Goodbye Mr. Clare

Like most libraries, we check out a lot of books. Every year. It's one of the important things we do. Well at this library, nobody has checked out more books than Ken Clare. You may be one of the thousands of students who have had their books checked out by Ken over the years. Some time tomorrow, one of you will be the last.

That's because Ken is retiring. And we don't know who will miss him more - the people who work in the library or the people who use it.

Maybe you don't know Ken by name but you've probably seen him around - usually at the Circulation desk - that big guy with the big mustache. He's been lending journals, receiving books, collecting fines, forgiving fines and trading jokes with students (and supervising an entire department) for a very long time. Since 1982. Before most of you were born. So to say that he deserves his retirement is an understatement.

Have you ever seen a group of women wearing Boston Red Sox shirts and tiaras on their head wheel red book trucks in a sinuous, carefully choreographed modern dance interpretation, accompanied by drums and tambourines in the middle of a library? If you had been one of the baffled/amused crowd in this library around 10:00 this morning you would have. This was a surprise tribute to Ken, a diehard Sox fan. He was both charmed and appreciative. As we were to have worked with him.

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