shannon Cary — No Comments ↓

Office fire safety is one of the most often over-looked aspects of fire safety. Not paying attention to these issues can lead to negative consequences. Earlier this week, I was dispatched to an office where a desk lamp was left on and unattended. The lamp’s bulb was sitting directly on top of some newspaper and the paper was beginning to burn. It was not apparent when I entered the office where the burning smell was coming from and took a few minutes to discover the exact location of the issue. Had someone not noticed the smell and had I not been close to the area when I was dispatched, a fire may well have ensued in the office. Luckily, disaster was averted, but greater care is needed by all of us to keep this situation from repeating itself. As a result of that incident I have compiled some tips to help us avoid any other potential situations like this one. Please be aware of the following tips and take these preventative measures so that our office areas in the library can be as safe as possible.

Be prepared. Know the locations of fire extinguishers, fire alarm pull stations and building exit routes.
Keep your work area neat and tidy and keep combustibles such as paper and trash to a minimum.
Do not place or store items in hallways, stairwells or exit ways. Keep these areas clear for quick and safe egress.
Do not wedge/prop open stair or fire rated doors. These doors are there to help protect you and the building from smoke and fire in an emergency.
Shut off electrical equipment that is not in use. Electrical cord should be visually inspected on a periodic basis to identify frayed and worn cords.
Maintain electrical cords in areas out of walkways and passageways.
Avoid extension cords in office areas.
Surge protectors should not be overloaded and should not be used as an “extension cord” for other office equipment.
Be careful to not overload outlets and surge protectors.
Combustible material, such as paper, should not be stored on or in close proximity to electrical outlets and connections.
Do not leave desk lamps unattended.

Following these tips and applying a good dose of awareness of our office areas should go a long way towards keeping our office areas as safe as possible.

Jason Touchatt,
Ellis Library Security