Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled

Volunteers Are Thanked For Their Dedicated Work

The Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled honored 15 volunteers at its Annual Volunteer Dinner on April 21, 2005. Volunteer Coordinator James Shulfer organized the awards celebration that was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel. The keynote speaker was Ken Jennings of TV game show Jeopardy fame.

Jennings spoke of his experience and his journey to winning more money than anyone in Jeopardy history. He also talked about watching Jeopardy as a child, and later finding a book by a former Jeopardy contestant about how to get on the TV game show and win. At the heart of his speech was his love of books and reading. “Although people might assume I reads books such as biographies, my real interest is mostly fiction books,” says Jennings. “However, there’s a lot of information that can be extracted from reading fiction.”

Donna Jones Morris, Director of the State Library, thanked the volunteers for their service, and shared some interesting statistics. In the last year 146 people contributed 54,000 volunteer hours to the work force serving the blind. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated $17.19 per hour as the projected dollar value of a volunteer hour; the 146 volunteers donated $928,260 in labor. Effectively utilizing these 54,000 volunteer hours is one of the biggest cost savings the Utah State Library provides the state.

The following volunteers received awards for fifteen years of service, Phyllis Steorts, Barbara Bybee, James Dale, Lorraine Dale and Bob Leaper. Volunteers receiving ten-year service awards were Pat Wulle and Evelyn Stoner. Five-year recipients were Elna Johnson, Barb Boettcher, Norma McMorris, Steve Sorenson, Meredith Simmons, Don Conger, Carrie Bennett and Michael Bennett.

Library for the Blind and Disabled Program Manager Bessie Oakes thanked the volunteers for their service.

Ken Jennings, of Jeopardy fame, speaks to volunteer crowd, as James Shulfer, Volunteer Coordinator, looks on.
Volunteer, Barbara Boettcher, receives her 5 year award.	Volunteers, Carrie and Michael Bennett, receive their 5 year awards.
Volunteers, Lorraine and Jim Dale, receive their 15 year award.	Volunteer, Evelyn Stoner, receives her 10 year award.
Volunteer, Don Conger, receives 5 year award.	Volunteer, Norma McMorris, receives her 5 year award.