{"id":15890,"date":"2017-10-26T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/pnr\/?p=15890"},"modified":"2026-02-03T17:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:24:41","slug":"say-yes-whenever-possible","status":"archive","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/say-yes-whenever-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"Say “Yes!” Whenever Possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

To celebrate Medical Librarian’s Month<\/strong> we have invited medical librarians in our region to submit some information about who they are and the work that they do as medical librarians.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today we hear from a hospital librarian in Oregon!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Judith with Mr. Gross Mouth<\/p><\/div>\n

Who am I?<\/strong> Judith Hayes, MLS<\/p>\n

Where do I work?<\/strong> Tuality Healthcare in Hillsboro, OR<\/p>\n

I started work as a medical librarian at Tuality Healthcare in Hillsboro, OR, on April 15, 1994.\u00a0 Almost 24 years later, I am approaching retirement in just a few short weeks with anticipation and dread.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been amazing.\u00a0 I have loved my job.\u00a0 It feeds my sense of satisfaction to find just the right piece of information for someone:\u00a0 so a patient can gain understanding about their disease and talk with some knowledge with their provider, so a provider can receive the latest evidence-based information in minutes for patient treatment, so a teacher can hold an anatomy fair with hands-on stations to spark a light for science and medicine in a student, so library school student volunteers and assistants can end up with fabulous jobs all over the country.<\/p>\n

I feel blessed to have been at an organization that prized personal growth and allowed an enormous amount of autonomy to library staff.\u00a0 If there was a project we wanted to do, there was a way to make it happen, with grants from the RML for Outreach (thank you, RML!), the local City of Hillsboro for educational chats on health topics partnering with public libraries, Tuality\u2019s Foundation for bankrolling the public portion of the library, local Librarian organizations for speaking and teaching opportunities (thank you OHSLA, PNC, Oregon State Library Association, Washington County Public Libraries and Tuality!).\u00a0 I\u2019ve had the opportunity to share my knowledge with doctors, nurses, public reference librarians, teachers, students, and members of the public, both in the library and outside of it.<\/p>\n

Several people stand out.<\/p>\n